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I decided to build up my stock 07 z06 over the winter with a finished rwhp of 600-650. My question is will the engine perform its best keeping it na or with a supercharger? I know the work involved to get to that number with an na motor but I really like the way a na motor sounds and responds..Any input would be great..Ty...Everybody here brings up valid points in both sides of the coin and your input is much appreciated. I'm really on the fence because once I start with heads, cam, and so forth it's either one way or the other because to set up an na motor I'd use one type of setup, supercharger another.
Last edited by steves08z06; Nov 12, 2018 at 07:41 AM.
Reason: More to add
S/C, hence the reason that the Stock LS7 does not make 600hp to start with, it that is can't breath correctly high rpms isntead.
So you have a motor that can rev to 7k, but is gasping for air even at the 5.5K mark.
So to hit the 650-700hp mark on the LS oem motor, all you need is to give it headers to draw a bit more out of the heads (exhaust scavenging), and just enough boost that it can breath to the 7K mark to make that kind of power isntead.
This leaves the motor street drive-able as now in traffic , and bring on the tire roasting pain when you lean into the throttle isntead.
Hence you can still get there N/A , but at lower rpms and surging on that radical of a cam, it going to be a PITA to drive in slower traffic isntead.
P.S Forget lob at the tail pipe while idling, since sewing machine under the hood at full tilt is the better sound isntead.
I think supercharging is the way to go and still have a perfectly driveable car.
There was a very good reason the ZR1 was manufactured using a supercharger, and not with high HP 'NA' parts like a very radical camshaft, super high compression, etc
How would GM even be able to give an engine warranty on a max HP 'NA' engine
a supercharged engine will act 100% like NA when driving normally until you hit the gas pedal. I have had a ECS supercharger on my car for several years. Puts down 700 rwhp when running E85 and drives like stock when cruising around. It is my daily driver and would not hesitate getting it it tomorrow and drive cross country.
NA car is lighter, instant power .... Ok, your talking about a centrifugal supercharger ... A postitive displacement blower (roots style) has pretty much instant power right off idle.
NA car is lighter, instant power .... Ok, your talking about a centrifugal supercharger ... A postitive displacement blower (roots style) has pretty much instant power right off idle.
Sorry ... I'm not buying what your saying
You don't have to.
Yes, a PD blower car will still need more power to outrun a NA car with the same HP.
You need to drive one of each. I bet you pick the Supercharged setup. Love a strong NA motor but forced induction is simply better all the way around.
No rule that one can outrun the other I dont know where people come up with this stuff LOL
Interesting conversation.... And I agree 100% with Dano523, getting 600-650 RWHP roughly translates to 750 at the crank...and building a naturally aspirated LS7 to make 750 horses isn't going to be cheap. I know this because I just built one for a drag race car, and mine only has 690 hp at the crank on pump gas. Here is what I have learned from my build...
You're gonna need to get rid of the fragile hypereutectic pistons, change the cam, valve springs, and injectors. As good as the stock heads are out of the box, you'll need to do port matching and some polishing work. You'll also need good exhaust, (I used custom made headers with 2" primaries, 35" tube length, 4 into 1 collector 11" long) new fuel and spark maps, maybe a better fuel pump, and methanol injection wouldn't hurt as a safety measure. And if you leave the bore and stroke alone, you still might not get to the 750 mark.
A supercharger would cost less, be less work, and give you similar driving fun. If you decide to do the blower, I like the Magnuson TVS2300. I installed one of those on a friends Camaro and he loves it.
You definitely don't need to go crazy. You can make 600+ whp with all off the shelf parts and you definitely don't need to change the stock pistons in an all motor application.
Boosted period. To make a NA engine perform as well as an engine with just a little bit of boost you’ll be pushing it to it’s absolute max. Positive displacement blowers are the way to go. Take that from a Mustang guy who’s had both kinds of blowers and has finally matured into a Corvette. Can’t speak for your Z06 but what my LS3 is missing is the torque. The instant boost and torque that my Terminator had will put a smile on your face. It’ll also give you room to grow after your 650ish whp isn’t enough anymore.
Last edited by Boostedsvt; Nov 13, 2018 at 06:10 AM.
All I can say to the last posts is that corvettes are not Camaros, or mustangs.
Done PD and centri. A centri blower is the way to go especially if you want room to grow. The PD was a lot of fun but gets maxed out fairly quickly. Either will roast the tires easily so the low end torque issue, is not an issue.
Can the LS7 be boosted? Sure. Was it designed to be? No.
To each their own, but I wanted an NA 427 so the C6Z was my choice.
If I wanted FI, I'd grab a C6 ZR1. Its such a better platform for boost, and the LS9 is a forged BE. Yes prices have come WAY down over the years; but at the end of production, there was a reason that an LS9 crate motor was ~$27K when an LS7 was ~$14K. Heck, as of today an LS9 crate is still more expensive than the current LT4 crate motor.
Can the LS7 be boosted? Sure. Was it designed to be? No.
To each their own, but I wanted an NA 427 so the C6Z was my choice.
If I wanted FI, I'd grab a C6 ZR1. Its such a better platform for boost, and the LS9 is a forged BE. Yes prices have come WAY down over the years; but at the end of production, there was a reason that an LS9 crate motor was ~$27K when an LS7 was ~$14K. Heck, as of today an LS9 crate is still more expensive than the current LT4 crate motor.
Missing the point on S/C of a LS7, and its not to push a lot of boost that the motor can not take to begin with, but just to get the motor to breath correctly to the 7K mark so it steady climbing in HP on the dyno graph to 7k after 5.5K instead.
Hence take the above stock dyno graph, and where the motor goes flat at 5.5K in HP, just draw the line on the same Pre-curve before 5.5K to 7K, and this is where you pick up the HP on the LS7 with not great deal of boost to begin with..
Missing the point on S/C of a LS7, and its not to push a lot of boost that the motor can not take to begin with, but just to get the motor to breath correctly to the 7K mark so it steady climbing in HP on the dyno graph to 7k after 5.5K instead.
Hence take the above stock dyno graph, and where the motor goes flat at 5.5K in HP, just draw the line on the same Pre-curve before 5.5K to 7K, and this is where you pick up the HP on the LS7 with not great deal of boost to begin with..
Nope...not missing the point of anything. I merely said the LS9 was designed for boost while the LS7 was not. Its a true statement. Thin wall sleeves,hypereutectic pistons vs forged bottom end.
As for personal preference...I like the LS7 as an NA motor. I personally do not feel that my LS7 "goes flat" at 5.5K. Perhaps that's just a poor choice of words though.
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The LS7 is a great N/A motor, we are literally 50/50 on in house installs N/A to SC, but it's hard to beat all the 9 second Z06's out there with just a blower and meth/cam. Or Casey almost making it into the 8's is extremely impressive IMO. Both great options depending on your use, my road race car is an N/A cammed LS7 but if I was using it for street/drag use I would go with the SC.
NA or supercharged
