Looks like in a couple of months I will pull the trigger on H/C or SC.

I really need the pros and cons of the two options. Please view my sig below. Not lookin for uncontrollable power. This is a daily driver....I have over 24k in less than one year. Need reliabilty and streeetable. Like to do canyon carving.

I am concerned about the spring breakage issue with the H/C. And Andy is afraid I will Kill myself during a downshift (A4) on a canyon run

H/C would be AFR and mild cam
SC would be by Andy under stock hood (no Magnusun)

Thanks for any advise or input

 

I've heard that Real Men go both ways. But since you have a 4X4 A4, I'm afraid it's hopeless! Best,

mtv

 

Heck, you should do both. I am thinking you go forged bottom end, D1SC, AFR225 heads, and net around 600+ RWHP. I want you to do it, so I can see how it works, then I will upgrade from my H/C to that set up. By the way, it is only uncontrollable power if you push too hard on the gas pedal...just like a gun has no potential to be dangerous until someone puts it in their hand...BTW, I am telling your wife. I can't wait to see how you hide that one.

 

I would go with just the blower. With the power ANdy can get out of a car with a blower and some bolt ons it seems like the better option.
There is nothing like hearing that blower as you are driving down the road.

Maybe add a small cam too.

 

One thing to consider is that a H/C setup doesn't add any weight to the car

 

H/C has my vote!

 

H&C here

 

Really depends how much power you're looking for. If 400ish rwhp will do I would lean towards the AFR 225's and a mild cam. If you want to be closer to 500 rwhp go with a blower - either the A&A or ECS.

Mark

 

One thing about a blower is that it's easy to remove and resell.

 

Hehehehehe

 

This debate has been fought long and hard Ultimatly its your choice as to how you wish to spend your money

 

If you are a habitual downshifter (like I used to be) I'd stay away from the h/c, or go over the top on the valvetrain components.

Bent/broken pushrods, and valve floats really bloz!

 

I wrestled with the same question. I ended up going with the H/C pkg. See sig. With a '98 I needed to upgrade springs and rockers either way I went. No regrets! (I can add the SC later with an upgraded A4.)


BTW - Great Looking Car!!!
Has the right attitude for either H/C or SC.

 

For all of you H/C and supercharger guys, I think Macinamouth wanted a better idea of what would be most comfortable to drive and be reliable for peace of mind but give him more power when he wanted it.

 

I think we should get the wives together to see which one is more clueless..

Are you in for Sunday??

 

Yes...thank you!

I want to know things like: maintnance costs/noise/fuel costs/daily drivabilty.....

I know SC will give me more power....more than I really need. But I heard H/C is worse on gas and inherrant spring issues.

PS...you wise@ss guys stay out of this..

 

Thanks....very good point!!

 

H/C: Elegantly simple, proven, but with A4s, really require a cam with excellent mid range, higher stall necessary, at least 3.42 diff'l gearing necessary. Headers generally necessary. Higher than stock idle speeds and higher stall will hurt city fuel efficiency noticable. Higher gearing will have an effect on highway mileage, but still may be acceptable. Refinement will be adversely affected with some cams beginning in the low 4xx rwhp range. If you want to avoid valvespring issues, part of the solution is to get the power by narrower LSA and longer duration along with moderate/not high lift; this however compromises refinement.

Centrifugal mechanical SC: More complicated. Hands-down bang for buck winner when you add octane booster into the picture. Excellent refinement even with most blower cams. Higher stall necessary for best results. Higher differential gearing is recommended for lower SC drive ratios but not necessary. Blow-through throttle body SCs can develop lots of heat even with generous bypass when you hang high in the rpms but at low throttle loads (such as canyon carving and trail throttling or engine braking). Success depends heavily on tuner; and the difficulty here is why you see more disappointing blower serups than NA setups at the track. In hot summery days, and after idling in the traffic for a while, the setup can feel shockingly weak that makes you feel vunerable even to bolt-on modded C5s. Added weight is an issue, which forces the need for more torque and power for given acceleration goal than HC NA. Some units make a lot of noise at idle, which can be good or bad depending on tastes. This route has always the possibility of follow-up expenditures on bottom end rebuilds fairly quickly. On pump gas, centrifugal mechanical SCs really come into their element with at least 8-9 psi and lower compression ratios.

 

Do you want a idle rocker (lope in the idle) or do you want it to drive stock? If you want something most people will notice on the street then do the heads/cam. If you want the car to drive like stock, sound like stock (except for a little whine at idle), and drive like a bat outa hell when you floor it, then get the blower. Nothing else required to have some fun.

FWIW, the blower will probably run you a little more than a heads and cam package, but you will not need the gears or torque convertor with the blower. Of course, any automatic will perform better with a little stall upgrade.

As for fuel economy. From my experience you will see better gas milage out of a blower car depending on how much you are getting on it. I dropped a couple MPG when I did the blower install. On my last race day this past weekend, I drove 145 miles to the track, raced close to 10 runs, and drove the 145 miles home on the same tank of gas. My average for the trip was right at 19 MPG (manually calculated). Most of the highway was driven at 80-90.

For me, the blower was the right choice because I did not want the lopey, loud, heads and cam that I had with my last hot rod. Granted, you can do a heads and cam without the big lope, but you will not make the big power (400+ rwhp).

It all depends on what you want for your ride.

 

S/C first, you won't be sorry