vortech, procharger or turbo

darkstar

New Member
Apr 15, 2004
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south jersey
i decided to save up and order a build block, stage 2.5 heads, custom cames and a p&p bullit intake from T&J. mainly because of all the good things i hear on this site and the corral. i should have the money for this in the next month or so. my question would be what power adder to put on top. i had a vortech before, but sold it because the car was gonna go. i was going to go with procharger but am now thinking turbo. what is the best way to go?
 
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It's a matter of choice. Each has it's pro's & con's (turbos or centrifugal blowers). We changed the pulleys on a vortech A trim and got 12 psi out of it, 5 psi out of the hole at low RPM. A blower draws power from the crank, while I turbo is spun by an impeller in the exhaust. The air temp is much greater vs a SC (causing it to be less dense), but doesn't draw on the crank. It slows down exhaust gas velocity, which a SC will not. SC is probably the easiest way, more or less a direct bolt up with out any major modifications if you get a kit.
 
turbo -> most power. more comlpex. most expensive. reliability a concern. there isn't a big name company making kits for our cars.

Procharger -> cheap, easy, but reliability has been a problem for a few people. comes with an intercooler.

Vortech -> cheap, easy, and good reliability. so-so customer support. probably the best bet for power and reliability for the price. check out Paxton as well. the NOVI 2000 is a great blower.
 
Turbos arent a real viable option right now. The few kits on the market seem to require modification and they dont have the support you might get from a more established company. There have also been several fly by night tubo companies that have left people hanging so be careful if you decide to go that route.

You will get decent support with a vortech/paxton/procharger. Kenne bell seems to give better than average support. You might check out T&J performance he seems like a standup guy and sells both the vortech/paxton kits. He is on here and seems to fall all over himself trying to help the people he sells to. You can find the T&J web site here.
http://www.modularfordpowerhouse.com/products.php?id=70
 
darkstar said:
i decided to save up and order a build block, stage 2.5 heads, custom cames and a p&p bullit intake from T&J. mainly because of all the good things i hear on this site and the corral. i should have the money for this in the next month or so. my question would be what power adder to put on top. i had a vortech before, but sold it because the car was gonna go. i was going to go with procharger but am now thinking turbo. what is the best way to go?

I'd get a Vortech over a Procharger based on what i've read about Procharger and people having issues with them.

Turbo and KB are also other options...

Cost should be your deciding factor...what you can afford as some will definitely be more expensive than others.

Can't go wrong with T&J :nice:
 
well procharger at least the self-contained continues to generate reports of blown seals.

kb is self-contained also but will vent some oil if over spun as it was designed to do so to prevent blown seals. to make the power (9psi) it can you really need the intercooler which makes for a $5k kit. having traction issues now? well the kb is a torque monster which won't make things better. many report punching it in 1st, 2nd and even 3rd could just roast the tires. yes kb makes much power down low but be prepared to feather or use part throttle unless you just want to sit there spinning your tires.

then there's vortech. compare a dyno graph of a 9psi kb kit intercooled to a vortech 8psi with power pipe non-intercooled making 9 to 10psi. 2k to 3k rpm the kb makes 20 to 40 hp more. hp levels are about even at around 3800rpm.
add an intercooler to the vortech which brings the price to about the same as the intercooled kb kit and above 3800prm and you should see 20 ro 40 hp more than the kb.

are you easy on the gas and stay below 4k rpm - go kb

do you like to punch it and rev above 4k rpm - go vortech
 
darkstar said:
so if i go with tj what would be a better choice the vortech or novi2000
thanks for all the input


if you want a quiet blower, get the Vortech SQ. if you don't care how loud the whine is, get the Paxton. the NOVI 2000 will make more power with the same boost. Vortech now owns Paxton btw.