Sideways

Got this from a post by Sam Barros at LS1TECH.
Paxton and Vortech Supercharger differences, as per the manufacturer.
This question has come up on the forum a few times, with a vendor even going as far as suggesting that one was better than the other... I got curious, so I decided to investigate... Paxton blowers are actually a little bit cheaper, so if I could get a better supercharger head unit for my car paying less money, I'd be all about it... To investigate, I sent the following e-mail to both companies:
I am trying to find out what is the difference between Vortech and Paxton blowers that have the same CFM rating: I have read somewhere that the impeller and volute are the same between, say, a Vortech T-Trim and a Paxton Novi 1500, and that both companies are owned by the same person, but a Paxton vendor claims that their units have higher grade bearings and gears; is this true? Is there any real difference in the internals?
I'd love to hear from you so I can inform my fellow car forum members!

Within 30 minutes my phone rang. It was Mike, one of the Engineers at Paxton Superchargers.
Mike said:
- Units with the same CFM ratings are Absolutely Identical
- The internals are the same and are interchangeable
- The flow numbers, efficiency, and RPM limits are the SAME
- The flow charts are the same
- The billet case is the only difference.

Later that day one of the Vortech Engineers, Chris, replied:

The Paxton/Vortech connection can be a bit confusing, I'll attempt to supply some information that can be of use to you. Just to give a little background information on the history of the two companies, Jim Middlebrook was a former Paxton employee, who left to start Vortech Engineering in 1989. At that time Paxton was manufacturing ball drive superchargers, Jim suggested that a gear driven case would be a better design, but others in the company didn't feel that way, so he left to start Vortech and design what would become the V1 A-trim. That design and the later versions that followed proved to be extremely successful, so much in fact, that Jim was able to purchase Paxton Auto about 10 years ago. The merger allowed the two companies to share many resources such as engineering, manufacturing, quality control, production, and marketing. This allowed the prices of the units to become much more competitive and ultimately led to a better product for both companies. The two companies do have separate sales departments and operate as different companies in the public eye.

With the exception of the NOVI 2000, all other current Paxton offerings have a Vortech counterpart. They are as follows:
Vortech S and Si trim = Paxton 1200
Vortech SC and SCi = 1220
T-trim = 1500
JT-trim = 2200

Recently, Vortech introduced revised versions of the S and SC trims, they are the Si and SCi respectively. These are more efficient impeller and volute designs. Rather than rename their Paxton equivalents, we made a running change to the line by adding the Si/SCi parts and decided to keep the 1200 and 1220 nomenclature. The gear set design and construction are also the same. The gear case design however, is different. The Vortech uses a cast front cover, whereas the Paxton units have a billet front cover. This was done in order to differentiate the outside physical appearance of the two units.

To double check, I replied:

Thank you for the info!

So, just to be sure: Between a T-Trim and a Novi 1500 for example, all the internals are absolutely identical? I.E. Exact same bearings, same gears, etc?


Chris Replied:

Yes, They are the same.

Need more proof?
Vortech Contact Information:
Vortech Engineering:
1650 Pacific Avenue
Oxnard, CA 93033
Phone: 805-247-0226
Fax: 805-247-0669


Paxton Contact Information:
Paxton Automotive:
1300 Beacon Place
Oxnard, CA 93033
888-9-PAXTON (toll free)
805-487-3796 (voice)
805-247-0669 (fax)

Exact same fax number! Tech support calls end up in the same phone too, I am told.
Some more info:

Air Flow

Procharger:
P1 - 1200 CFM
D1 - 1400 CFM
F1A - 1650 CFM

Vortech:
S-Trim - 1000 CFM
Si-Trim - 1150CFM
SQ-Trim - 1000 CFM
T-Trim - 1200 CFM
JT-Trim - 1450 CFM
Ysi - 1600 CFM

Paxton:
Novi 1200 - 1000 CFM
Novi 1500 - 1200 CFM
Novi 2000 - 1400 CFM
Novi 2200 - 1450 CFM

1000 CFM = 680 supportable HP
1200 CFM = 825 supportable HP
1400 CFM = 925 supportable HP
1600 CFM = 1200 supportable HP

EOE

Awesome post and hanks for the information. When will we get the upgraded Novi1200 to match Vortech's new Si trim blower CFM ?

s2000Junky

The 1200 should be 1150cfm not 1000cfm right? I think that's a typo and meant to say 1220.

JUSTINTHECOASTIE

This is awesome news!!!! And should be sticky'd

MARK AUS S2K

G'day Phil, didn't you post this same thing a few years ago? Or wasit something else?
I am going to sell my Ti Trim blower and vortech kit with the custom pulleys identical to yours.
Would you know anyone who would be intetested?
Probably 3000 for everything including SOS heat exchanger, that larger water pump, aftercooler etc... I ended up going turbo! So crazy after all that effort I went to with the Supercharger kit.