I finally have the money for a supercharger and have been researching Procharger, Vortec, Kenne Bell, Paxton, Rouch and Saleen. Out of the roots I like the Kenne Bell and I like Procharger if I went with a centrifugal charger. What are the pro's and con's for either centrifugal and roots? Also, which supercharger would any of you recomend and why? Right now I am leaning towards the Kenne Bell.

 

*cracks nuckles*

I believe by "roots" you mean Positive Displacement. You see the Kenne Bell is NOT a roots, it is a twin screw. An Eaton is a Roots. BOTH are positive displacement.

Roots Forces Air into the engine
Twin Screw compresses air, then forces it into the engine
Positive Displacement is a supercharger that replaces the intake manifold

I don't know what year your car is, but if its 2004 or prior stay away from Roush and Saleen superchargers. They are very tiny, and inefficient.

Also if you are running an entry level supercharger (Novi 1k, Vortech S Trim, Procharger P1SC) you will want to avoid the Procharger like the plauge. P1SC's are problem children from the get go as they are notorious for oil leaks and having personally installed a procharger kit - I would never do it again. The larger prochargers seem to be much better.

As far as pro's and cons... this has a few variables.

Budget - What are you looking to spend ? The KB is a decent amount of money more then a cent

Pulley Swap - Do you plan to often? Because with a cent you have to pull the head unit off.

Power - Positive Displacement superchargers make ALL their power IMMEDIATLY when you smash the throttle, Cent superchargers will jump to say 50%-60% of their power when you smash the throttle, then climb as your RPM's climb. Many people say "oh i want my power whenever i hit the throttle so get the KB".. yea I'm sure you do... but do you realize what your getting into ? Assuming you get the proper suspension/tire setup to get 400+ RWTQ at 2000 rpm to have traction, think about the stress you are putting on your rods, drivetrain, gears, axles by taking an engine that is producing ~150 horsepower while crusing and jumping to 400 horsepower in fractions of a second.

Drivability - Both are very daily driver friendly. Boost is load based, so in normal traffic you shuold see little to no boost with both. If any the KB may make a few more psi when passing.

Ease of installation - Both are very simple. I'd pick the cent myself only beacuse the KB kit for 99-01 you have to replace the pipe from the waterpump under the intake and the bolt is on the BACK of the head above the transmission - royal PITA to get out and back in. KB also requires grinding on the altenator (which ive found isnt needed and has killed a few), and on the block depending on the year.

Again I'm speaking as if you own a 99-04 as I dont know what you have.


Me personally, I'm going with a Vortech T trim (on a big cube modular).

 

Thanks for the help. I have a 2005 GT. I was hoping to get over 400+ RWHP and TQ with a charger. I am looking to spend 5500 or less. Right now it is a daily driver car but soon I will want to really get under the hood and make some real power out of the engine and modify it. So I would like to have a charger that I can keep and have it grow with the car. All I have done now is cold air intake, 4.10 gears, throttle body, I have new fat tires about 12" wide for traction, headers, x-pipe, exhaust, lowered it a little, hurst short throw, and tuned it. Do you think a charger could help it beat a new corvette off the line?

 

In that case - Whipple or Vortech/Novi

 

I haven't researched much on the Whipple. What type of gains do you think I should expect out of the Whipple or Vortech? Since I will be wanting to modify the engine will both chargers allow me to add other pulleys for more psi? As you can see I am a novice on superchargers.

 

Both will allow you to grow quite well.

With the Vortech you can get an S trim, later pulley that, if you run out of steam the T trim is a direct swap you just need the supercharger unit itself not the kit.

Most supercharged 05-07's im seeing are hitting 400-450 rwhp under 5 PSI.

 

thanks!!

 

i have a procharger on mine and i love it