My boyfriend wants to supercharge his vette, I say turbo...
#1
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My boyfriend wants to supercharge his vette, I say turbo...
A friend of mine bought a '99 C5 corvette in the beginning of the summer. It's an LS-1 6 speed. It was bone stock when he bought it, and the first thing he did was put a borla cat back exhaust on it. It was pretty quiet, until he put Texas Speed long tube headers on it with a catless X pipe. He also put a different air box on it, then got it dyno tuned. It made 362whp/358wtq, which I think is awesome considering it's just a full exhaust and a better flowing air box.
I'm not sure how he's gonna pass inspection / emissions with no cats (simulators), but that's his problem not mine.
He was telling me he'd like to do heads and a cam next, which I was all for considering it would make easily over 400whp and still be N/A. Now he tells me that instead of doing heads and cam, he wants to put a supercharger on it. This supercharger, in fact:
http://www.shopsupercharger.com/p-67...arger-kit.aspx
I told him, I think it would make more sense to cut those brand new SS headers up and build a twin turbo setup. I also explained that he should be able to make more power with lower boost (depending on turbo selection) due to the increase in volumetric efficiency over a supercharger. He should also get better fuel mileage, and cooler intake temps.
He mentioned the STS turbo setup? I'm not familiar, but I told him to do the research and do a custom setup.
If his vette was your car, what would you do?
I'm not sure how he's gonna pass inspection / emissions with no cats (simulators), but that's his problem not mine.
He was telling me he'd like to do heads and a cam next, which I was all for considering it would make easily over 400whp and still be N/A. Now he tells me that instead of doing heads and cam, he wants to put a supercharger on it. This supercharger, in fact:
http://www.shopsupercharger.com/p-67...arger-kit.aspx
I told him, I think it would make more sense to cut those brand new SS headers up and build a twin turbo setup. I also explained that he should be able to make more power with lower boost (depending on turbo selection) due to the increase in volumetric efficiency over a supercharger. He should also get better fuel mileage, and cooler intake temps.
He mentioned the STS turbo setup? I'm not familiar, but I told him to do the research and do a custom setup.
If his vette was your car, what would you do?
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He can do whatever he wants, it's his car. In fact, since he has the full exhaust already, he won't need to F with that when he bolts on his supercharger. I just think a whiny blower doesn't sound near as cool as this:
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Actually he's a spoiled rich kid. I think he told me his dad is a CEO of some company or some BS. I told him to pay off the car and buy a house, but he'd rather spend 10k on parts that he'll pay someone to put on.
#16
Dont use a magnacharger, dont seem to run nearly as well as the centrifugal cars.
Also wouldnt run a rear mount, there are a few good running rear mount cars but that is the exception to the rule. Ive seen lots of rear mount cars get drug by cars they should have beat.
Example
350whp NA Z28 vs 500whp cam and rear mount LS1. Rear mount car got drug.
Tell him to have Patrick G spec him a cam and throw some heads on it. Could easily surpass 450whp, and still drive well and probably last way longer.
LS1s are strong and hold alot of boost, but normally not for a long period of time. Hotrod or someone did that 4.8 that held together on the dyno at like 1K hp, but if you read alot on LS1tech most of the boost guys that arent smart enough to build/tune their own setup and just slap one on a stock motor and drive it, normally melt some pistons. Seems like the guys who keep them together are doing tons of tuning and datalogging, and constantly staying on top of it.
Also wouldnt run a rear mount, there are a few good running rear mount cars but that is the exception to the rule. Ive seen lots of rear mount cars get drug by cars they should have beat.
Example
350whp NA Z28 vs 500whp cam and rear mount LS1. Rear mount car got drug.
Tell him to have Patrick G spec him a cam and throw some heads on it. Could easily surpass 450whp, and still drive well and probably last way longer.
LS1s are strong and hold alot of boost, but normally not for a long period of time. Hotrod or someone did that 4.8 that held together on the dyno at like 1K hp, but if you read alot on LS1tech most of the boost guys that arent smart enough to build/tune their own setup and just slap one on a stock motor and drive it, normally melt some pistons. Seems like the guys who keep them together are doing tons of tuning and datalogging, and constantly staying on top of it.
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I asked him about the centrifugal route, and he said he thinks that's cool cause it has a BOV? I'm like...you're missing the point.
This is my own personal logic on this...correct me if I'm wrong.
One supercharger is setup with plumbing that compresses pre throttle body like a turbo compressor would, the other is a direct intake manifold replacement that compresses after the throttle body and directly before the heads. Both require a belt to spin them, which even though there is power being created, there is still drag on the engine.
A turbo will use waste (exhaust gases that would otherwise vent to atmosphere) to spin a turbine, translating to the compression of inlet air, creating higher efficiency over a supercharger without spending power to make power.
He says, "Absolutely not" to the STS rear mount kit, which I also wouldn't go that route. I say custom twin turbo underhood setup or nothing.
This is my own personal logic on this...correct me if I'm wrong.
One supercharger is setup with plumbing that compresses pre throttle body like a turbo compressor would, the other is a direct intake manifold replacement that compresses after the throttle body and directly before the heads. Both require a belt to spin them, which even though there is power being created, there is still drag on the engine.
A turbo will use waste (exhaust gases that would otherwise vent to atmosphere) to spin a turbine, translating to the compression of inlet air, creating higher efficiency over a supercharger without spending power to make power.
He says, "Absolutely not" to the STS rear mount kit, which I also wouldn't go that route. I say custom twin turbo underhood setup or nothing.
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Way back before I bought my car, but was looking into buying a Miata and boosting it; I wasn't very knowledgable about turbos. I looked into (I think it was vortec) that made a centrifugal supercharger for the NB miata. I was liking that setup way better than the Jackson racing blowers. It just seemed like a cleaner, quieter, more efficient design.
My friend is pretty much the kind of guy where he's form over function and he'll spend big money on looks. If the magnuson whines like a kenne bell cobra, it's cooler to him than a quiet centrifugal setup.
My friend is pretty much the kind of guy where he's form over function and he'll spend big money on looks. If the magnuson whines like a kenne bell cobra, it's cooler to him than a quiet centrifugal setup.