Which super charger???!??

london02

New Member
Oct 26, 2011
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lakeland, fl
I have 02 gt auto. Not too much on the upgrade list yet, just intake, H&R supersport springs, cc plates, and hankook v12's. I've read other forum posts on which super charger to get, but there just wasn't enough info on which supercharger gives you the best bang for the buck, as well as dependability, power, and just overall fun. I'm looking into either kenne bell or vortech.

From what i've gathered the kenne bell gives your constant power from low to high rpm's compared to where vortech really doesn't start to kick in until around the 3-3.5 rpm's, but when it gets there the car definitely moves. I'm not too worried about the price i'm really just trying to figure out which will give you the most power, but still keep my car my daily driver. thanks.
 
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You have got your your info right regarding how each blower works and how it adds power.

Both will keep your car driving like stock until you put your foot into it. I have DD my car with both blowers and never had one issue. It seems like I go through a tank faster with my KB then when I had my S-trim.

With that said I can tell you that if I had it to do over again I would have never bought my S-trim. Yes it was nice at first but once I installed the KB I swore I would never buy a centri style blower again. I say this because the KB provides SO much low end grunt and makes the car more fun to drive. The vortech really didn't start pulling till it hit about 3300 rpms or so. The vortech seemed to pull a little harder in the higher rpm range but not much and not nearly enough to make me miss it.

As far as power potential goes the vortech will win that battle hands down if you are comparing it to the KB 2.1. The 2.6 will make just as much if not a little more then the S-trim though. If you go that route you will need a FMIC to keep the boost temps down. They are actually easy to do and not very expensive.You can easily make 550 to the wheels with the vortech and some have overspun them to make just a hair over 600 rwhp.

The 2.1 on the other hand will be tapped out around 500 at the wheels and 14 psi. At that boost level it will heat soak fast. This is due to KB making the inlet on the 2.1 as cheap as possible IMOP as it becomes a restriction. You can make more power then that by adding either a custom inlet or one of the inlets from KB designed for either the mach1, cobra, or the 2.6 2v kit.

Hope that helps you.
 
The Vortech kits are everywhere. You can piece together a used kit for under $2,000. KB kits are usually a good amount of money higher. I never experienced a roots style blower but most people who go from centri to roots say they will never go back to the centri. And as a side note, most everyone who upgrade to turbs say those are hands down the best. If you got money to spend then I'd say take your pick. But if your budget is in the 2G range then you're probably only gonna be able to get a Vortech.

I had a Vortech and even when not in boost you can feel the acceleration and power. Once you get into the boost tho, the car will take off like a rocket!!
 
Another option is the Tork Tech route. It lets you build what you want. Everything from a $3500 Cobra Eaton setup, to a Whipple 2.9 setup (which is what I will be running). Even if you go with the Cobra Eaton for now, in a year, two years, or whenever...you can "upgrade" to any blower that is available for the Cobra (TVS, KB, or Whipple). There is a guy here who just built one at the end of last season. He put down 418 rwhp and 427 rwtq on the stock engine. Another guy did a TVS1900 on the stock shortblock, stage 2 heads and cams....he made 511 rwhp and I really dont remember the tq on less than 10psi.

I had a KB for a while, but with the problems I had....and the lack of upgradability.....I went with the Tork Tech Terminator manifold and built it from there.
 
Personal opinion: A positive displacement blower makes more sense for a daily driver that spends more time below 3000RPM than above. Squirting through city traffic with a stab of the throttle is so effortless and easy with a twinscrew (e.g.) It's just always there, always ready.

If you spend a lot of time on the highway or prefer higher RPM driving I'd probably go with the centri. They generally outperform P/Ds as the RPM nears the top of the scale.

However, I personally spend little time overall up there and thus prefer the instant torque of the 'screw.

No matter which you choose you're going to find a way to enjoy it :)
 
Go with KB. They are well designed kits. I wish I would have (at a minimum) got the 42 lb injectors instead of the 36ers that comes with the 2.1 kit. However, with hind sight being 20/20. I actually wish I would have just got the 2.6 tuner kit instead of the 2.1 because of the higher horsepower potential. Dont think in the short term like i did, ask your self where you want the car to be in 5 years, and what your end goal is. PD blowers are awesome for street strip
 
Go with KB. They are well designed kits. I wish I would have (at a minimum) got the 42 lb injectors instead of the 36ers that comes with the 2.1 kit. However, with hind sight being 20/20. I actually wish I would have just got the 2.6 tuner kit instead of the 2.1 because of the higher horsepower potential. Dont think in the short term like i did, ask your self where you want the car to be in 5 years, and what your end goal is. PD blowers are awesome for street strip

I will agree and disagree with some of this. The KB is NOT a well designed kit, it is an adquately designed kit. The bypass location has always been known as a problem with causing a lean condition on some cylinders. The 2.1 has the worst designed inlet ever constructed.....thats why it is limited on HP potential (ask yourself this, why is a TVS1900 @ 1.9L able to produce more more power and more boost?).

Dont get me wrong, I think the KB is a great ENTRY blower. If you NEVER plan to make more than 450 rwhp and always keep the stock block....then it is a great blower. There is a guy right now on another forum that just did some more extensive modificatins to his 2.1 to try to get more power out of it. I just dont see paying $6000+ on a 2.1 Intercooled KB when you could build a TT Eaton that will make the same power for about half the money.

As usaf_branham said, he wishes he would have went with the 2.6 tuner kit. For less than the 2.6 tuner kit (after you buy everything), I could build, ok, I did build a 2.9 Whipple kit for less than the 2.6 tuner kit will cost. It is going to support me up to 800+ rwhp on race gas and maybe 900+ with race gas and giggle juice.
 
I will agree and disagree with some of this. The KB is NOT a well designed kit, it is an adquately designed kit. The bypass location has always been known as a problem with causing a lean condition on some cylinders. The 2.1 has the worst designed inlet ever constructed.....thats why it is limited on HP potential (ask yourself this, why is a TVS1900 @ 1.9L able to produce more more power and more boost

Agreed. KB could have done more with the 2.1 and chose not to in an attempt to keep the cost down. There is NO reason that they could not have installed the cobra inlet on the 2.1. I say this because that's exactly what they did with the 2.6. The inlet for the 2.6 is the exact same manifold but the original bypass location is welded shut and a flange is placed on the drivers side. The other part that bothers me with both blowers is where they draw the bypass air from. Again there is NO reason for it. They could have installed it in the back of the manifold but again chose not to.
 
Ok so I'm considering a supercharger and the options for me come down to used kb (2.6 for 3800) or a new vortech from American muscle. It would be on stock motor and I would keep td boost level down on either until funds recovered for a built motor. Is the vortech superchargers all the same case but different guts to make them different 'trims'? Which would be the better choice? I am leaning towards a used kb but it sounds like a 2.1 may not be what I want and the 2.6 is the best route. The tork tech kit is nice but I don't want to source thy many parts for it.
 
Honestly I would go with the used kb 2.6 if you know where its been so to speak. I say this because I got screwed over when I bought my 2.1 used. Regardless of what kb you go with look into re-locating the bypass valve as it will cause you issues when you up the boost and add cams.

Yes the vortechs are pretty much all the same. The only thing that really changes is the impeller all the way up to a T-trim. After that the physical size of the blower changes.
 
Centri, all the way. Gear the car accordingly to what you want to do, put a simple meth kit on it to raise octane and lower the IAT's.

If you want the hit of a roots/twin screw blower down low, pulley a centri blower down to close or max impellar speed of the head unit, then put a simple blower restrictor on it. Very easy to do at the hardware store. Your boost will come on very linear. Down low, it will hit like a twin screw, but will completely out pull one on the top end. A good BOV in the right place will negate any damage done to the headunit. Paxton(which is owned by Vortech now) allows this on other builds. It is really the way to go for a blower setup. The torque will be there with a pulleyed down centri blower with a restrictor, but you won't spike the boost. The car will be much faster than an equal twin screw car.
 
I'm running the Tork Tech setup with a stock pullied Eaton. It get's up to 7psi and dynoed 378rwhp/382rwtq. This is on my stock long block 01GT, with a 5-speed and 3.73's.

I went with this kit because I could get the parts little by little since the boss (my wife) wasn't about to let me drop $5k+ at one time. I'm glad it worked out this way because the install is clean and as mentioned earlier it's upgradeable. The factory Eaton blowers are known to be reliable which added to the appeal for a daily driver. I even hooked up the EGR using a Cobra valve and manifold tube (just in case I need to pass emissions sometime in the future).

The car is a blast to drive, and acts like it did stock until I put my foot into it. I've taken it to the track once but I was on 255's and my clutch was on the way out (just replaced that yesterday). Even with those limitations and my not being a very good driver the car ran 13.5 @ 108mph. With that speed I should have a much lower ET.

You can't go wrong with the TT kit, especially since you could go with the full Magnuson kit if you chose.
 
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:D
 

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Obviously you are going to get differing opinions from people but one thing definitely seems to stand out from people who have done it before. Don't think short run.... think long run. Whatever you buy and whatever power you make you are going to want more down the road it is honestly inevitable. And if you are buying a centri than please install an intercooler at the same time. A non intercooled blower runs great in the cool weather and like :poo: if you live where it is hot and humid in the summer. I bought a used Vortech for a great price and put it in non intercooled. Within a year I installed an intercooler and it is a great daily driver. I currently make 420rwhp and 408 torque. Sure you need to rev it out a little bit to feel the power but you can always drop a pulley size and make more boost in the lower rpms. Either route will give you a reliable fun daily driver if you stay under the 450rwhp mark.
 
So which version of the vortech would be best? I want an intercooler with the setup as well. The v1 needs to have a oil tap I believe but what's some of the pros and cons of these 3?
 
The V1 would be my last option, personally.

As I posted, the V2-V3 head units have helical cut gears, as the V1 has strait cut gears. Not a big difference, but the V2-V3 SI units pack a slightly bigger punch than the same V1 does. Vortech's site doesn't say it by flow numbers or max hp ratings, but take all that with a grain of salt, as with any blowers CFM, HP ratings, and compressor maps.

As for the V2 vs V3, it makes no difference. People act like tapping the oil pan is a big deal, it is not. I started off with a V3 SI trim which is self contained. I switched to a V7 YSI which I tapped the oil pan for. Now, I'm back with a Paxton 1500 self contained (owned by vortech, same exact blower as a T-trim minus the case). A $5 fitting from Home Depot plugged the previous tap in the pan.

If it were me(which I do), I would spin the crap out of a smaller blower with a good blow off valve to help relieve stress on the blower. I run a blower that is smaller than what comes with the 4.6 3v kits on mustangs. With meth, it hits like a freight train down low. A bigger blower would be faster on the top end, but wouldn't match the power down low.

A V2-V3 SI or T-trim would be a great blower, and as 04torktech said, you need an intercooler.