c5muscle

Hey Guys

Just mapping out a build plan and had a couple questions regarding the pros and cons of a blower vs a turbo and what you would prefer. I have a c5 z06 with cam and headers and my driving would consist of mostly spirited drives with the occasional trip to the strip and a rare trip to a road course. Just curious what you think the best build plan would be and why.

Power goals are roughly 600-700 and even then im sure will be too much power for a road course but I do prefer strip more then anything and what Im aiming for above all in the build is reliability and versatility.

Transmission needs to be a 6 speed manual and my budget is roughly 15k canadian which should afford me a nice turbo or blower set up with some mild motor work and that sounds good to me. No particular goals to run a certain et at the strip or time on the course, just want a fast reliable power adder to a car that im in love with but want more out of...... and I want to be faster then my friends.

Regarding the blower, I am a big fan of the linear power and the ease of build but was most concerned about belt slipping and the cost of mods after the initial build is complete and the all around longevity of a centrifugal blower set up.

My concerns with a turbo would be to have it set up properly so the turbo is not kicking in mid turn on the road course and having something that is also applicable at the strip. I was curious as to why most guys opt for a twin turbo set up as opposed to a single turbo and what advantages and disadvantages there may be and if it is more reliable then a blower

I originally began with the idea of having a blower but Im falling more and more in love with the versatility of a turbo.

Please let me know what you prefer and maybe what you did or didnt do with your set up that you may regret

Rkreigh

for road racing you are going to need great cooling for blowers or turbos. the turbos are nice in that you can turn the boost down as typically road racing you will already have trouble planting big hp and brakes and handling can become more important.

I don't like running a blower as you are going up and down the rpms quite a bit in road racing and it can be hard on the blower and belt. With turbos they are load dependent and running boost by speed or gear can help on a road course.

I like a bit shorter stroke on the track to allow a wider power band and not put so much side loading on the piston. The little 4.8 crank works pretty well and is strong.

Use turbos that spool well off the corners and you will make a bit more mid range torq than the blower which is rpm dependent for boost

Turbo-Geist

This thread has all of the answers. Read till the end to find out which one wins at the track.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-tt-vs-sc.html

StatmanRN

Twins can make the plumbing easier for V style engines, allow the tyrbos to be closer to the engine for less lag, and in theory having less mass will build boost faster.
Plus they are just cooler.

stevieturbo

You dont mention power goals, or any real goals, or indeed budget, or transmission.

Clearly say 6-700hp will have different implications than 1000hp

But very loosely....sub 800hp go Centri.
700-1000 could be either depending on budget.

Over 1000 for most part turbos will make most sense.

That isnt to say turbos could not be used at the lower end ( and anywhere else )...but there are just a huge range of variables and how power is delivered is very much dependant on those as well as your right foot.

Over 1000 on a centri can of course be done and has been many times, but yes belt drives are getting pushed very hard at that point.

c5muscle

Power goals are roughly 600-700 and even then im sure will be too much power for a road course but I do prefer strip more then anything and what Im aiming for above all in the build is reliability and versatility.

Transmission needs to be a 6 speed manual and my budget is roughly 15k canadian which should afford me a nice turbo or blower set up with some mild motor work and that sounds good to me. No particular goals to run a certain et at the strip or time on the course, just want a fast reliable power adder to a car that im in love with but want more out of...... and I want to be faster then my friends.

I just feel with a turbo there are more options, its powered by exaust gases instead of drawing power from the motor (in my perspective safer) and its easier to make more power should I ever get the itch or get bored.

What in particular would make you want to go blower sub 800?

c5muscle

What size turbo would you recommend with an LS6 for all around versatility?

c5muscle

what made you want to go to turbos over supercharger? anything you would have changed on your set up if you could go back?

For the amount of money saved with a single over twin turbo setup, would you say its more worth it to pony up for a tt setup or would a single do just fine?

stevieturbo

Quite simply cost...ease of access, throttle response, feel...general performance.

TT kits will cost a lot more, but yes you could use a pair of very small turbos aimed at that power level which should also give very good response down low.


But all TT kits will be far far more expensive than a blower kit and for that level....is the extra cost really justified ?
Obviously that depends on your budget.

Although one easy benefit of turbos....is you will have far easier access to a wide range of boost and hence power/torque levels at the flick of a switch on a boost controller which might be of benefit for varying courses or weather.

But there are probably more proven blower kits out there, than turbo kits although I think turbo kit options have become slightly better in recent years
Most are twins, dont think I've seen too many single kits ?

Turpid porpoise

The only single kit that I know of if the Hinson and that kit is so far from being a complete "kit" that I can't recommend it to anyone who can't do their own fabrication.

StatmanRN

I generally prefer turbos in most applications, having had both supercharged and turbo vehicles of different types.
I got the long deal on an STS twin rearmount system w upgraded BW turbos.
TBH, for my purposes I would have stayed with the smaller ones. Im at 534hp 10# and a dead stock engine/ mild tune, so not using the potential [yet]
I do like the fact the turbos are out of the engine compartment, which would be an advantage on road racing. The kits came with various brands and sizes originaly.Smaller ones may be better for a road course as well.
The plumbing is pretty complex, though. Installation a bear. Lag is worse.
I have a few frends runing LS singles in the 76mm range that seem to work well
If you have fabrication skills and time, you can build your own setup. If you have money? I would have gone TTix if I could afford it.
For cost and ease of installation though, its hard to beat the blowers

stevieturbo

A rear mount turbo setup would most definitely be the last option.....Even a 454 n/a might get you close to your goals before I'd choose rear mounts.

c5muscle

c5muscle

stevieturbo

I do not see how any custom made turbo kit will be as cheap as a simple tried and tested bolt on blower kit.
It just aint happening unless you were doing all the fab work yourself.

And for the reasons others have mentioned, a single is probably going to be the hardest of all options for zero benefit.

Names that get mentioned for TT kits, and I believe there are a few threads are UPP and Huron Speed, not sure if TTix is still about ?

A quick google... and in no particular order.

https://uppturbo.com/parts/turbo-kit/

https://huronspeed.com/product/huron...fer-deposit-2/

Canadian ?

https://canadiancorvetteforums.com/t...urbo-kit.7130/

Huron Speed in the link above has been doing a lot of turbo kits for a variety of LS platforms recently with all good reviews, that would be something to look into and they seem to be very well priced.


As for performance, lag, whatever.....twins vs singles. Sized appropriately for the application there would be very little difference.. But when there are almost no single kits available and there are twin kits available.....it sort of makes that decision easy.

c5muscle

My mechanic did recommend a rear mount set up and it seems like that would take care of part of the heat issue under the hood, but you all would know better. How is the lag in the single compared to twins and is it bearable to you? Are your friends single set ups still half decent at the road course or is it just more roll racing and digs? How much did your friends save by going single instead of twins?

c5muscle

Thanks a lot for the info and answering the question of single vs twin and If boost lag is an issue. When I priced out a blower and install last fall it was roughly 12-15 Canadian. 6k us plus shipping and then taxes and conversion take a big toll on pricing for us Canadians and still need labour on the install plus tune. It most often times works out to double the price. I just figured if I’m in for 12k why not spend 15k to have more options for tuning and drivability. Not too knowledgeable about what needs to be done for a turbo kit so the quote from my mechanic sounded decent to me in comparison.

I’ve never heard of phobia innovations, I’m from toronto Ontario so theyre roughly a 22-25 hour drive for me

Really appreciate the insight, I’ll check upp out

stevieturbo

I would say there would be less work fitting a blower kit than there would a twin turbo kit if labour is expensive.

But each does have their pros and cons.

The base Huron kit is well priced and maybe you could source turbos locally in Canada to help reduce costs ? or maybe it'd make no difference overall.

Would it be anymore cost effective to drive to a shop in the US if there were any semi-local, have it fitted then drive home again ? Make a holiday/vacation of it.

c5muscle

Yea I don’t doubt that at all that labour is a bitch, my mechanic is a good friend that does strictly custom turbo kits at his shop and he said he was willing to help me out and give me his pricing on everything so it will be close to a blower pricing.

When I was still thinking blower I was going to drive to Ecs (8 hour drive) which would have saved me a bit of money on shipping and taxes (1500-2000) but even then still would cost me over 10k Canadian when said and done.

Would definitely not be opposed to a road trip at all. So if any accredited shops have a sale or promotion I’d be very interested.

c5muscle

Took a while to read but was very informative and pretty entertaining hahaha. I like a lot of what you said about a turbo set up, anything you would change if you could go back and do it again?

Also did you ever race that guy? Lol