My very good friend Mario has a 2003 Vert (3.15 auto) that has a Vortex, airbox, enlarged throttle body, long tube headers, no cats, and Borla Stingers. We decided to solicit Norris Motorsports to do a package, but he has had some conflict with the idea of a Supercharger. The original package and my particular favorite is the Stage 2 Heads/ Comp Cam / Torque Converter/ and 3.42's w/ underdrive pulleys. He is leaning towards the less expensive Supercharger (front mount ) but doesn't think that the gears and Torque Converter are needed. Help ??

 

If you bolt on the Super Charger, you will need to upgrade the transmission. You can leave the 3.15's in the car if you like. A good Head and Cam engine is good to do too. Both will require tuning to make them run the best that they can. IMO, go for the most HP you can get. :)

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

I like the power of a supercharger but I love the personality of a H/C.

 

:iagree: Very well put. A buddy and I both opted for the h/c - this being an important consideration. :steering: :cheers:

 

email SilverStar (do a search)... we put a crate LS6 w/ ATI P1SC at 6.5 psi (standard) on top of what we installed earlier in the year... an FLP Level IV and gears ( I forget... either 3.42's or 3.73's with a Pro Torque 2400 if I'm not mistaken. We tuned the motor and set the tranny to shift correctly. The car is wicked fast... trust me :yesnod: ;)

 

Go with the supercharger :)

 

After you do the Heads and Cam of course.

 

SFVetteman.....good comment! I agree.

 

I'd do a S/C for one reason - it can easily be taken back off, and you will have a stock Corvette. You cannot return ported/polished heads to stock - you have to replace them. And popping the cam back out is not a do-it-yourself job for very many of us either. With a blower, you just unbolt the stuff, and put it up for sale on the forum "for sale" section.

Also, I can tell you from experience, re-selling a modified car is not easy. The audience for cars with heads/cam is pretty damn small.

 

Jim, you are correct that many cannot do-undo a h/c change easily - but there are many that can. I could undo mine in my garage in a weekend. Most who've installed h/c have bought separate heads and stored the stockers or returned them for core charge. Stock heads can be easily purchased or traded for. I opted to keep mine.

Also, I feel that uninstalling a s/c is not really much less traumatic than a h/c setup. Some of the superchargers that are being sold require relocation of some components in order to fit the s/c in. Look at the latest Vortech. In looking at the pictures of an install, I believe the alternator and PS pump have to be moved to make room for the charger. The Magnuson requires an entirely new hood and most are having the adjoining panels blended in order to match the paint of the new hood. What happens when you put the original hood back on?

The programming changes for either h/c or s/c require a flash back to stock so they're equal in that respect.

My h/c car looks ostensibly stock except for the unrelated mods (intake, screens, brakes and exhaust) that I've done. Looking in the engine bay, a casual observer would never know it has h/c in it.

You can never predict the future but my plans are to never sell this car unless I'm forced to. If I had to, though, I could return it to stock myself - I still have all the parts I've replaced.

JMHO :cheers: :thumbs:

 

Patches - good points. :cheers:

 

How about for a Cali car that needs to pass Smog 3? My area is the one of the worse in the country on smog regs, will it be too difficult to get a H/C package to make power and still pass smog? Would a SC be any easier to make power and still pass smog ( or atleast easier to revert to passable standards)?
Just a few questions because I really do not know :p:

 

Jim,

I agree with you that a car that is modified will be harder to sell and will almost always bring a lower price. I will also agree with Patches that it's not easy to bring a supercharged motor back to stock either.

In my case I have all the original parts except for the cam and since it's not really much different it probably wouldn't make much difference. I know I have a uncommon setup for a H/C but I think that if I reprogrammed in torque management and reset the rev limiter, I could probably leave the ported heads and cam in and a lot of people probably wouldn't notice the difference.

 

EJB98GT,

My car will crunch the numbers and visually the only problem is that some places would want to see the stock airbox, which I have in the garage. Everything else looks stock except for the headers and they have an CARB #. The carbon fiber stuff could be replaced with the stock pieces if necessary but I would think it would be treated as eye candy and not a problem. I also could have gone with a 220 cam but I wanted to be extra safe.

 

I personnaly am planning on a H&C upgrade with some bottom-end strengthening as Stage I. Later (when time and more $$$ permit) I'm planning on adding in a SC as a Stage II.

If you are like me and do not plan on selling the Vette then do a H&C...

With a SC added on, either with or without any other mods, I would still think that strengthening the lower-end would be a wise move. ARP bolts recommended.

:cheers:

 

Your friends car sounds just like mine. I have a 2001 Coupe (3.15 auto) that has a Vortex, airbox,LG long tube headers, no cats, and Borla Stingers. I have the same question. From what I have read the heads and cam seem to be the best bet. But I sure love the blower cars. My last car was a 96 LT4 383 Vortech Supercharged with an ATI intercooler. It was a blast to drive.

 

Do both... :D

 

:yesnod:

My thoughts exactly!! :) Hey wait!!! thats what I did!!! :eek:

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

I have had 2 C5's. My first was a H&C car and I returned it completely to stock and sold all of the mods. So I would not be worried about whether you intend on keeping the car or not...this stuff sells very quickly on the C5 parts section.
I would recommend doing H&C and gears (M6 Cars) and then doing an S/C or turbo. Or both as quite a few are doing. I opted for just the cam and retained my stock heads but did replace the valve springs.

 

It appears that my first thought (Heads/Cam/TC/3.42) were correct. The one thought that needs to be discussed is warranty as the car has less than 1500 miles on the odo.

Money is not the object, and Mario is also looking at trading for a New Viper (2003) as he believes he cannot get the HP/TQ out of the Vette with just Heads/Cam/TC/Gears. Any thoughts ?? (not a Vette slam, but take this only to the HP level , not your particular favorite automobile)