Turbo'd...or Procharged...that is the question
 

ok i dont know much about turbos...so im trying to learn as much as possible..but if anybody knows more than i do will be so kind as to break down the pros and cons of turbos vs superchargers...and overall which would get more power continuously thorought the powerband the safest...and cheaper of course..lol...oh not to mention other mods and the power they will end up putting on top of the blowers.....im just deciding what to spend cash on..the procharger..or the turbo..im just trying to see if im missing anything by procharging it instead.....thanks guys! :drive:

Turbo or Supercharge? :drive: Turbos are cheaper, suffer "a little" lag (being exhaust-driven), and are not parasitic (power) as shaft-driven units are. Who is the lucky one to install 'em? Bring $! There ARE other ways to make HP ...

Turbo kits are not cheaper.

I agree. Turbos are generally more difficult to install and tune and are more expensive than SC's.

Mark

How many LBS of boost are procharger guys making without belt slip issues?

Can big cog belts be run to help avoid slip?

it depends on the goal of you car. You could make a nice 500 hp car with a fairly cheap supercharger...

You could make a 200 plus mph screamer with a big single turbo or a twin turbo setup.

If I had the money to invest and get some forged internals first, I'd personally go with turbos. Yeah they are a pain to install and everything, but you can dial the boost electronically. No changing pulleys. You can go from a 500 hp car to a 1200 hp car (okay maybe exaggerating a little) at the push of a button.

Space is also something to consider. Supercharger kits usually fit with all the normal amenities. Turbos, especially twins can take up a lot of room. The simplicity of supercharger kits are nice.

I would say if budget is your objective-go supercharger, as MDHMI said, turbos are very expensive.

Why not look at an STS turbo kit??? For around the price of a SC kit you can get up to 12lbs of boost at the flip of a switch and best part is it doesn't take away from your engine bay. They locate the turbo in the rear of the car. The guys with the STS kit are making nice numbers at the factory set 5lb and respectible numbers with the 7-8lbs. Add some fuel system upgrades such as Meth injection and 40lb injectors and in tank pump.. and run 10lbs. With the boost controller you can run it at 5lbs during the work week and hit the switch and go 10lbs.

Kit starts around 3,600 so for around 42 maybe 4300 you can run 10lbs of boost.

Wow. That is the first time I have seen the STS kit. That looks really cool and sounds awesome. I was kinda worried about the distance the air has to tavel causing boost loss, but actually I don't guess it's any more boost loss than with an intercooler. Plus, all that pipe would act as an intercooler. In other words, very clever design.

Steven

By the way, I am also a member of the Corvette Forum and Digital Corvettes. This is my first post here. Looks to be a really cool place. :thumb:

id be worried about someone snatching the turbo from up under the car. :(


not to mention single exhaust :(x2

You know, this "stealing the turbo kit" thing came up in another thread. How many people are going to know much about a rear turbo setup who would understand what to take, and how to do this? If pipes are welded and pieces have been tacked, it would almost be easier just to steal the whole damned car.

I would get an ATI, and get the SDCE spring tensioner kit if you want big boost, the stock stuff can handle up to 7-8psi

Never been to the hood have you? lol :guns:

The single exhaust problem isn't a.... problem at all. Just get some custom tips fabbed up to run out both sides. As for someone stealing it, that is a concern. Something can be done though to make that difficult, or a proxy alarm will handle it.

Somebody could just cut one of the huge stock mufflers in half, gut it and use it to hide the turbo kit. You'd have to drill holes in the "muffler" for heat dissipation but still, it might be good camoflage.

If this is for a Vette the stock ATI kit is already spring tensioned so I don't think you'll even need the SDConcepts kit. But not sure how far the Vette kit has been taken. The SDCE has seen 18 psi with no slip on an LS1 and 0ver 24 on non-LS1s. It's a new design so this is not to say 18 is the limit, I just haven't heard of anyone trying to go any further.

Turbos will cost more and are less parasitic, so with equal sized compressers the Turbo kit will put more power to the ground. But they are much hard to install and tune. They have more complex routing and more weight(in general, not always). They have less predictable power. All this adds up to more downtime and a less turn key system. Every turbo car I've known has seen significant downtime. Where as my car has run a year and a half untuned with no issues(other than normal car stuff).

I would think for a track car where you'll want your power at WOT all the time a Turbo would be the way to go. On the street, where quick blasts, and partial throttle accel is more prevalent not to mention it's more stable nature, the S/C setup is the better choice.

Both are potent avenues, but I think they have their advantages and disadvantages. Choose which one best fits your needs. You'll be happy with either. :)

Mike

I can't say for an LT1, but for the LS1s it's generally 8-9 pounds on stock internals. Unless you want to get tricky and feel very confident about your tuning abilities, then there are ways to push more boost. But without forged internals you are somewhat limited on both the turbo and blower side. But I've heard of way more ruined engines from inproperly tuned Turbos than I ever have from Blowers.

The big problem with the LS1s is their compression(10.1:1), shallow ringland lip, and weak piston material. If LT1s have the same problem areas, regardless of them having iron blocks, they'll probably be limited to the same 8-9 lbs. of boost. But you'd need to talk to an LT1 pro about that.

Mike

This is a decent lil explaination for total newbies. Maybe a lil biased towards turbos but who wouldn't be? Turbos are just plain more efficient :p

http://rcspoolers.com/tech.htm

Actually they seem way more complimentary towards the Blower setups rather than the Turbo. the only realy check mark they gave the turbo was for efficientcy, every other catagory was in favor of the S/Cer.

I was surprised they said cost was no factor though. that tends to be one of the initial points a newbie will face.

Mike

I think on some cars it is not as much of a factor though. Say on a Fox body Mustang yeah the blower route would be much cheaper but on an LS1 I don't see it being much different. A fully installed ATI kit is what $7k isn't that what most fornt mount turbos would cost? I know my STS kit with upgraded turbo, injectors, Alky, tuning etc would be in the $5.5k range retail. So not too much different on our cars I would think. :)