What Entry Level Supercharger For 03 Gt

03GTGal

New Member
Apr 30, 2014
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SE Minnesota
I have a O3 GT with catback, 4.10's, steeda pulleys, upper plenum, cai, APS Autoworks Custom Tune, Hi-Tech Stage 2 Cams, 3000 Stall Edge Racing Converter. Car runs 13.20's at 102 mph.
I am wanting to go faster but I do drive car on the street. I would like to put a entry level blower on car.
Will the transmission go into overdrive at wide open throttle. If it wont, think we might need to change gears.
Thank you for any suggestions you have.
 
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Your trans will shift exactly as it does now. For an entry level kit, I always recommend the Vortech S-Trim. Or maybe its called the Si-Trim now. Anyway it is easy to install in a few hours and easy to tune. You can find them really cheap these days. Used kits can be found from $1500-$2000. Maybe a little bit more depending on what else is included. You can piece together an entire kit for $1500 or less if you know where to look. Tuning can be done with any tuner that allows you to self-adjust fuel and spark. So you would need a wide band O2 sensor. Or you can get it dyno tuned. And you can run a Vortech with the Vortech aftercooler or with their straight discharge pipe.
 
I second the notion of the Si trim. There are three ways to get a kit. A complete kit with all of the bells and whistles, a tuner kit which will have the head unit, brackets, pulleys, belts etc (this is what I recommend) or a used kit. The install is relatively easy and can be done in a weekend with basic hand tools. I especially like the Si due to the better efficiency and the fact that it is self contained. I usually try to steer people away from used kits because its too hard to judge the condition with only a visual inspection.

If your interested in pricing a new kit shoot me a pm for the best price you'll find. Or, if your looking for a used kit pm me the serial number and I'll get you the full service history and production date of the blower before you buy it.
 
If you're looking simple, cheap, and reliable, it's hard to be a Vortech.

However, I'm gonna go against the grain and say a 1.9 TVS. Something about all that low end torque is a lot of fun.

The transmission will shift into overdrive if you don't disable it (with the button on the side of the gear selector). But it's like that now anyway.
 
If you're looking simple, cheap, and reliable, it's hard to be a Vortech.

However, I'm gonna go against the grain and say a 1.9 TVS. Something about all that low end torque is a lot of fun.

The transmission will shift into overdrive if you don't disable it (with the button on the side of the gear selector). But it's like that now anyway.

A lot of fun ends quickly when you're starring at tail lights after the first 330 feet :p
 
Psh, in yo dreams. It's not like it just magically stops pulling after 4000 rpm or something. Heck, my car with a super-duper terribly inefficient Heaton made peak horsepower at 6200 rpm last time on the dyno, and was relatively flat from there until 6500.
Lol, I think he's referring to lack of traction in a race. Spinnin ain't winnin as they say.
 
A lot of fun ends quickly when you're starring at tail lights after the first 330 feet :p

Pftttt.....how many Vortech powered modular SN95's do you see running high-11's at almost 120mph with only 335RWHP like Will's did?






.....I'll save you the trouble of looking. The answer is next to none. Most Vortech guys aren't even going that fast with almost 400RWHP. ;)

Don't underestimate the value of the low end torque produced by a good old PD blower. Heck, the little M90S used on the Allen Kit on my old Mercury Cougar used to propel my automatic equiped sled into the mid-12's at nearly 110mph....and it had stock PI heads, stock PI cams, and about 800lbs on a Mod Motor Mustang. ;)
 
Pftttt.....how many Vortech powered modular SN95's do you see running high-11's at almost 120mph with only 335RWHP like Will's did?






.....I'll save you the trouble of looking. The answer is next to none. Most Vortech guys aren't even going that fast with almost 400RWHP. ;)

Don't underestimate the value of the low end torque produced by a good old PD blower. Heck, the little M90S used on the Allen Kit on my old Mercury Cougar used to propel my automatic equiped sled into the mid-12's at nearly 110mph....and it had stock PI heads, stock PI cams, and about 800lbs on a Mod Motor Mustang. ;)

To be fair, it did make 370 rwhp on the dyno shortly before the most recent motor let go.

With the PD v. Centri argument, a manual transmission or higher stall converter definitely evens things up a bit since they can get into the powerband a lot quicker, but with with stock converter automatic car (like mine was) that had to start at 2000 rpm everytime, the PD blower car is going to walk all over a centri car. Even with all that torque right off idle, my car still wouldn't go better than a high 1.7 - low 1.8 60'. A centri car making pretty much stock torque down that low isn't going to go better than a 2.0 or so. And I can assure you, it takes a LOT of extra power on the big end to make up for 2 tenths in the 60'. Especially when I put another couple tenths on you on the light. :D

We're about to figure out just how fast an Eaton can go on a 2-valve. ;)
 
Pftttt.....how many Vortech powered modular SN95's do you see running high-11's at almost 120mph with only 335RWHP like Will's did?






.....I'll save you the trouble of looking. The answer is next to none. Most Vortech guys aren't even going that fast with almost 400RWHP. ;)

Don't underestimate the value of the low end torque produced by a good old PD blower. Heck, the little M90S used on the Allen Kit on my old Mercury Cougar used to propel my automatic equiped sled into the mid-12's at nearly 110mph....and it had stock PI heads, stock PI cams, and about 800lbs on a Mod Motor Mustang. ;)

Mine has gone 12.1x @115 a few times, and that was with the stock automatic with the stock converter. The 60' was always around 1.9-2.0 although it did cut a 1.8 once. I just switched to a t-56 this winter and haven't had a chance to go back to the track yet this year but i'm crossing my fingers for a 11.9x now that i'll be able to really launch the car. I guess we'll see how well I can row my own gears.:shrug: And my car only made 355 rwhp through a non-intercooled vortech v-2. The engine itself is stock throttle body to oil pan. Just the vortech, exhaust and meth. It can be done.
 
Mine has gone 12.1x @115 a few times, and that was with the stock automatic with the stock converter. The 60' was always around 1.9-2.0 although it did cut a 1.8 once. I just switched to a t-56 this winter and haven't had a chance to go back to the track yet this year but i'm crossing my fingers for a 11.9x now that i'll be able to really launch the car. I guess we'll see how well I can row my own gears.:shrug: And my car only made 355 rwhp through a non-intercooled vortech v-2. The engine itself is stock throttle body to oil pan. Just the vortech, exhaust and meth. It can be done.


Not saying it can't be done....just that centrifugal cars generally aren't as fast as PD cars at the same power levels. When you really start to spin them, add gears, a looser converter, or a manual transmission, things start to even out....but right out of the box, the PD cars seem to be quicker. Even in your case....you made 20-more horsepower than Will, are running water methanol (which not only cools, but adds octane to your fuel) and still rand 2/10 and 3mph slower.

It's really not the blowers fault, it's probably more centred around the modulars limited 281ci displacement. PD blowers fill those little cylinders in a hurry, where Centrifugals really gotta ramp themselves up to do the same. My set up was seeing the full 9-10psi before my accelerator pedal made it all the way to the floor....it came on that fast!

FWIW....my Cougar made 343rwhp and was cutting 1.85 60ft times at over 4,200lbs (with driver) with only a 90ci Eaton. That's the same size blower they used to use on the old 3.8L Thunderbird SC's.

IMG_5195.jpg

IMG_4800.jpg

7_27_20078_47PM_0002.jpg
 
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Not saying it can't be done....just that centrifugal cars generally aren't as fast as PD cars at the same power levels. When you really start to spin them, add gears, a looser converter, or a manual transmission, things start to even out....but right out of the box, the PD cars seem to be quicker. Even in your case....you made 20-more horsepower than Will, are running water methanol (which not only cools, but adds octane to your fuel) and still rand 2/10 and 3mph slower.

It's really not the blowers fault, it's probably more centred around the modulars limited 281ci displacement. PD blowers fill those little cylinders in a hurry, where Centrifugals really gotta ramp themselves up to do the same. My set up was seeing the full 9-10psi before my accelerator pedal made it all the way to the floor....it came on that fast!

FWIW....my Cougar made 343rwhp and was cutting 1.85 60ft times at over 4,200lbs (with driver) with only a 90ci Eaton. That's the same size blower they used to use on the old 3.8L Thunderbird SC's.

IMG_5195.jpg

IMG_4800.jpg

7_27_20078_47PM_0002.jpg
To be fair, Sneaky also runs a meth kit and blower cams. Dyno numbers per se don't mean a whole lot to me. I've seen dyno readings to be all over the place from dyno to dyno. Please don't take this as me hating on PD blowers. I'm just offering a different perspective. OP at the end of the day, just buy what you like and can afford. They are all viable options, you just have to decide which one suits you best.
 
I personally don't think a PD will walk a centri at similar power levels...and I don't think a centri will walk a PD at similar power levels. They make power differently and at different points in the RPM. PD blowers are better at low end power, centri blowers are better at top end power. I personally like top end.
 
I personally don't think a PD will walk a centri at similar power levels...and I don't think a centri will walk a PD at similar power levels. They make power differently and at different points in the RPM. PD blowers are better at low end power, centri blowers are better at top end power. I personally like top end.

It's not generally as easy as one makes power up top and one makes power down low though.

Where a positive displacement blower starts making power almost instantaneously and carries to redline, tapering off in the upper ranges. Most base level Centrifugal kits adds no measurable power below about 3,500RPM (at least not when pullied in order to keep the stock internals in tact, while running pump gas) and tend to have a very short power band.

This goes back to my earlier statement where owners of centrifugal are having to swap out pullies and rear end ratios in order to attempt to get into their power band more quickly and minimize the time spent in lower RPM regions to remain competitive.

Hence why at lower power levels, positive displacement cars tend to come out on top....both on the street and at the track. They generally make a broader horsepower and torque curves across the entire rev range. And aren't gear, or RPM dependent when doing so.

Again, this can be blamed somewhat on the 4.6L modulars relatively small displacement. Spinning the centrifugal faster will result in a quicker and more responsive lower end, but it's relatively small cylinder fill and tight combustion chambers also pushes the envelope up top. The blower is now spun more quickly across the entire rev range threatening the 4.6L's fragile internals. It's a real catch 22.
 
To be fair, Sneaky also runs a meth kit and blower cams. Dyno numbers per se don't mean a whole lot to me. I've seen dyno readings to be all over the place from dyno to dyno. Please don't take this as me hating on PD blowers. I'm just offering a different perspective. OP at the end of the day, just buy what you like and can afford. They are all viable options, you just have to decide which one suits you best.

Out of curiosity, how hard were you spinning yours? I was only at around 7 pounds of boost, maybe 8 when it was cold outside.

I personally don't think a PD will walk a centri at similar power levels...and I don't think a centri will walk a PD at similar power levels. They make power differently and at different points in the RPM. PD blowers are better at low end power, centri blowers are better at top end power. I personally like top end.

I can assure you that it will. For some reason, you're assuming that a centri car makes more power up top than a positive displacement blower does, and that's not correct. Take two identical cars, put a Vortech on 1, Kenne Bell on the other, and run them at the same maximum boost, and the peak power will be very close to the same. The difference will be that the KB car made way more power/torque at every rpm prior to that peak power number. And on a stock stall auto car that has to go through the entire rpm range in 1st gear, the PD blower car is going to jump out front a significant amount in that 1st gear with the rest of the pull being somewhat even. But, as I already mentioned, throw a manual transmission or stalled auto in the mix, and things even up a lot since that low end torque isn't really utilized in a drag race from a dig.

I've made this comment before, and it certainly ins't meant to be all-encompassing, but you will generally speaking see WAY more fast PD blower cars at the track than you will centris. Are there fast centri cars out there? Absolutely. Ask Winters98GT. But by-and-large, the faster cars at the track are turbo, PD blower, or nitrous. Especially mod motor Fords.
 
The centrifugal supercharger offers even more power per pound of boost than the positive displacement superchargers

mmfp_0501_24_z%2Bford_modular_motor_forced_induction_comparison%2Bvortech_dyno.jpg


A centri runs away on the big end. PD sprints ahead down low, but is it enough to hold off the charge of a centri up high? After all, for the majority of any race you spend more time in the upper RPM's then down low.

http://www.mustangandfords.com/project-vehicles/mmfp-0501-ford-modular-motor-forced-induction/
 
Out of curiosity, how hard were you spinning yours? I was only at around 7 pounds of boost, maybe 8 when it was cold outside.



I can assure you that it will. For some reason, you're assuming that a centri car makes more power up top than a positive displacement blower does, and that's not correct. Take two identical cars, put a Vortech on 1, Kenne Bell on the other, and run them at the same maximum boost, and the peak power will be very close to the same. The difference will be that the KB car made way more power/torque at every rpm prior to that peak power number. And on a stock stall auto car that has to go through the entire rpm range in 1st gear, the PD blower car is going to jump out front a significant amount in that 1st gear with the rest of the pull being somewhat even. But, as I already mentioned, throw a manual transmission or stalled auto in the mix, and things even up a lot since that low end torque isn't really utilized in a drag race from a dig.

I've made this comment before, and it certainly ins't meant to be all-encompassing, but you will generally speaking see WAY more fast PD blower cars at the track than you will centris. Are there fast centri cars out there? Absolutely. Ask Winters98GT. But by-and-large, the faster cars at the track are turbo, PD blower, or nitrous. Especially mod motor Fords.
I take your points as being valid to a certain extent. And I was not making assumptions about where in the rpm range a specific blower will make more or less power than another blower. My statements were based on general knowledge and what I've learned from researching. Like Nightfire mentioned, most of the race will be spent in the upper rpms. So yes, a PD blower might get the jump, but a centri blower will make up for that. If you're comparing a stock stall auto GT with a centri to a stock stall auto GT with a PD, then like I said before, I doubt either car will straight up walk away from the other at any point.