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Forced induction is a blast. You will get way more power than if doing only NA mods to an LS3. And as noted, it will still retain all of the stock driving characteristics until you start adding additional mods.
Kerns has produced over 850hp on a stock bottom end.
What to do for mods depends on what you do/want to do with the car. Is it a daily driver?
Either way, I would start with cam, heads, etc and a really good tune. At the end of the day there's no replacement for displacement.
I was recently faced with same choices.
I chose FI and I can't believe (having never owned a FI car before) the street manners and the power. Def way to go imo
Kerns has produced over 850hp on a stock bottom end.
What to do for mods depends on what you do/want to do with the car. Is it a daily driver?
Either way, I would start with cam, heads, etc and a really good tune. At the end of the day there's no replacement for displacement.
Not a daily driver, but still want it to be fairly reliable. 600whp will sit just right with me. Figure I may be able to get there with moderate boost.
Not a daily driver, but still want it to be fairly reliable. 600whp will sit just right with me. Figure I may be able to get there with moderate boost.
That's very doable. You could go just turbo, or SC and get that FAIRLY reliably. Both will require a good tune. I'm just under that with my LS2 and was way over that with just a tune on my LS3. I would definitely go with heads, cam, and tune. It'll give you everything you want and nothing you don't. Again, no replacement for displacement.
Also, FI on a completely stock motor will cause problems at some point.
Just keep the boost at moderate levels so you can run 93 octane pump gas and have a good tune that won't either lean the engine to unsafe levels while it is pulling hard, or put so much ignition timing in that you trash your stock pistons.
Now you have a choice ... Either a 'positive displacement' supercharger that makes boost right off idle, or a 'centrifugal' supercharger that makes it's boost at a higher RPM ... The positive displacement style supercharger will have much faster throttle response, but the centrifugal supercharger will make more HP on the top.
Your choice ... up to you
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BTW ... E85 fuel is not friendly to your stock fuel system ... Over time, it will raise hell with you stock fuel pump ... Again, up to you
Just keep the boost at moderate levels so you can run 93 octane pump gas and have a good tune that won't either lean the engine to unsafe levels while it is pulling hard, or put so much ignition timing in that you trash your stock pistons.
Now you have a choice ... Either a 'positive displacement' supercharger that makes boost right off idle, or a 'centrifugal' supercharger that makes it's boost at a higher RPM ... The positive displacement style supercharger will have much faster throttle response, but the centrifugal supercharger will make more HP on the top.
Your choice ... up to you
________________________________
BTW ... E85 fuel is not friendly to your stock fuel system ... Over time, it will raise hell with you stock fuel pump ... Again, up to you
Thanks for the help! I will most likely do the A&A kit aiming around 8 or so #'s of boost. Whatever numbers I get from that will do. My tuner recommended the AUX pump and sensor from DSX tuning so I can also run E. Btw, sick build!
Just curious here, but what do you intend to do with 600 HP that you're not doing now? So why does 600 sound like that's the magic number?
To be honest that is a great question cause I am not sure what that even feels like lol. I know I definitely want more power than the barely 400 it makes right now. What are you suggesting I do then? What doesn't help is my friend who has a ZL1 that is at 600whp, that I can probably never catch up to...... safely.
I had a Katech Stage 2 done on my '11 GS rather than FI because of heat concerns during track days. The car is ridiculously fast, throttle response is immediate, drives better than stock 99% of the time with the only exception being when I'm not paying attention and let the engine lug below 850 rpm where I get a mild surge. I'm at 465 at the wheels - all usable throughout the rpm range. The torque hits immediately off idle, and I can run to redline pretty much all day at the track without worrying about heat.
Before going with the head and cam work, I spoke with A&A about a centrifugal setup and track use, and they said there would always be heat concerns with FI on the track.
So, if you're not tracking or just going straight for short periods of time I'd say go FI - more power per $$ and stock drivability. If you plan to track, I would go with a NA setup.
Having owned both a fully built, all forged naturally-aspirated Z06 and a mildly modded ZR1, I’ll never go back to heads/cam. The drivability suffered too much for my tastes, and the wife hated it. When it comes time to overclock my LS3 Grand Sport, it will be boost.
What I love about these threads is the differences people have in what they like. There is no wrong answer, just options based on how you plan to use your car.
My first two C6's were Magnuson supercharged. One slightly below 650 wheel and the other slightly above. Loved 'em. No waiting for the RPM to build for the fun to start. A centrifugal supercharged rig at only 600 wheel is going to be a slug under 3000 rpm. No additional power whatsoever under that. Why do that on a street car? If you only want 600, you need to choose a platform that at least gives you boost whenever you mat the throttle....no matter the RPM.
My current C6 is a heads/cam rig. The cam is mild enough where there's no loss of low end power (actually an increase) and it screams up top. It's only 500 at the wheels, but damn, it's a whole lotta fun. First gear is tractionless and second can be sketchy too. At this point, more power just means third gear can also get you into trouble. I kinda like an effecient, good lookin', good sounding Vette that isn't trying to kill me.
I had a Katech Stage 2 done on my '11 GS rather than FI because of heat concerns during track days. The car is ridiculously fast, throttle response is immediate, drives better than stock 99% of the time with the only exception being when I'm not paying attention and let the engine lug below 850 rpm where I get a mild surge. I'm at 465 at the wheels - all usable throughout the rpm range. The torque hits immediately off idle, and I can run to redline pretty much all day at the track without worrying about heat.
Before going with the head and cam work, I spoke with A&A about a centrifugal setup and track use, and they said there would always be heat concerns with FI on the track.
So, if you're not tracking or just going straight for short periods of time I'd say go FI - more power per $$ and stock drivability. If you plan to track, I would go with a NA setup.
Yeah, not sure I would see much of the track tbh. Weekend car for sure!
My first two C6's were Magnuson supercharged. One slightly below 650 wheel and the other slightly above. Loved 'em. No waiting for the RPM to build for the fun to start. A centrifugal supercharged rig at only 600 wheel is going to be a slug under 3000 rpm. No additional power whatsoever under that. Why do that on a street car? If you only want 600, you need to choose a platform that at least gives you boost whenever you mat the throttle....no matter the RPM.
My current C6 is a heads/cam rig. The cam is mild enough where there's no loss of low end power (actually an increase) and it screams up top. It's only 500 at the wheels, but damn, it's a whole lotta fun. First gear is tractionless and second can be sketchy too. At this point, more power just means third gear can also get you into trouble. I kinda like an effecient, good lookin', good sounding Vette that isn't trying to kill me.
The most recent one was a Heartbeat TVS2300. We installed a DeWitts radiator with the Heartbeat. On hot days, you could idle it indefinitely without it getting much over 200*. It also had a 160* thermostat as well as more aggressive fan settings. On cool days, I thought it ran too cool. Never got much over 170*. If I put another one of those together, I'd use a 180* 'stat. Compared to a centrifugal rig, there's not near as big of a heat exchanger to block flow through the radiator.
IAT's were never a problem either. Intake air temps ran about 10* over ambient at cruise. They went up 30ish over that during a hard pull. Recovery was immediate as soon as you got your foot out of it. Absolutely great way to go for a street Vette in the HP range that you're after. With a mild blower cam and all the bolt ons, mine made 660+ at the wheels. Boost was about 9.5 psi. Skip the blower cam and it probably would have made 620-630. Full boost available at any RPM makes for a fun ride.
To be honest that is a great question cause I am not sure what that even feels like lol. I know I definitely want more power than the barely 400 it makes right now. What are you suggesting I do then? What doesn't help is my friend who has a ZL1 that is at 600whp, that I can probably never catch up to...... safely.
600ish rwhp is still A6 friendly for most part.
ECS put their base centri kit on my 2007 (LS2) in for me recently-my car is bone stock except for electric water pump, a set of Hooker shorty headers and a Corsa Sport axle back. I still have stock cats and down pipe.
Car made 582 at the wheels. fwiw
[QUOTE=old motorhead;1606327851 A centrifugal supercharged rig at only 600 wheel is going to be a slug under 3000 rpm. No additional power whatsoever under that. Why do that on a street car? [/QUOTE]
Why wouldn't you do that on a street car? What good is all that power if you can't put it down?
You have to get out of the gate no matter how much HP you have, what's that old saying "spinnin' ain't winnin"
Even a slug could take out a car that can't move.
N/A or Boost LS3
