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Which is harder on your engine?

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Old Jan 25, 2009 | 11:39 PM
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Default Which is harder on your engine?

Ok I'm a long way away from doing either of these but a friend and I were talking today. Which is harder on your engine adding a supercharger or adding a cam?

Or better yet NA or FI? Which wears on the engine more?
Thanks
Shane
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Old Jan 25, 2009 | 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Stickboy97
Ok I'm a long way away from doing either of these but a friend and I were talking today. Which is harder on your engine adding a supercharger or adding a cam?

Or better yet NA or FI? Which wears on the engine more?
Thanks
Shane
It depends... The blower will make more power so stress on a lot of the internal components will be higher... That said the cam will put a lot more stress on the valvetrain and one needs only to do a search on the forum to see timing chains that broke, valve that binded or bent, etc... A big cam will require semi regular valvespring replacements for example; you don't have that kind of issue with a blower...
As with anything, it depends on the particular setup, how well it was tuned, and how it is driven.
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Old Jan 25, 2009 | 11:50 PM
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Shane,

That's a very hard question to answer - because neither are "hard" per se on your engine if done PROPERLY (all in the tune and setup)!!!! But both have their advantages and disadvantages. Typically you would add a cam when you supercharge the car so that you have a proper blower came for your application.

I'd advise you to stop by the Forced Induction/Nitrous area on this forum for some very in-depth answers.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 12:11 AM
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Thanks both of you! I didn't look on that other forum before I asked I'll check it out tomorrow. I'm looking to keep this car for quite some time but I also want to start modding it and making it faster. So I figured I'd ask if one hurt the car more than the other.

I was planning on adding a CAI, headers, cam & then a tune, but then I started thinking that maybe I would add a supercharger, CAI & tune instead. If you add the supercharger do you still need to add a cam & headers? If so, if I went the first route could I add a supercharger later and keep the same cam?
thanks
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 12:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Stickboy97
Thanks both of you! I didn't look on that other forum before I asked I'll check it out tomorrow. I'm looking to keep this car for quite some time but I also want to start modding it and making it faster. So I figured I'd ask if one hurt the car more than the other.

I was planning on adding a CAI, headers, cam & then a tune, but then I started thinking that maybe I would add a supercharger, CAI & tune instead. If you add the supercharger do you still need to add a cam & headers? If so, if I went the first route could I add a supercharger later and keep the same cam?
thanks
I made 597RWHP/518RWTQ on a completely stock engine running pump gas using a basic bolt on supercharger kit and a set of headers. No cam needed unless you are going for big power.
That is also more than you would ever see from a heads/cam setup.
My advice for you is to figure out EXACTLY what you want to do with the car and how you plan on modding it to get it there, and then stick to the plan... If you keep swapping stuff out you are going to waste a lot of money.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 12:35 AM
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Originally Posted by powerlabs
That is also more than you would ever see from a heads/cam setup.
That's not entirely accurate.

If the OP has a Z06, then 600 RWHP from heads, cam, headers, tune is a reasonable expectation. However, if the OP doesn't have a Z06, then Sam is correct.

To the OP,

DO NOT buy a CAI if you plan on running a supercharger. It's unnecessary.

Spend a little time in that section I mentioned.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 12:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Stickboy97
Thanks both of you! I didn't look on that other forum before I asked I'll check it out tomorrow. I'm looking to keep this car for quite some time but I also want to start modding it and making it faster. So I figured I'd ask if one hurt the car more than the other.

I was planning on adding a CAI, headers, cam & then a tune, but then I started thinking that maybe I would add a supercharger, CAI & tune instead. If you add the supercharger do you still need to add a cam & headers? If so, if I went the first route could I add a supercharger later and keep the same cam?
thanks
I went that route initially intending on a supercharged application but when I put the heads/cam in I realized it was way more power than I needed at sea level.

When i moved to colorado, the car lost about 75hp and I had to get a supercharger to get the air in and found the cam I had was perfect for the application. You will find that most cams work with FI. Just get one you can live with. Cams in the 228 to 232 intake duration make great power with good heads and 475rwhp is plenty on the street. If you plan on only running street tires you may not want more. I ran r-compound tires and a 75 shot-nitrous with my head/cam car and gears (which I consider mandatory with FI or N/A). It was unreal fast at 560rwhp/611rwtq.

Superchargers are easily reversed and make it easier to sell the car and the mod parts later on.

I would go FI for this reason.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 06:53 AM
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Superchargers only stress an engine when under high boost, probably .001% of total running time. A cam will stress the valve train 100% of the time.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 08:01 AM
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I know there is never any clear answer for this but I always love to listen to both sides. I agree with Spin in that anything over 500 whp is really hard to use on the streets unless all you do is 60 mph rolls. I also don't like adding weight over the front tires. The good news is if you go N/A, it's easy to strap on a S/C later on, and you will already have a better starting point with better heads and beefed up valve train.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 09:30 AM
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with a cam you'll get "marbles in the exhaust" sound...that's kinda fun too!

I don't know about a cam stressing your motor. I've not seen many people using big enough springs to really strain it per se. Most of the stuff run on C5/C6 are hydraulic rollers, and spring pressure are not that high (160 is on the seat, 400 ish open usually). Of course, a good timing chain is a no brainer and should always be installed when doing a cam.
Start using big springs in the 600+ lb and then you'll have to keep an eye on it, but those kind of pressures are usually and solid roller cams.

On a daily driver, I'd just go blower and call it a day, unless you're a hardcore Naturaly asprirated guy...
In either case that's like asking what YOU favorite colour should be lol
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 09:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Beatitt
I know there is never any clear answer for this but I always love to listen to both sides. I agree with Spin in that anything over 500 whp is really hard to use on the streets unless all you do is 60 mph rolls. I also don't like adding weight over the front tires. The good news is if you go N/A, it's easy to strap on a S/C later on, and you will already have a better starting point with better heads and beefed up valve train.
an NA cam won't be optimal for a blown application though...the extra weight up front with a blower is minimal I would say.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 10:27 AM
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Originally Posted by mirage2991
an NA cam won't be optimal for a blown application though...the extra weight up front with a blower is minimal I would say.
Absolutely, but an easy swap as the heads/FAST/Timing chain/and valve train have already been done, and the front of the car is off to install the P/C.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 11:15 AM
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I went from N/A to S/C to T/C on my last vehicle. N/A made the least power, but was the most trouble free by far. Once I got into F/I it was one problem after the next. You need to take everything into account from tires to rear end to trans. That being said F/I is SO MUCH FUN!! I'm staying N/A with my vette for now, but I may throw a little nitrous at it later. It never ends. The most important thing is how good of a driver are you, how much money do you have and how far are you willing to go.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 06:52 PM
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Originally Posted by GREENTAHOE
I went from N/A to S/C to T/C on my last vehicle. N/A made the least power, but was the most trouble free by far. Once I got into F/I it was one problem after the next. You need to take everything into account from tires to rear end to trans. That being said F/I is SO MUCH FUN!! I'm staying N/A with my vette for now, but I may throw a little nitrous at it later. It never ends. The most important thing is how good of a driver are you, how much money do you have and how far are you willing to go.
I've had my ProCharger on the car going on 18 months and 12k miles, Zero issues, nada, nuthin'. Best investment I ever made. Car runs like a stocker, until you need the power.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 07:43 PM
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Originally Posted by EuroRod
I've had my ProCharger on the car going on 18 months and 12k miles, Zero issues, nada, nuthin'. Best investment I ever made. Car runs like a stocker, until you need the power.
6000 hard driven daily driver miles with *ZERO* issues here too.

Supercharger kits have come a long way
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 07:56 PM
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Originally Posted by PowerLabs
I made 597RWHP/518RWTQ . . .
That is also more than you would ever see from a heads/cam setup.
...
AGREED

C6 ZO6 or not . . . noone is gonna put 6xx rwhp on any given dyno on ANY given day in the country on even 50% of the pseudo +6xx rwhp H/C, stock bottom-end, C6 ZO6's

Dyno numbers can be, and often ARE, artificially inflated for nothing more than said shop advertisement or even just ego

Last edited by thee Dragon; Jan 26, 2009 at 08:09 PM.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 08:05 PM
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Originally Posted by GREENTAHOE
I went from N/A to S/C to T/C on my last vehicle. N/A made the least power, but was the most trouble free by far. Once I got into F/I it was one problem after the next.
Sounds like you had a major installer-tuner issue from the start. My ProCharger has been on for 3 years with the only problem being 2 fuel injectors sticking open which had nothing to do with the blower.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 10:47 PM
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Thanks for all the info!!

Honestly, what kind of HP increase can you expect from just a SC vs doing a ton of bolt ons spending roughly the same amount of money? From what I've seen doing a SC upgrade will run approx. the same as CAI, cam, headers, FAST, tune, and maybe heads. (or am I wrong here?)

So for the $ which gives the most bang for the buck.

PS My car is a non Z06, its a weekend warrior, and I'd like to start doing some track days.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 10:50 PM
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Originally Posted by EdwardETraylorIII
Shane,

That's a very hard question to answer - because neither are "hard" per se on your engine if done PROPERLY (all in the tune and setup)!!!! But both have their advantages and disadvantages. Typically you would add a cam when you supercharge the car so that you have a proper blower came for your application.

I'd advise you to stop by the Forced Induction/Nitrous area on this forum for some very in-depth answers.
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Old Jan 26, 2009 | 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Stickboy97
Thanks for all the info!!

Honestly, what kind of HP increase can you expect from just a SC vs doing a ton of bolt ons spending roughly the same amount of money? From what I've seen doing a SC upgrade will run approx. the same as CAI, cam, headers, FAST, tune, and maybe heads. (or am I wrong here?)

So for the $ which gives the most bang for the buck.

PS My car is a non Z06, its a weekend warrior, and I'd like to start doing some track days.
When I was doing my research, I was looking at about 460WHP/440WTQ for a "no compromises" LS2 Heads/Cam setup, or about 480WHP/460WTQ for on running a lopey cam that would show some loss of idle and driveability. LS3 cars will make a little bit more than that thanks to the 0.2L added displacement, and these number are not absolute.
The highest horsepower I have ever seen from any stock displacement non Z06 heads/cam car was mid to low 500s and 480WTQ.

For a basic bolt-on blower you are looking at making 530 - 600WHP and 480 - 550WTQ. From there the sky is the limit; more boost and a meth kit and you are looking at close to 700WHP. Add a cam and its low to mid 700s, and so on...

The price of a H/C setup done professionally was more than me buying a blower and installing it myself.
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