Hi All,
I'm new to the forum, and just bought my first Corvette C7 Convertible.
I'm looking into supercharging. There are so many different options out there, it's a bit overwhelming. So I'm looking for input from the folks in this forum. I see many claims and varying opinions on this. Since the Corvette is new, I really don't want to tear into the motor to replace heads cams ect. What I am looking for is what are my best options.
I see everyone has about a 550ish bolt on supercharger running 7 PSI of boost. I also see in the case of Pro Charger, they have some upgraded head units you can purchase, and if I read this right, and you install one of the upgraded head units, you need to take it to get the car tuned as they don't come with any out of the box programming system.

I was curious if anyone knows how much boost you can run on the standard C7 without putting the motor in jeopardy. I'd like to get the car into the 10's ideally, but that might be a pipe dream without replacing heads, cams, exhaust etc.

In reading, I'm wondering if you went with a meth set up to help with the fuel system, you should be able to put a tune on it that would allow you to run more boost. I can't find anything during my research that tells me what the limit on boost is.

I'm also wondering what kind of 1/4 times the guys running a typical 550 HP supercharged stock engine are seeing at the track in the 1/4 mile.

I'm interested in tapping the collective experence here from the more experenced guys running super chargers. I like the stock driveability of the car, but I'd like to step it up.

Any input from you guys would be wonderful.

Thanks
Rich

 

Go with the ECS kit. 1500 novi blower and ARH 1 7/8" catted headers. It is the most proven kit by far and supports huge power in stock form. Doug and Chris are top notch and will get you setup. The car will make around 550-600 without methanol injection and 700 with Alky Control. This setup is good for 10s in the quarter mile.

 

Thanks so much. I really appreciate the great information.
This is the kind of information I was looking for.
Most appreciated sir.

Thanks
Rich

 

I second the ECS kit. They are doing my 15 Z51now. Going with their 1500 with Alky, LT headers, and full dyno tune. Can't wait to feel the results.

They did work on my former C6 and Chris and Doug know thier stuff. Can't go wrong with ECS.

 

ECS Kit's are all we sell here when it comes to centrifugal kits, bigger head unit than others, bracket design is awesome, kit install extremely easy, and the head unit will support 900 rwhp with supporting mods. We have done so many kits on C7's from prochargers, to ecs, to magnuson and the ecs is hands down the easiest and best kit out there. If you need pricing let us know and we offer full tech support since we are an actual shop and not just a parts store. We also make our own C7 longtubes and carry the other companies too. Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I will help you in any way i possible can.

 

I have an A&A kit on my car. While the ECS kit is by far the most popular, and Doug is as sharp as they come, the thing that made me decide on the A&A kit were the little things... It comes with a NEW harmonic balancer,not a pulley that bolts to your existing factory balancer, as well as a proven head unit by Vortech.

I'm running 7 psi and my car made 581HP and 536 lbs/ft torque without headers.

I had a lil snafu when the kit first got installed and Andy was right there to offer his advise and opinion as to what was wrong. It turned out to be a non issue, just a part of the tune that didn't get reset, not the kits fault. Anyway, just another opinion as to who's kit is better or best as it were. They're all good, just one's more popular than the rest, doesn't mean it's better though. 😉

 

Yeah,

That's the quandry. As a super charger novice, they all seem pretty similiar on the surface. Each manufacturer touts their differences. I've seen most tout the ease of install with their particular application, but most seem to get a similiar result as to HP gains with the different manufacturer. I'm an old timer, and there are some manufacturers that have been around forever for a long time, so that to me suggests quality. I look for quality and reliability with a fairly sizeable cost investment. The car is no daily driver, but I think reliability is something that's important. I was looking at the ECS install documentation, and it looks fairly involved and not something you can do without a lift. Taking out the steering rack looked like a bummer. :

But in reading what you guys are saying, I don't see anyone saying any of the super chargers are anything but an absolute gas to experence. Seems like you'd get out of it what you put into it. Deal with the pros and you will get a reliable set up that performs the way I'd expect it to.

Thanks
Rich

 

Joe,
Much appreciated. I'll def reach out and we can do.

Thanks
Rich

 

Another bit of debate are the blow off valves... Some like them quiet, some loud, both do the same job. The ECS kits offer Tial valves, both quiet and standard, the A&A kit has a pretty loud blow off valve, which I LOVE!

Procharger is pretty much the only supercharger that offers a helical cut gear (quiet) and a straight cut gear (loud) as options. I believe both A&A as well as ECS kits are both helical cut gears. Just food for thought.

 

I run a procharger. And I love it

 

In my opinion Procharger has a superior intercooler....
All nice kits and will get the job done

 

Same here.

 

Getting into the 10s is not a pipe dream. Any of the S/C kits alone will put you there with a set of drag radials. You might be able to get there on the stock tires if your strip is good and you know how to launch.

I went A&A /w TSP headers + meth (50/50) + drag radials and the end result was a 10.56 @ 131.X. It probably has a bit more in it. Looking at it in retrospect... even without the TSP headers or meth it would be a solid 10 car. Meth was done for protection and cooling.

 

Just an FYI, we offer a replacement balancer too, it's just not necessary for 7-800 hp and down. It comes with the YSI kit std with a ten rib belt.

Some items that the shops know about these kits, but the end users maybe not so much;

The ECS kit does not have issues with fluctuating MAF signals like some of the other kits. This is a huge problem and we have been sending our charge tubes out to several people who just couldn't take the light surging it causes during light load driving. If you are really in tune with your vehicle you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We corrected the oiling PCV issues very early on with our kit, many others have switched their set up to ours to correct it.

Head units are all very good with every brand out there, so it's the rest of the kit that needs to be looked at closely. Aluminum tubing over less expensive silicone, quality of the BOV and so on.

Bracketry that is strong and not hanging on with long extensions that flex easily. These are the items that make or break the kit IMHO.


Thanks everyone for the kind words, we greatly appreciate it.

 

The biggest thing that sold me on the ECS kit is the restictor plate design. Being able to have the ability to run 7 psi or 8 psi with a different restrictor or 10 psi without the restrictor without ANY pulley change is really a cool feature to me.

They're all good kits. At the end of the day it comes down to the service you receive before, during, and after the sale. ECS customer service is hands down. When I bought my kit from a vendor that reps ECS kits the unit accidentally didn't come with a head unit. It was suppose to drop ship from paxton but there was a mix up. Long story short ECS overnighted me a head unit without blinking an eye, which I am sure cost a fortune.

Couldn't be happier with my ECS kit.

 

For what it's worth.. I too own an ECS supercharged C7. 10's are VERY doable. We drive our 2014 Z51 as a daily driver and the ECS kit has exceeded our expectations of owning a blown Corvette. We worried that it would detract the overall driving experience with THAT much horsepower on tap. Just the opposite.. We went with the quiet blow off valve and unless you stomp on it, you'd never really notice that you're driving a supercharged beast. In our particular setup, we opted for the ECS 1500 supercharger (10 to 10.5 pounds of boost), ECS alky methanol kit (single nozzle spraying on the 7.5 setting), American Racing 1 7/8" Long Tube Headers (with cats) and an LMR catch can (the updated system revision breather) and of course, the car was assembled and tuned professionally.. The result was 662 rwhp / 585 tq.

 

BER prefers ECS and the NOVI 1500 kit will be one of the template FI systems for our new BER700 packages. Chris is great to work with too

 

Beautiful!
That looks so clean it's like it came from Chevy that way!
Super Nice!

 

Knowing the guys from ECS & a lot of guys who have had their products I for one would pencil them in at the top of list for a supercharger kit. Now, if I could only get my wife to let me get one.

 

Just don't tell her until after you buy it. Seemed to work for me