Brandon619

Nelson, no I did it in stages. First I just had full bolt ons, then decided to do a cam. I had it dyno'd with the cam and full bolt ons including a FAST 102 it did 425 rwhp and 400 tq on the same dyno a C6 Z06 did 418 rwhp as reference. When I installed the heads I used a thinner head gasket to bump up my compression 1 full point so I'm hoping that the E85 and my NW TB will net me over 500 rwhp. I've have enjoying my street tune as of lately but will get a full tune once I add my last mods

unstressed

I'm with Unreal on this one. The OP has an LS2, not an LS3, a blower will get him the 500 RWHP with stock drivability and still retain good gas mileage much easier. NA power will be more midrange and top end while the blower will add power everywhere.

To get 500 RWHP NA, you're not gonna keep your gas mileage, and it definitely won't drive like stock. Remember on an LS2 your adding 150-160 rear wheel horsepower to just get to 500.

Plus with the NA route, you better be planning on more maintenance, you're gonna need to keep after the valve springs at a minimum.

OP didn't mention if he was an A4 or manual, if he has an A4, he's gonna need to add a converter too if he goes the heads/cam route.

Orion2011

My vote would be on a tune. Lots of cheap power on the table there.

Redhook98

I went s slightly different route. I wanted the bad-*** sound of a cam. I went with a custom cam, pushrods, valve springs, head work, headers, full exhaust, CAI and tune. A few other minor tweeks as well. I dynode at 440RWHP and 410 ftlbs. More than enough for me, plus I have the sound of the cam. You don't get that sound with a blower/turbo setup. Mine is a 2007 LS2.

Ant-Man

I had 510 on my old heads/cam/intake setup.

Ported tb/fast 102.
PRC 225 heads(62cc)
vararam
custom ground cam
LT headers
93 oct

Drove just fine and got ~20mpg so not as good as stock but I was in it a lot.

Unreal

True and completely reasonable reason to do a cam over a blower, but if it is just power per dollar to get to 500rwhp, that is not the best way to go.

Not saying a cam or heads/cam setup is bad or wrong, just if the question is best way to get to 500rwhp with maximum reliability and lowest cost, blower is the way to go.

Now if you want to stay NA, or want sound, etc etc, there are plenty of ways to get there.

I'm sure Any-mans 510rwhp setup cost him more than $5400 in parts, and the labor/install will be significantly higher for heads/cam/headers/etc/etc than slapping a blower kit on, so take that into account too.

Quickz2005

Wow I did not expect so many replies thanks so much 👍🏻👍🏻

DOUG @ ECS

600 RWHP with just a supercharger is no problem, just add some octane boost in the tank religiously and you're off.

449er

A "tune" on a LS2 will not get you to 400 rwhp let alone 500, I say go with a blower here but it could be a budget buster. If the op needs a shop to install the blower also, the cost is near 10k ( at least for the Edelbrock) then you will need a tune, you are not going to buy a quality blower & install for the price of the bolt ons. The car will have better road manners with a blower though....the choice is yours to make

Plaincoupe

I went with heads, large cam, and intake route. An car has more than enough power! And drives awesome. No reliability problems what so ever Super mega fun car!

Nelson765

Ok, so with a LS2 at 400 HP at the crank, that should be about 340 at the wheels? So with just a supercharger you can get an extra 260 HP on an LS2? Without any additional supporting components? Just a supercharger. I am reading it correctly?

I am not doubting your statement, I recognize that you are a true authority in this area. I never heard of those numbers with just a supercharger, I'll stand corrected but would like to learn more about this.

Can you elaborate? Do you guarantee those numbers? How much would it be for one, installed on an LS3? What are the numbers on a LS3?

meadowz06

A&A supercharger. I had their kit on my C5, awesome!

2L8LUZ

At the end of the day... There is no better sounding C6 then one with a bad *** cam in it...
Every stoplight that you sit at...every gas station that you pull up to...every car show that you go to... No supercharger can accomplish this... Do the heads and cam...then save up for the blower... you will be unstoppable with this setup.. You will enjoy the power of the N/A set up as is, then the blower will just be a bonus down the road.

Make sure you get a bad *** sounding cam... Yes, a blower cam will get your more HP with less boost down the road... but even a BTR 4 still makes good power with a blower set up.. I wouldn't go any other route... If you go blower now, chances are you will never get those heads and cam...

2L8LUZ

You can find used blower kits all day long as well

HOXXOH

Yep! People put them on and later take them off to sell the car.

I've done NA cars, injected (not factory), turbos, centri blowers, and PD blowers. The centri blowers are the easiest to install to gain the most power and you don't need to be a master mechanic to get great results.

Just a quick check on the performance list shows a half dozen SC LS2 cars that are quicker than the quickest NA LS2. About half the blown LS2's also have higher MPH than the fastest NA cars, which is where raw power shows best.

When you have blower cars with stock internals running quicker/faster than the top NA cars, the choice is obvious.

If the sound is more important than the real performance, get cutouts and a bad tune, 'cause the guy with the silent blower will eat your lunch.

xBoostx

Yeah and may I add ask around haw many using a blower have broken their piston ring land and ended up with a dead as hell motor, just ask not hard to find em on here.

Unreal

Just as many that lose a piston/valve spring/etc from a bad tune with a big cam. Plenty of 700-900rwhp LS2s with 100-200k+ miles running amazing.

schpenxel

Especially at the 500whp that the OP originally asked about. They should be very reliable there assuming tuner doesn't suck

darknit

FIRST OFF!!! if your 2005 is a manual, you need to upgrade your rear diff before chasing horsepower...

My 2005 previously made 453 rwhp with big cam, pulley, fast 92, kooks headers, borla exhaust, intake, etc... Was a blast to drive... But the big cam required changing out the valve springs every 30k miles or less and eventually broke some lifters too....

I now run a slightly less aggressive cam, forged bottom end, and an A&A t-trim and made 722rwhp on the last trip to dyno... Hopefully this setup is actually easier on the motor, because at 2k rpm cruising I'm actually making way less horsepower then the N/A setup and the smaller cam isn't killing valve springs and lifters; but the horsepower to play/pass is there when needed...

Things like upgraded clutch if manual or converter if auto and a much needed rear diff upgrade are major investments required when adding horsepower... Even "little" things like a bigger radiator can add a lot of cost; I spent over $900 on just my radiator...

A centri-kit is definitely the quickest and easiest way to break 500rwhp on an ls2