I'm interested in buying a supercharger, granted i dont have the money yet, but What are performance gains? Is it worth it? What's invovled?.....thanks guys :chevy

 

What's involved? A lot of fabrication. A lot of maintenance down the road. I've seen guys make it work, but it takes a lot of work and know how. It's not what I would suggest doing. But it's your Vette and your decision.

 

Arent there Bolt on superchargers?....how about turbos?

 

Turbos are worse as you have to use the exhaust to turn the compressor. Truely bolt on supers are not really just that. Things have to be moved around. Just ask for instructions from any of the supercharger companies to see what is involved before you decide.

 

Hey blur, DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO!! I'm saving for a supercharger too. The only thing is, unless you have an abundance of resources, pay a pro to install it for you. DON'T run it hard consistently and your engine your will last for a good time. Otherwise the supercharger will blow up your engine, then you can rebuild it to hold up to a supercharger. That's my plans, cause life is too short to miss out on the funner things.

 

The forced induction forum on this website will be able to give more answers.

Yes, the supercharger kits are bolt on. If you do it yourself expect 20-30 hours or more for the install. Check out http://www.vortechsuperchargers.com and look up the support pages for PDF on how to do the install to get a good idea what's involved.

As a general info, is it worth it? Yes and no. Depends on how much you want to follow through with the other upgrades needed. I.e. Fuel pump, injectors, ignition timing box, pistons, build up engine. And what you put your HP at. For stock motor and stock 6psi boost, I don't think it's worth $5k for the additional 100HP. There are cheaper alternatives for power. If you build up your motor and get 500+ HP out of it, then it may be worth the money (~$10k) required to do so.

On a stock motor don't expect to run more than 6 PSI. That should give you an additional 75-100 HP at the engine (even though everyone claims 125-150HP). If you run more boost expect to rebuild your motor. Also don't abuse the engine or you'll need a rebuild.

Good luck and check out the C4 - Forced Induction forum for more info.


[Modified by XTwinTurbo, 11:52 PM 7/22/2003]


[Modified by XTwinTurbo, 11:53 PM 7/22/2003]

 

So what upgrades would you do on a stock lt1 to make it strong enough for a supercharger?

Raj, I see on your sig that it says you got a hurst shifter. Thinking of getting one too....is it a shorter throw? Is the shifter shorter in lenght? How does it feel? Is it worth spending money on?

Thanks


[Modified by KouKou, 11:15 AM 7/23/2003]

 

Hurst shifter is definitely a good add. It is shorter in height and has a shorter shift over stock. Requires a little extra force to use but definitely usable. I've tried the B&M shifter on another Vette and the hurst is really more practical. B&M required a lot of force between gears and was also much more shorter to throw.

The only down side was the install. I had mine done by the shop that did the clutch but they mentioned that it took some time to install even with the tranny out of the car.

 

As for supercharger upgrades, I'm not an expert but from what I've read and heard, to get a motor strong enough to handle the Supercharger and some decent boost;

Need to change the pistons (stock ones don't like boost), drop compression, build up the bottom end (bearings, possibly crank, rods). Add to that additional fuel pump (high flow), larger injectors and ignition upgrade (wires, ignition box and coil).

Some others may have different suggestions.

 

:skep:

 

I give, is this a GA sign? :skep:

 

Is that a frequent tornado warning??? What is there a trailer park out there?

 

It looks like a Water cooler or something :crazy: WTF? :confused:

 

:rolleyes: Turbochargers are more effiecent then Superchargers and it doesnt eat up 60 or so HP just to spin it. Also you can get a boost controller on a Turbochaged car that allows you to adjust the boost from whatever the spring settting is on the wastegate to how high the engine can take. Building a Turbo application for a Corvette does cost more money, probably all custom fab. Have you checked out Montys 1200HP TT Beast? OR that 1300HP TT C4 that can be seen on the hotrod website.

 

I agree.

I disagree.

As a matter of fact you can do creative things with a blower too, like run a wastegate on the intake and use a boost controller to adjust peak manifold pressure.....no, it's not like a BOV. ;)

That's why to me the battle between turbos and supers is dumb. Just figure out how much HP you want and price it out. The supercharger wins hands down for time/money/research, all of the above.

Are turbos more efficient? For HP they are, but not for torque. :yesnod:

My point is, if you want 500HP, it's easier to put a blower on. If you want 1300HP, the turbo app will be more streetable because who needs more than 800RWTQ on drag radials anyway?


[Modified by vvv90, 4:53 PM 7/23/2003]

 

[QUOTE] Are turbos more efficient? For HP they are, but not for torque. :yesnod:

My point is, if you want 500HP, it's easier to put a blower on. If you want 1300HP, the turbo app will be more streetable because who needs more than 800RWTQ on drag radials anyway?
QUOTE]

Umm, I disagree with that, If you dont believe That Turbos make Huge Amounts of TQ ( When built properly) Check this out http://www.twinturbovette.net/Updates.html I can see how expensive a custom TT setup would be considered the time it takes and charge for labor, unless one has fabrication skills, then I think it would be cheaper to do it that way instead of a SUpercharger.

 

ehhh?????
:nonod:

Turbos make TQ.
montys car makes 1000 TQ and 1200 HP.

 

XTwinTurbo, I'm from Toronto too... what shop did your mods?

 

I didn't say that turbos DON'T make torque. I said they don't make efficient use of torque, when it's needed at lower RPM's

It all depends on your application. Do you want the biggest and baddest street machine and money is no object? THEN GO TURBO!

If you want 600HP and you want it as cheap as you can get it? GO SUPERCHARGER!

Are you a street racer or highway guy? GO TURBO!

Are you a drag racer and need good 60ft times? GO SUPERCHARGER!

You guys have to factor in the cost of the time and engineering involved. If there was a text book way of turbocharging a C4 and out of pocket expenses were competetive to supercharging, I probably would have gone turbo. But as it stands I can get more parts, knowledge, and HP out of a supercharged C4 than a turbocharged one related to time and money.

While Monty's car is great! It's also one of a kind. That in and of itself is awesome, but it makes for a lengthy, costly, and downright frustrating experience when you're looking for streetable HP.

I hope I made a clear point for this thread. :seeya:

 

Yeah I agree on that. I mean 500rwhp Is about as much those street tires can handle, I have a STock F-body and that thing roasts the tires without even trying. I wonder how it would feel like to have 500HP let alone 600, or even those monster 1000+HP cars. :crazy:

vvv90, since I assume you have a TPI unit on your car, what else did you do to get a stronger baseline before supercharging? Did you port the intake base, runners and plenum or something? DOes that really add good HP? What if I was to port the whole thing, and then swap the heads out for better flowing ones but still keep it at 9.1 and ram 8psi boost down its throat? :confused: