ATI vs. KB

97predator

Member
Aug 18, 2003
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va beach
been thinking on the procharger and kenne bell. on average from the sheets that have been posted the kenne bell makes more power out of the box. its boost comes on in the low rpm band and stays there, great torque curve. but its strength is also a weakness, i mean for a street car. as the boost is aalways on, the engine is consuming huge amounts of fuel? the centrifugal type makes boost as rpm's go up, so for a daily driven car if one were to drive normally, then the car wouldnt see boost all the time, therefore burning less fuel correct? i am curious because i have a 97 cougar, and would like to go with forced induction. but i drive 90 miles a day on the interstate. as it is now my car rolls at 1900rpm at 65mph. Woudl you recomend a KB or ATI unit for such an application? :shrug:
 
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there's a common misconception about roots and twinscrew blowers that they waste fuel because they are supposedly always in boost. this isn't true. the only time you will see boost with the KB unit is when you start to get on it. true the blower will still be goin when you are driving normally, but it's the same for any centrifugal blower. boost will only kick in when you want it to, aka stomp the pedal :D. anyhow even at highway speeds the blower won't make that much boost, if any since your driving normally. i'm sure there are others on here that can explain it better than me.
 
here we go again....... :nonono: . I see the flame war starting. The best advise I can give you is to do the research, read tech articles. KB has an AWESOME tech section on its website. Not to diss anyone here, there is alot of good advise given out, but at the same time for some reason these blower threads always get flooded with biased opinions. I AM NOT trying to put anyone down, so please don't take it that way. Do the reseach and take what you hear from this post how you want, just remember that whatever you settle with should fit your needs and no one elses.
 
i like them both. and since the procharger goes for about 2000$ less, it has a small leg up. this is a 97 cougar were talkign about so aspirations of winning in outlaw street are out the window. just want to make good power and not lose drivability. how does the kenne bell 6 psi non intercooled kit compare to the 9 psi intercooled procharger? i will be checking out both sites so i will check in later. :nice:
 
$2000 less??? I doubt that...unless your comparing a non-intercooled KB to an intercooled procharger.

As for consuming more fuel thats garbage. If you are less than 50% throttle your not going to be in boost. In other words when you push the pedal down all the way your going to get power at all times...but if you dont want it and dont put the pedal down your not going to consume anymore gas than normal daily driving n/a.

kirkyg
 
kirkyg said:
$2000 less??? I doubt that...unless your comparing a non-intercooled KB to an intercooled procharger.

As for consuming more fuel thats garbage. If you are less than 50% throttle your not going to be in boost. In other words when you push the pedal down all the way your going to get power at all times...but if you dont want it and dont put the pedal down your not going to consume anymore gas than normal daily driving n/a.

kirkyg

rounded a little, the ati kit i can get for 3200$, 8,10,12 psi 3 core intercooled, and the KB intercooled 9 psi is 4899$, so its 1700$ less. like i said i am nto flaming either, i liek them both, just trying to figure out how to reason a decision on which one. right now cost difference is the biggest factor. have to decide if another 50 hp(approx) is worth the extra $$. :shrug:
 
There is a vacuum-operated bypass valve that only closes when the vacuum approaches 0. When open, no air is pressurized by the supercharger and there are minimal pumping losses. When you open the throttle, the manifold vacuum goes to 0 and the bypass closes. Then the supercharger begins to build boost. All of this happens about as quickly as you can push the accelerator pedal to the floor.
 
97predator said:
rounded a little, the ati kit i can get for 3200$, 8,10,12 psi 3 core intercooled, and the KB intercooled 9 psi is 4899$, so its 1700$ less. like i said i am nto flaming either, i liek them both, just trying to figure out how to reason a decision on which one. right now cost difference is the biggest factor. have to decide if another 50 hp(approx) is worth the extra $$. :shrug:

not only more hp but instant boost off idle of within 1psi of max boost. While the centrifugal will make no boost until somewhere in the 2000s and thats where it will START to make boost. If you daily drive your car it'll be alot more fun to drive the twin screw. Its how much your willing to pay for instant boost. It wont make your car much faster in the 1/4 mile but it'l be a helluva lot better driving experience.

kirkyg
 
Just like everyone has stated in these threads, if you want instant boost when you push the loud pedal, go with the KB or a twin screw/roots blower. If you want to build the boost and gradually get into it and keep going, then go with the ATI. Who drives a cougar anyway? j/k that would be one hell of a sleeper for some stock v8's. If cost is going to be your main focus, go with the procharger and don't look back. The KB is awesome but it is not cheap by any means when compared to some other blowers. The customer service and tech support is top notch, but pricey.
 
97predator said:
rounded a little, the ati kit i can get for 3200$, 8,10,12 psi 3 core intercooled, and the KB intercooled 9 psi is 4899$, so its 1700$ less. like i said i am nto flaming either, i liek them both, just trying to figure out how to reason a decision on which one. right now cost difference is the biggest factor. have to decide if another 50 hp(approx) is worth the extra $$. :shrug:


one thing you have to rember that $4899 is a complete kit. don't think you are done at $3200 with you procharger. you will still need injectors and tune. I don't think you will have you procharger funtioning properly until the 4k mark.

my .02 is on the kb. get rid of you plastic intake and get some bottom end power. have seen no time with just a procharger putting a car into the low 12's like the 9psi kb kit will do.
 
Bone Racing said:
agreed....so get a KB or a Vortech

I'm still hearing too many bad things about the ProCharger PS1, mainly with the same ol' seal problem. However, overall ProCharger makes a great line of superchargers. I know I'll be going with an ATI setup on mine, but it seems you have to step up to the next level to get past the issues consistant with the PS1.
If I was shooting for a street driven car ONLY, I would go with the KB. As for my decision with the ProCharger F-1, its due to this being a daily driver + track car.

Just my .02 cents.
 
kirkyg said:
you dont have to drill anything on the KB...the twin screw setup is considered the easiest install plus it replaces the crap plastic upper intake.

kirkyg
IMHO, the best part of the KB kit is that it includes an aluminum intake manifold, and hence you can get rid of the stock plastic upper manifold.
 
KB rules. It's like a viper engine in a GT mustang ...

Here is my dyno with no other mods than a Borla cat back...
kbdynorun04.jpg