Turbo or Supercharger ?
 

Hello, Noob here... so please pardon my ignorance....Not sure if someone already asked these questions... so i'll ask..

Trying to decide between Turbo vs Supercharger for my stock 370z.

Looking for a break down in relation to Performance, Maintenance between the 2.

I am not a track person. Never will be...so looking to see which option i should go with... I simply just want to add a little vroom vroom to my Z.

Any info would be appreciated.

thanks

If you just want a "little vroom" get a sprint booster. $300 and it makes your throttle comes alive without spending $20k that comes with the risk of putting a hole in your engine.

Which SC and which turbo kit are you looking at? The cost difference could be pretty huge. This is what I have gathered from the forums and talking to people (because I have considered both extensively as well). Turbo will give you a lot more power with room for growth, but it'll cost a lot more because there's a lot more piping that needs to be done and install will also cost more/take longer. SC will give you more of a NA feel with a more linear power delivery like a faster stock Z which is good in terms of maintaining the Z's feel. You won't get that big low end grunt of trq like you will with turbo though which si what a lot of people who wan more power want.

Thanks, i will look into that option.

I haven't gotten to the Models/Brands just yet. i wanted to ask what others had thought based on their experience. I prefer less maintenance and less cost. Im not a track person or a street racer, i just want a little boost to my stock car so i can enjoy it without having to worry about Tunes, million mods or undesiring maintenance. Going from what your saying a Super charger would be better suited for me compared to a Turbo kit ?

If you just want a little oomph and not to think about maintenance, just do some breather mods and get an Ecutek tune for better throttle response. Oh, 4.08 gears would help a lot also.

Turbo

thanks for he info Much Appreciated

Boosting a factory naturally aspirated car, whether supercharger or turbocharger, requires additional maintenance that you MUST keep up on. There's no way around it. Also, both require a lot of money in supporting mods. Budget at least half the cost of the kit for additional mods.

Agreed^.

Forced induction is not a good newbie project - unless you can afford to pay someone else to install/maintain it. Get your hands dirty making some intake/exhaust mods and other jobs before jumping into (turbo-)supercharging. There is a LOT of info on FI on this site and elsewhere on the Intertubes.

Just to make sure your numbers are right in your head, think 10k SC (stillen), 20k for turbo (Fast intentions, the best). This is assuming you are running the stock SC kit and not trying different additional mods to get more power.

You will not regret it. The unit is detachable within 10 minutes so you wouldn't have worry about warranty issues. Anyone that have ever had a sprint booster on their car couldn't get enough of it. The difference from stock is night and day. Off all the mods on my car (intake, tp, exhaust), the sprint booster gives me the most satisfaction. The only way I can see myself parting way with mine is if I'm selling my car or finally getting an ecu reflash, which is on my list of things to do later on.

OP, do your homework on the Stillen Kit. It has some serious issues with it that (IMO) make it less safe on the motor than a turbo kit at low boost. By the time you iron out all of the Stillen kit's shortcomings you could have had a turbo kit.

Don't leave the Boosted Performance kit off your list. It's a solid option, and labor cost to install will be less than a twin turbo kit.

Whichever option you choose, you need to always have enough in your savings account to replace a motor. These motors are stout, but things happen when you're asking an extra 150-200whp out of it.

Thanks, i think SouthArk is right... Not a project for me just yet.

thank you all for your tips and thoughts. i have a better understanding now.

No sense telling you to stick with N/A and go bolt ons because you asked which one between the two.

Turbo - More power over SC. Spent last Saturday with a GTR and two Fast Intentions turboed Z's. Insanely fast. Plus - the builder of these turbos are reputable. Their kits can give you 600 + easy and told that it is even more on a built motor. Stay away from GTM if you decide to boost. You already know that other parts need upgraded so it should be already in your budget. You are in Bakersfield. That is an advantage for servicing and maintenance. FI is in Simi Valley and their tuner is in Canoga Park. There are must do tips to keep your car in shape once you boost. Rather that starting a thread - contact TerribleOne, Hotrodz, GeauxTigers1, RoyaltyB and 37 other guys and gals with this kit and ask them what their experience has been like. Each will be different. Common denominator will be the quality of their product and support you get from the builder. Good luck.

Just remember what was said here, the Stillen has issues and was stated its going to cost you and additional 5k just to get it right so go Turbo would be smarted IMO. Also make sure you have 10k just sitting around for if and when something BIG breaks, It will happen at some point. Just don't want you to think you will go FI and nothings going to break :/ .

been there man, Like 90% of us here

The stillen kit doesn't have issues. The guys that buy it do. They want to get major league power out of a kit that was not designed for that. Then by pushing limits things go wrong.

Going FI is a night and day difference no matter how many NA mods you put on. Yes you can make the car a little faster with bolt ons but you will never say, Wow! this is fast! unless you go FI.

If I were in your shoes. I'd get a used SC kit. They are easy to install, maintain and you will not need to mess with exhaust piping. Pick up a cheap used stillen kit and keep it at the level it was designed to perform at. Easiest way to pick up enough power to put a smile on your face.

HOWEVER, you WILL want more. Resist the boost crack pipe. But nobody can.

I still think the way the stillen kit has the maf before the compressor is a major issue that leads to problems down the line.

It does

What are the issues with the 8lb pulley?

It doesn't matter what pulley you have on there. As the kit ships, it measures air temp and flow before its compressed, heated up and fed through a pretty shoddy intercooler setup. How is the ecu supposed to accurately add fuel when the measurement it bases that on is no longer accurate?

It should have been designed as an air to air with a blow through maf from the beginning. Sasha's upgrade setup should have been the way it was done from the beginning. It's a good blower, just bad plumbing from stillen.

So wheres the proof that at 8lb the stillen setup has issues? Yes, pull through will not be as good as blow through but were not talking going to 14lbs here.

The kit was designed for 8lbs max and the pull through works at that. Are you saying it doesn't?

The plumbing from stillen is absolutely fine and the design cools the charge enough as designed. In fact, the plumbing keeps pressure drop to near 0 so produces less heat.

And Sashas setup doesn't work. I know first hand.

So you're saying that at 8lbs the kit does not heat soak and pull timing? From a design standpoint it's flawed. That doesn't mean it can't work, jut that it's far from ideal. I'm convinced they did it that way to get the CARB cert. if they didn't have that to deal with, I doubt they would have made some of the compromises they did.

You're right, if you don't ever plan on pushing the kit it can work. I'd still replace the heat exchanger for a little peace of mind.

Oh absolutely you can improve on the design from stillen. Then again you could improve on just about every kit made.

I am simply getting back to the topic of this thread. You can put a stillen kit on, and it will work. It will give you more power. It will be much more power than bolt ons. It will not cost a ton to buy one used. If I was OP this is what I would do.

So we don't get to off topic in this dude's thread, can you elaborate more on this statement in your 'Air to Air' thread? Last I saw you ran out of blower on the dyno just shy of 500whp. That doesn't seem like something that 'doesn't work'. Did some other issue pop up?

not to go off topic but there are guys who blew there motors on the stock stillen kit.

back on topic. :)

Edit: just seen you wanted me to write in my thread. Gotcha, sorry.

Yes I can. I bought Sashas pipe. It didn't work. Well it works if you want to go to 5K max, then the mafs max out. I used my original Y-split pipe design. Nothing on my car is from Sasha.

You are referencing my thread. Have you read the part where I designed the Y and used it?

There are motors blown on the 8psi pulley? How many? Any threads on it?

I would like to see what went wrong there.

Yes. But that's the MAF maxing as a constraint on the pipe size chosen, not a function of the concept not working. If you increased the pipe diameter it will worked. I would chalk that up to R&D on a new design, not round file it as a failed concept.

K. But it still doesnt work.

:facepalm:

Yeah. I feel the same way. Maybe its cuz Im bitter that he refuses to do anything about the pipe he sold me that is a waste of money. He has not responded to me about it at all yet posts on here about other randomness. Your saying the concept is there. Ok, make something that works then instead of taking money for something that doesn't.

Neither, get a faster car

Diego, Z&I and I think Swiss did , I think all three were 'stock" pulley , There's been more trust me.

I'm interested in more info about those guys as well, if there are threads at all.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Well I know for a fact that Z&I was not stock. He had the 9psi pulley and the upgraded impeller making 12psi. 4 more over stock.

I know this because I have his old kit and we discussed it on the phone.

What exactly is the sprint booster?

Wow, interesting.

As you can tell I have not been all that active here, and I honestly forgot about the PM you sent me a month ago asking for $$$ back...and I just sent you a partial refund through paypal.

I also do have a life outside of the forums and this business that I own, no to mention a day job, which has kept me extremely busy this summer with a lot of travel...I just got back from Chicago for example. As for "posting about other randomness"...please show me the number of my posts in the last month or so? I just replied to a couple of things in the V2 build thread and that is about all.

You were buying a piece of pipe from me which I rushed to get built and shipped to you. The Y section was built, and you knew it wasn't tested or proven at the time. This was a risk that you were willing to take. I don't understand what your frustration is with that. The engineering was based on my experience with tall MAF housings (which is what you got) and 3" piping. At the time of design/build, this to me seemed like a viable solution based on the limited amount of room there is to work with. Again, you knew this, as the entire forum knows that I don't have secrets to keep.


OP, sorry for the derail here.

BOT:

If you are looking for a simple way to add power to your car, please consider the Boosted Performance turbo kit. I has proven itself to be very reliable, simple to install and maintain while effortlessly making 550hp and 450ft/tq at the wheels.

If you choose to go with the SC Stillen seems to be the only one available on the market for this platform. It is not a perfect kit and there are options out there to improve some of its deficiencies. I for example am working on a complete air/air system to improve the efficiency of the system.

If you are considering a TT kit, give the guys at Fast Intentions a call and you won't be disappointed.

:eek:What's interesting is I hadn't voiced a thing about it not working or that you wouldn't reply to me yet the day I make it vocal you decide to take action. Had you responded to my more then one attempt to contact you in regards to this, this would have/ should have been handled differently.

I fully understand the situation. But being ignored as a paying customer is something completely different.

And I've viewed your profile. You logged in plenty between your posts.

I don't want to burn bridges here as you know I support your kit. But this is just simple customer support.