GT Motorsports: 370Z Supercharger system development

RCZ

You are absolutely right. Granted newer sc's eat up less than old ones, it still does make a difference. In theory, all other things being equal, they produce the same. However, in practice, the SC unit itself does rob the engine of power and that means that you are correct. I forgot about that and stand corrected; a turbo will put a little bit more power down per psi than a supercharger. Good post sir.

What I was trying to get at, that's been bothering me a bit is this whole turbos are so much better than superchargers attitude when they really do the same thing and produce almost the same power.

Zsteve

now my next question is, will a SC be more of a install and forget than a turbo? When I upgraded to a bigger turbo in my TT it seemed like little things just keep coming up, like a boost leak or the extra heat causing hoses to go bad quickly, which caused me to buy a bigger IC. Im hoping a SC will be install and forget.

JoeD

In a nutshell...yes.

Don't listen to anyone who says that turbo setups are reliable. They are lying. This applies for any turbocharged car which came NA from the factory as it's just the nature of such extensive modification. While it might be "reliable" in the sense that you won't blow your engine or need to replace a turbo so long as you're careful, as you mentioned..."little things just keep coming up." One day it's a boost-leak, followed by an oil-leak, a faulty sensor here and there, hoses going bad, boost-creep issues, misfiring, and on and on. So many people go turbo and love the car the first week/month but never end up having it run the same or make the same power since its initial tune. It's a constant headache, or in many cases a nightmare, that doesn't go away until you sell the car.

For the most part, supercharger installs are more of a "set it and forget it" deal. I'm not saying that your car will be as trouble-free as stock, but it's a no-brainer compared to turbos. Beyond the reliability factor, the headache and stress factor drops significantly when talking about supercharging an NA car vs. turbocharging it. Yes, I'm being very general, but this opinion stems from years of observation and experience, both first-hand and through friends/forums. I've been in the game long enough, and I dare anyone to tell me I'm wrong.

The above is not only limited to Zs, either. The same holds true to everything from S2000s and RSXs, to Mustangs, Corvettes, Vipers, and M3s. But of course...everyone has a "boy" who has a turbocharged _________ and has been problem-free for xx,xxx miles. LOL.

Sardis

Lots of truth to the above statement. Even turbo cars from the factory, when they go larger turbos/mass upgrades they get these little annoyances.

Went on a twistie run with a Subaru/Mitsu group this last weekend. Big power on some of those cars, most running E85.. Quite a few of them had minor annoyances they were fixing when they stopped.

Boosting an NA car will always lead to some annoyances, if you can work on your car, it's not as bad..

But damn is that power intoxicating

__________________
"Because in a split second, it's gone." - Ayrton Senna

Zsteve

Well that sounds good cuz I did do some of the work on my TT when it was upgraded but it was a constant tinkering. Im hoping that the SC will be alot easier which was one of the reasons I was interested in the lower PSI with the ICs cuz I thought running at a lower PSI might help keep the SC and other parts more reliable. Im only looking for about 100 HP more than what it has stock. 390 to the wheels would be great for me.


And yes power is intoxicating: I went to the Z from my chipped 2.0T TT which was kinda quick for the more power and now I want even more. I was saying a car that can 0 60 in under 5 secs was all I wanted but I guess not.

RCZ

lol @ JoeD, beat me this time.

LiquidZ

Nevermind.

__________________

G37Sam

^ read the previous posts

__________________

RCZ

TARDCORE

I have a question. How many degress does lets say an average sized IC cool down the pressureized air? The air comming from a turbo is like over 300 degrees F right? Seems like IC do a great job. Do people still use water cooled IC today? I have never seen one in person.

__________________
XBL:EVENTYDE

LiquidZ

I'm sorry! I can't read.

__________________

kannibul

I agree, and, there's also the difference in the torque/hp curves. turbo's will look better for peak power, but average power across teh band, S/C is better IMO - at least...the right kind of S/C. In addition, as far as I understand it, a turbo can drain low-end torque/power until the turbo's spin up. Might not be much of an issue...but if you drive your car with the engine mostly under 3K RPM, and occasionally get above 5K RPM, a supercharger is the better option, IMO.

kannibul

There's also something about turbos and turning off your car. I nearly bought a cobalt SS (I know - lol), and I did a bit of research on turbo-cars, and you're supposed to wait 30 seconds to a minute before shutting off the car, so the turbos can spin down as much as possible so that when you shut off the engine they don't burn the oil (out of) in the bearings/seals due to heat and continued movement until they stop spinning. This can cause issues with the bearings and seals getting damaged, causing pressure issues and leaks.

S/C - you turn the engine off, it stops, no parts moving afterwards without oil pressure.

Turbo cars also need their oil changed more often - they add a lot of heat cycling to the oil, making it "wear out" faster.

At least, that's what my research has suggested. I have no experience on the matter.

JoeD

False.

JoeD

I can't quite put my finger on why, but I LOLd while reading this. Seriously.