If you are looking for big power in the near future which way will you go???
Seems that the 422 cid motors are making as much or more power as the blower kits albeit at higher prices.

 

Motor power all the way. Forced induction is still lame in my book. Why would you wanna hear that hideous whine when you can hear the raw lump of a big cam in a stroker motor? Or even heads/cam? And I AM entitled to my opinion on the subject... :lol:

 

Although sound is nice ...... who cares what it sounds like? Bluethunders 634hp HC ATI car is BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!!! ... no matter what it sounds like.

 

Depends what you plan on doing with the car down the road. If you are going to keep it for a long time a big inch engine will pay for itself. After a while with a fairly high HP FI setup you will probably do heads and the bottom end anyhow so plugging a big inch motor in off the bat isnt a bad idea.

If you are planning to keep the car only a couple years, slap a blower on there and have some fun. When you are done take the blower off, sell the supercharger and get 50 cents back on the dollar. Its also a lot easier to sell the car put back to fairly stock then it is with a cammed up 422 - depending on who is buying it of course :)

 

i Wrestled with this but not for long, epecially when i found out a 432ci package from ARE costs $23K. Sure, strong internals, but still not convinced about driveabilty - no flames intended.

since there still only seems to be one proven FI system out there, for the C5 anyway. I would choose this over the stroker.

Give the PROCHARGER and Magna some time and they will improve and become more stable, especially the tuning issues.

 

IMO anyway you go there may be a reliability, or long-term issue. Wether you go all motor or forced induction you are adding more power than was designed for the car. As long as it is tuned properly and you do not drag race 24/7 - the car will live a long life (sure there will always be exceptions). I am sure if we had the money we would each have a TT 427 - but it is not PRACTICAL for most of us. Think about the application you have in mind then decide what seems most logical.

 

It’s a very complicated and always highly debated issue.

IMO:

First you need to decide how much power you want (will want down the line)
If it’s obtainable NA I think NA would be the way to go.

If not, it really depends what your application and other considerations are:
<LI> Drag racing: I think NA + Juice is hard to beat.
<LI> Highway racing: FI would be favorable.
<LI> Road racing: NA due to reliability concerns (heat and FI don’t mix :nonod: ) as well as to maintain minimum possible weight/good balance.

And then there’re a whole bunch of other considerations as:
<LI> Drivability
<LI> Reliability
<LI> Upgradability
and let’s not forget $$$

My $.02



[Modified by EuG, 1:51 AM 8/19/2002]

 

I think FI has some major advantages.

1) daily drivability - can run just like it was stock below 3k rpm
2) gas milage - can be as good as stock
3) removal - can be easily returned to stock
4) price - you can get around 500hp for 5+k

and best of all
5) sound - you can hear that awsome whirl of the blower

to each his own.



[Modified by QuickSilver2002, 7:09 AM 8/19/2002]

 

I put my vote in for BOTH.

Tom

 

Stroker. :yesnod: More expensive, but it will run better in the long run, IMHO.

 

Deep pockets= stroker Not so deep pockets= blower....I would LOVE to have both :yesnod:

 

:yesnod:

 

With Tom on this one :smash:

 

;)

 

I really believe natural power is the better power but of course this is my opinion.. I know more power can be achieved with a real agressive forced induction setup than a pure n/a stroker, but a nice shot of juice can be added very affordably to a stroker and let it produce similar or better numbers to most of the blower setups out there.

I have yet to see a Supercharger on a C5 produce any good quarter mile times.. I have yet to even see one run faster than a well setup heads/cam package, let alone a stroker motor. Sure they do good on the dyno, but the street can be a whole different ballgame when it comes to belt slippage, tuning and heat issues.

A stroker and blower setup would be the ultimate, but with all the fuel system and belt slippage problems, to my knowledge no tuner has produced one of these with any success or reliability.

When it comes to sound, a supercharger just doesn't substitute the sound of raw cubic inches and a lumpy camshaft.

I am not saying that someday, forced induction may become more impressive on our cars, but for now, I will stick to my 480rwhp/495rwtq, 28mpg superstroker that I couldnt be happier with.



[Modified by MattG, 6:56 PM 8/19/2002]

 

Give me until Thursday morning, when I should pick up my car from Mike Norris. 8-Rib belt should solve the slippage problem. Upgraded fuel pump should solve fuel delivery. We'll see :):)

Tom

 

Tom, I am very looking forward to hearing about your supercharged beast when you get it back! I know you are in very good hands with Mike Norris!

 

[QUOTE]

A stroker and blower setup would be the ultimate, but with all the fuel system and belt slippage problems, to my knowledge no tuner has produced one of these with any success or reliability.


I sure hope that i prove to be an exception.. Only time will tell :D

:cheers:

Jeff

 

Some very good points above. A couple thoughts from me:

1) Upgrading a powerful stroker by adding a supercharger is not that simple. A superstroker, which generally will have a high compression, is built in a differnt direction than a low compression FI engine. Certainly a solid forged built bottom is a good place to build FI from, and you can FI a stroker, you may just have other things to consider than just strapping on a blower.

2) Peaky hp/tq numbers seen on some FI applications is not as optimal as the big broad torque curves generally seen with the strokers. I like the area under the curve far better than a high peak number. I'd sacrifice highest hp bragging rights for a big curve with better area under the tq/hp curves; That's where the races are won.

That said, like Tom I will soon have my 422/ATI back, mine from GWP. The cog drive is being finished, and we are looking at the F2 Procharger instead of the D1SC. The numbers will be there, but the performance on the track and the reliability will need to be seen. As mentioned above, I think your goals, plans, intended use makes a difference. I personally would choose stroker N/A over FI if I had to pick one, but that's just my personal opinion.

ZZ