Has anybody put a ATI procharger on a otherwise stock LT-4? And if so what hind of RWHP did it make?

 

why? Plan on racing one with you ZR-1? ;)

Don't suppose you'll have much trouble with the Stealth. :nonod:

I've heard dyno's of ~420RWHP. Basically just as much as the LT-1 guys. Problem is boost needs to be lower because of the .5 more of compression.

 

I'm thinking about buying 1 and putting a procharger on it:)

 

Its been done but people break pistons in them.

 

The only kit I would recommend is the Carroll supercharging kit. COMPLETE with water injection.

Personally, I would stay away from all other kits and build your own using either Vortech or ATI head units.

 

OK don't flame me for quoting a catalog but the Carroll catalog states that there kit is priced at 6495. Reprogramed PCM, 30lb injectors, CD system with custom harness, spark plugs, custom length 8mm wires, surge valve, hi po fuel pump, QT polished Vortech and bracket with tensioner, $600 ATI custom harmonic balancer, gaseous intercooling and very complete installation guide. 500hp @ 6250rpm and 50 state carb legal.

 

I'm running a Procharger on my 94 LT1 and love it. I don't race it a lot, but make it to the track about 3 times a year and make a few passes each time. You do have to worry about running too much boost on the high compression
LT4. Mine is set up to run max 6psi, but I'm running slightly less compression than you.

With my unit, Procharger claimed around 100hp at the rear wheels. My car increased from 262hp to 365hp RWHP. So, that was about right. You are not going to obtain 425hp at the rear wheels if you have an otherwise stock LT1. At least, not with the unit I purchased 3 years ago.

Now, with a LT4 you may reach close to the 400hp range at the rear wheels. But, it would probably require some fine tuning or additional engine performance work to produce 425hp or better at the rear wheels.

Procharger units are intercooled, which is why I chose them. And, they use their own self contained oil, which needs to be changed every 5-6K miles.

If you have any questions, or would like to see photos of my unit, email me at csulli@prodigy.net.

CS

 

unless the engine is built up and you run higher boost I don't see that the gain is worth it. we dynoed a HOT cam, LT1 with the good LT4 heads and it pulled 363 which is cheaper.

why not drop the compression to about 9 and run 12 psi of intercooled boost and see what it will do.

love the blower cars, but I don't think putting them on the stock engines is the right approach unless you just want a very ez 100-150 HP, guess I'm just greedy.

fyi, my NA 390 LPE LT5 pulled 518 rwhp SAE. no blower, no nitrous, just lots of revs & noise!!

cya :D

 

Forgot to add. Carroll claims they are using 8 pounds of boost on stock 10.8 compression to get that 500fwhp. The water injection, I guess, inables them to do so.

 

I contacted Procharger regarding system for LT4, per their recent adds in Corvette Fever. They do say they have LT4, but all the info they sent me talked about LT1. I was pretty discouraged by their response not including any specific LT4 data...

Somehow supercharging LT1 or LT4 seems very expensive. The end product if it works seems great, but why some many $$$$$.....

 

You will be discouraged with everything they say. Nobody around these parts likes ATI tech support :lol:

Keep in mind, the other parts in the kit suck. They're made for a stock engine. However, keep in mind, the blower that comes with most kits can support 725-800HP :yesnod:

You make an excellent point, but let me make one: If you want 800HP in the "FUTURE" Where are those Hotcam and LT4 heads gonna be? Riiiiight, sitting on the bench. ;) Where's my blower setup gonna be? On the car being used.

It is expensive, but you guys have to understand something, for every dollar spent boosting a stock motor, it will come back 3 fold in HP gains when you can finally rebuild the motor right, keep the blower, and up the boost. That is my plan.

Currently I've spent about $6000 on my blower setup for a measly 100-150HP. That may sound ourtrageous, HOWEVER, 80% of the parts I bought will be used to support my future 800HP requirements. I still say the most economical way to do it is build the low compression motor first, and then add the blower, but either way it's not like you're pissing your money away.

The knowledge gained from the install, running, tuning, learning about the necessary mods and parts for my eventual 800-1000HP engine was absolutely necessary, otherwise without the blower I would've had no clue.

Here's my personal recommendation:

If you plan on buying a blower kit for a stock motor and that's it! Final! No more mods! It's not worth the money. just spend $1000 on N2O and be done with it.

If you want to learn about forced induction and expand your HP needs, get a blower+built 383 with more HP than all the N/A guys make....and oh, did I mention how streetable a boosted 800HP engine is? ;)

 

:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: That's why Carrol's kits rock. They have top notch parts and the right combos to make "RELIABLE" horsepower. I haven't heard anything bad about their setups. The price is higher than ATI and Vortech's kits, but not in the long run.

I believe their HP claimes, however, I wouldn't spin a stock motor that high without a top end valve train upgrade.

 

Those are correct that say a SC is not the way to go for just 100-150hp increase. I could have gotten a similar hp gain for a lot less than the $7K I spent to purchase my Procharger and have it installed. But, I wanted something different and that's what I got. My car is a topic of conversation everywhere I take it. It draws attention like flies when I open the hood. Plus, it now has the capability of putting out some serious hp, should I decide to go into the engine.

 

Just got back from the gym and a guy up there had a Mustang 347 stroker with a 8 pound ati unit on it. How did I know? I could hear the blower wine. :thumbs: Made him open the hood. How much noise do you ati guys have on your vettes. One thing I love about blowers is the noise.

 

I love the noise. However, the sc units are very quiet....I was almost dissapointed because it was so quiet....until I, let's just say, met up with a mustang and he said "I didn't realize how fast those things were"

if I had a P600, he would have known better.

 

ATI blowers noise= :eek:
Mine is so loud and between the exhaust and blower i cant hear my radio!

 

My Procharger has just about the perfect SC sound for a corvette. It is not too loud, but loud enough to know what's under the hood. Those who don't know the sound of a blower don't notice the squeal, unless the hood is up. Those (usually guys) that know the blower sound definitely know what's under the hood (when it's closed). While in the car, the blower can barely be heard during idle. Under acceleration, only my Magniflow's can be heard.

 

IMHO, on an LT1 and moreso on an LT4, if you are looking for 350-400 rwhp , a heads/cam setup will be the best way to go. You can make great power reliably for about the same price as a blower kit and install price.

Supercharging these cars is fine but the weak link is the weak pistons (hypereutectic) that are very suspect to breaking under detenation with high relative compression (stock compression plus compressed blower charge). That is why most all of the kits are such low psi on stock motors and why intercooling is so important (to keep heat down which can lead to detenation.

Mustangs are great for supercharging because of their much lower compression ratios and relative lack of hp gain when doing heads/cam setups compared to our cars (even though their pistons are made of the same stuff).

With an LT4 having 10.8:1 stock compression and hyper pistons you simply cannot safely put on much boost . Supercharged cars are truly awesome when setup correctly (aka 03+ Cobras) BUT downright unreliable when not setup correctly.

 

True, but most people get into supercharging to make more power than a simple heads/cam. A modest rebuild of an LT-1/4 will yield way more power with even the standard s/c kits.

But you're limiting yourself for more power down the road.

As a general rule of thumb, that may be so, but any modifications will be unreliable. Don't blame the supercharger because the driver doesn't have enough sense to tune it.

Again, as a general rule of thumb yes, but it's not to say an LT1/4 can't be setup correctly.

I think we've all seen that dollar for dollar a stock engine w/ s/c is not as cost effective.....but there's more potential in the future. That is the trade off.

 

vvv90, I agree , for the most part. Personally I would go heads cam first , then a strong stroker shortblock (with 9.5:1 pistons if you think you may want to go blower later) . If that is not enough, add a blower and if that is not enough go turbo.

I used to own a 97 Cobra and my recommendation there is go straight to a blower kit . Why? stock compression is only 9.8:1 and the 4 valve heads flow really well stock. Plus , although bolt ons work well , heads and cam changes are very expensive and more limited than on our more simple pushrod motors.

IMHO the real way to go if you want a blower is with a positive displacement type as well. Centrificals have their advantages (great packaging pricing and excellent top end power) but positive displacement types (like roots or twin screw ) produce massive boost at low rpms as well as at high rpms yeilding much more powe under the curve.

Nitrous is cheap and effective , but isnt always on and is REALLY hard on a motor.

:flag