WONDERING WHAT THE PROS AND CONS OF EACH ARE? WHO HAS WHAT? WHO HAS HAD ISSUES WITH WHAT? AND WHATS THE MOST DEPENDABLE WHILE TAKING A BEATING? (I DRIVE HARD)

THANKS FOR ANY INPUT

 

You posed a lot of questions you may not get much of an answer. It is all about preference, where do you like your power/torque curve, are you racing the car? Is it a daily driver?

Traditional H/C with long tubed headers is the way to go IMHO; sound, driveability, etc. But it is very cool to pop your hood and show off a high polished supercharger, turbo.

 

If you dont plan on keeping the car for more than 5 years or so I would get blown. You can take it off when you sell the car and sell it separete from the car to make more $$. If you do h/c/i you usually have to sell the stuff on it and it usually adds little to the resale value.

I have had neither, but a blower and a good tune would be really nice and easy running 5-8lbs...... There is an attraction to stay all engine too though.

 

i love the sound of a heads cam car, but i like the stock drivability of the procharger. If i were to do it again id go procharger

 

My vette is all go and no show, so im looking for more low-mid ranger power- not to show off a polished engine.

 

I've driven procharged cars, yes that pull like a raped ape, and it's extremely smooth.

My car is H/C/I right now with LT's and Bullets. The sound alone makes my girlfriend wet, and put's me in the mood . I'm putting down 421whp/400ftlbs.

My roomates car is a H/C/I Forged 427 C6 with LT's and Bullets. He's putting down 550whp and similar torque.

I vote H/C/I for the badass'ness of it (if that makes sense). I will admit I love the whine of a blower, but the lope of the cam, I prefer much more. Hell, maybe I'll toss a blower on and have both

 

Also, check out the Perf results section

 

My 01 Z is ProCharged. I have never had an issue with my setup. For dependability, Any forced induction will prevail over a Heads and cam package. The F1 cars are more efficient. I have found the gas mileage is alot better. I get better gas mileage now than I did stock.

If you want to just cruise you can and not have to worry about boost or alot of load until you make boost. Heads and cam, you will always be making that power. There is no inbetween.

 

Im leaning more towards h/c/i but i have a few more questions... (sorry)

1) can i do each part separate or must it be all at once?

2) the intake part... I already have an "intake" variam i believe?(came on the car) is that enough or is there another intake mod i dont know of? I keep hearing of the f.a.s.t. Intake... Dont know what that is!

This is my first build so im pretty green with the terminology..

 

You can do it piece by piece, but it's the order you do it that matters.

Units like the FAST are the Intake Manifold itself that sits on top of your engine block. Stuff like the K&N Air Filters, Vararam, Halltech Stinger/Venom, etc are just the air filters or some types are cold air intakes or ram air intakes. I just always use the term Intake Manifold when referring to units like the FAST to avoid confusion.

I would start with the exhaust before doing anything on the top end of the motor. Or people start with the Air Intake like the Vararam or Halltech Stinger/Venom since they are cheap. Most people will do a full exhaust setup to get a nice free flowing exhaust. A cam is nice to do next, as that is the big powermaker and doing things like the Heads or Intake Manifold before that wont net you much power gain without a cam. A lot of people will do the heads along with the cam since the stock heads have to be removed anyway. I think most people do the Intake Manifold last.

My own particular order will be this for my z06:
Air Intake Filter (Halltech Venom
B&B Bullet Catback/LG Pro Longtubes
Camshaft Kit
FAST 92mm Intake Manifold
AFR 205cc Mongoose Heads

I already have the longtubes since I never installed them on the FRC I just sold, so they will be going on at the same time as the B&B Catback.

 

I'm currently running:
Vararam
Stainless Works LT's --> B&B Bullets
Cartek 224/228 .590 113LSA Cam
Stock heads Ported/Polished and Milled. 11.5 to 1 CR
LS6 Intake Manifold
(a few other things)

I'm debating changing heads and going with a FAST 92mm. Should make me a little more power

 

I already have the magnaflow exhaust w no cats also.

 

How much money are you looking to spend Matt?

 

See thats what im not real sure of just yet.. I dont wanna refinance the car just for the build, but i dont wanna just throw some cheap **** on it either. Whats it gonna ballpark at for h/c/i? Ive priced prochargers @ $5600 but thats pretty steep.

 

From what I've gathered, you can buy a S/C kit (used) and have it installed and tuned for around $6500. I'm not too sure about H/C/I because my car had it already when done.

 

If you want serious power you have to go forced induction. Heads and cam will never give you the same power levels. As a first step I would go low boost Procharger (or Vortech or Paxton or whatever). I did the following (in order);

- low boost D1SC Procharger (6 rib) on stock internals (had for 2 years with no problems)
- forged 383, AFR 225 heads, blower cam, fuel system, higher boost (8 rib)

My car makes 787 RWHP and 771 RWTQ. All work was done by ECS (who are great by the way).

A low boost supercharger on stock internals is a great driving experience, but speak to a tuner. They will be able to guide you.

 

there's some great information here.

 

IMHO I would choose a H/C setup. I have the E.T. Perf 2.5 heads and a Comp cam .649/.598 on a 111 Duration with a Vararam CAI, 3500 stall and 3.42 rear gear. I made 436 RWHP and have since added a 150 Shot of happy juice. OHH What fun..

 

These cars are pretty easy to work on, and DIY in stages will save you money. If you drive your car hard, as you stated, you're gonna need a clutch, and drivetrain improvements. Things will break or fail when you increase the stock power level, just so you know. I would budget in these upgrades before adding significant power to the motor, in your situation.

 

H/C/I can be just as expensive, but the good thing is you can do it in stages and not all at once.
Heads- 1000 to 2500 (depending on what you want)
cam-300 to 500
Intake 1000
mics- 1000
clutch- 1000-1500
tune-500
its all the little stuff that kills you- springs, push rods, gaskets, pulley, injectors, etc.
Labor is gonna cost you alot too, me and a buddy did all my stuff besides the clutch/gears.


i have an 01 Z with H/C
stock heads ported/polished/milled cost me $1000 (local machine shop)
G5X3 cam $500
LG Pro longtube headers
stage 3 clutch, 3.90 gears $2000 Installed
mics. stuff $1500

with that setup i put down 450 rwhp. coming soon fast 92 Intake and nitrous.