Titan supercharger

Kyle@STILLEN

I think the most important thing to do before purchasing a supercharger or turbo kit for your vehicle (this applies to any car not just the Z) is to have a clear understanding of what you expect out of the kit you are interested in and what you plan on doing with your car. If you want crazy high horsepower and money is of no concern and you do not care about emissions legality or reliability. I would recommend turbo's. Turbo-chargers will supply you with the most horsepower possible and they sound cool, look cool, and work well.

Pros of a turbo system:

1) High horsepower capabilities
2) Very cool associated sounds
3) Looks great
4) Re-uses exhaust gases to produce additional power, which means no parasidic loss.

Cons of a turbo system:

1) Turbo's run extremely hot and n/a cars use hoses and seals (rubber components) that are not designed to withstand those high temperatures for long periods of time.
2) Requires a little bit more maintenance than a supercharger kit only because there is more heat involved
3) Turbo lag at low RPM
4) If turbo is not properly sized the powerband is like a light switch...stock, stock, stock, stock, holy-**** I'm backwards!
5) It is nearly impossible to get emissions legality with an aftermarket turbo system
6) A lot of the aftermarket turbo kits that I have seen, remove the crash beam and replace it with an intercooler. This crash beam in the front of the car houses the airbag sensors.
7) Turbo kits generally require a more lengthy installation due to the large diameter piping that needs to be run through the vehicle for the intakes and intercoolers and what not.

Pro's of a supercharger:

1) Lower underhood temperatures
2) dramatically decreased boost lag (sometimes none depending on type of supercharger and sizing and vehicle application)
3) Possibility of achieving emissions legality
4) Beautiful supercharger whine (I love it, some people dont' like it...personal preference.)
5) Generally easier to install than a turbo system because there is less plumbing required. Also, most turbo kits require hours of tuning and most supercharger systems do not

Cons of a supercharger:

1) Not as much power potential
2) Parasidic loss because the engine does have to power it
3) Possible hood clearance (again depending on vehicle and supercharger used)

Obviously we are fans of superchargers even though we do a lot of work on turbo vehicle's. These are some of the reasons that we prefer to go with supercharger systems for our production kits. They meet or exceed all of our requirements and for the average person they are the perfect solution.

I would love to hear more thoughts on the pro's and con's that I listed though!