Hey everyone! Looking for advice and opinions on which head unit to go with. I'm still in the saving money/information gathering stage of my build, but I'm 90% sure I want to go with a centrifugal supercharger. I originally wanted to go with Twin turbos but they're more expensive and harder to install, plus I think a supercharger is beter suited to my driving style.
So, after doing some looking it apears that the A&A kit is my most likely candidate. They seem to have a really good reputation around here, and a lot of experience. There seem to be a few different options for head-units to use with this kit however, and this is where I'm looking for opinions from folks who have used these different head-units.
About my car:
My car is a 2001 C5 coupe with a six speed. I'm 90% sure the transmission is out of a Z06 however, and the rear-end gears are 396's.
As far as I know, the motor is stock, but I have no way to be 100% on this. Asuming the motor is original, it has about 120,000 miles on it.
I can't afford to go forged on the bottom end for quite some time so that is another factor to consider.
So, on to what I'm looking for:
The car is used primarily on the street, and is my daily driver so reliability is a must. I love HPDE's and do that about twice a year. I want quite a bit of power at low RPM (which is another reason I've shyed away from turbos). It appears most stock bottom ends usually end up around 500hp at about 9psi regardless of which head-unit is used. So my head-unit questions are geared more towards power delivery, reliability, and sound. I want to hear my super-charger, but I don't want it to be annoyingly loud. If possible I would like to use the same head-unit when I go to a forged bottom-end, so I would like it to be capable of 650-700hp.
I plan to do the install myself, as I am a mechanic. I would also like to do the tune myself, but I'm still not sure if that's gonna happen. I have very little experience in this type of tuning. It would be nice if I could find a professional to hold my hand, and teach me how to tune it, but I'm a realistic person and I know thier time is just too valuable for that type of thing. I've "helped" customers fix thier own car before, and it usually takes longer with thier "help" than it would if I just did it myself.
But alas I'm getting off track.
I've been looking at a very cool PCM emulator called "road runner", which allows real-time tuning/adjustment. I run a carPC which is one of the reasons this emulator and tuning myself interests me. and I'm off track again....
Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks in advance to any who are willing to give some advice
Travis

Edit: I'm not completely opposed to going with a positive displacement style supercharger, I've just heard they don't offer as much potential for big numbers, and that they run a hotter IAT (which I don't like).

 

Call Andy

 

well for low end power you are gonig to have to go with a positive displacement those are the ones taht give the big TQ down low. The AA kit the power is linear and don't start maknig decent boost til 4k or so. You can get the biggest KB charger out there and should make good power.

 

Very happy with mine, the other good option is ECS

 

So, strangely enough, shortly after I started this thread, I found some more info on my own...
Vortech head-units:
V-2 and V-3 are essentially the same except the V-3 is self-contained (meaning it has it's own oil set-up)
The two trims offered Si and T
Si is slightly more efficient, but the T has higher CFM.
V-7 is a bigger blower with more HP potential...
Does this all sound about right?
Would the larger blower (V-7) make more boost at a lower RPM?
I'm sure this is not a new idea, but: Is it possible to run a smaller pulley on the SC to get more boost at lower RPM, then just have the blow off valve vent the extra as the RPM's go up? (So you don't go above the safe limit for the motor).

I think what I really need to do is find some super-nice Vette owners willing to let me drive thiers so I can feel the difference.
That might be rather difficult however since I'm livin in Montana right now. I don't think there are very many SC Vettes around here.

Like I said, I'm not opposed to Pos. Disp., but for all I know, a centrifugal might have plenty down low for my prefferance. Esp. since the gearing on my car is so short. Plus a new hood = more money...

I did call Andy a while back, and he answered my questions nicely. I just forgot to ask these questions. I kinda feel like I'm waisting his time a little too since I'm not planning on buying for a while. I'd rather waste your guys' time since you're obviously on here "wasting" time anyway

I guess what I'm really looking for is some people with experience with different set-ups to chime in and give me a little insight.
"I went with the Maggie, but regret it because... it's too loud, or doesn't have enough up-top, or ect."
"I have a centrifugal, but wish I had a Pos. Disp. for more down-low"
"I have X head unit, it's silent"
"I have X head unit, it's annoyingly loud"
"I like the V-2 because you don't have to mess with checking/changing the oil in it"
"I like the V-3 because it's easier to install you don't have to mess with running oil lines"
"Go with the V-7, V-2/V-3 wont be enough for you after you go forged"
Stuff like that. Thanks

 

u are saying u have a 120k miles on the clock on the stock bottom end & dont know when ur gonna be able to go forged ,these are decisions that based on your driving style ,may last u 1k miles or another 20k miles i wouldnt imo put a charger on a motor that had hard miles on it ,its just to many varibles that can go wrong & your gonna be constantly working on it to get it fixed , what i may would do is get a 370ci motor or an rotating assembly & have one built with 9.1 9.5 to 1 & build the motor around the blower u are gonna use ,with nice long Lsa 115 to 117 +4 Advanced ground into the cam & just take ur time ,or shoot the nos to it while ur waiting ,maybe a 100 wet shot or the 5177 nos dry shot, decisions ,decisions,goodluck on the choices u make ,i personally like the ecs novi 2k head unit makes excellent power with the right gear & cam combo alky ,700 rwhp is an easy target

 

Back in '02 we added a ProCharger D-1SC to my '99 Z28 with 110,000 miles on the engine. Here is a link to it. http://www.exoticperformanceplus.com...Car.php?car=55

If the engine isn't consuming a lot of oil between oil changes, I wouldn't let the miles stop you. Bob

 

That idea is in place with the use of a 'restrictor plate'. It goes immediately after the filter and limits the amount of air the bigger blower or even a pullied down smaller one can get up top.

BTW, Procharger D1SC here, pretty loud, but I like it

 

That sounds pretty interesting, thanks for your input. Is this a fairly common practice? Is there any disadvantages to this type of setup? I'll have to do some research on the Procharger line as well.

 

If your looking for the best low end from a centrifugal, without ever having to upgrade your head unit no matter how much power you want to make, (within reason-1000+hp) look into the ECS Paxton SC. With our restricter plate design that comes with the base kit, you get the power of a PD blower down low, with a flat power peak up top, that yields a much higher average HP then any of the other centrifugal superchargers available. Hence why the fastest stock bottom LS1 and LS6 are running this kit, along with the fastest supercharged C5. All with the exact same kit/headunit, no need to upgrade along the way from mild to wild.

 

Thanks for the info.
I'm interested in this "restrictor plate" technique. While I still have no idea if I would even need to pursue this type of set-up. Are there any users out there who run a restrictor plate who would like to chime in? I also like the idea of regulating the boost after the supercharger by controlling the BOV. Has anyone done this? Or would I be "pioneering"? I think this might be a better option in terms of efficiency.
Maybe this isn't even a necessary venture as the BOV does this already? From my understanding the BOV is open at idle (becuase it's activated by vacuum pressure) anyway. Does the BOV also regulate maximum boost by venting excess when it goes above a set value?
I understand the basics of FI, but the fine details really haven't been explained to me before. Still looking for some posts about different HU noise levels Thanks again!