Hello I'm new to the forum and I've just bought an 2004 AP2 S2000. I'm pretty sure this topic may have already been talked about but I am wanting to know the major and minor differences between the two because I have yet to decide. Ive seen a lot of s2000 guys sell their supercharged kits to go turbo so im guessing the turbo option may be a tad better. But my question is does a centrifugal supercharger make better power down on the bottom end or does the turbo make better power down low as well as all the way from the mid range all the way to top end? I know they say a supercharger's power is more linear and you may not be able to feel such a huge difference while a turbo's power is like a big bang is that accurate? and also between the two I know you can hear boost of a turbo application really well but on a supercharged application can you actually hear the centrifugal supercharger like a roots or twin screw style or is it mostly quiet and sound close to a stock s2000? Which application has a better power band? Which option requires less maintenance? Im am wanting to boost my s2000 but I don't want to destroy its purpose or what it was made for or in other words I don't want a full on drag race car...something I maybe can track every now and then but more for a street application not looking to be the fastest but being able to put down some decent power and keep the purpose it was built for in mind....Im not looking to see crazy high horsepower figures Id like to be around the 360-380 horsepower range not exceeding 400 hp with decent torque....also If I decided to stroke the engine would that help any with a FI application? and would that shorten my engine life upping displacement by a little? I guess a good question for you guys is which do you enjoy more? lol I know these are probably crazy questions but Id really love to be enlightened. Ive been having a blast driving my AP2 around town here in Georgia. I originally bought it in Florida and drove it all the way back and where I live at there are maybe like two or 3 in town and everybody seems to compliment me on my car though a lot of people seem to think it's a BMW for some odd reason or cant believe it's a Honda. Looking forward to some good answers and thanks guys. Also the pic or avatar accurately describes what my s2000 looks like.

 

Have you ever driven a turbo or supercharged car?

 

the difference is that superchargers suck and turbo rule!!

 

I've had 3 s2000's over the last 10 years. First one supercharged. 2nd one turbo.

Just got another one and went supercharger. I miss the turbo. Maybe in the off season I'll switch to turno since I just did the clutch, diff, fuel. So I would have to do much to go back to turno.

 

The answer to your question depends on the goals you have for your car. You are correct in assuming this question has been asked before...many times. If you spend some time on this forum reading the build posts you will find out what everyone has done and what you should expect. Be prepared for an onslaught of opinions...because we have them. I personally went through 3 different SC setups and now have a built motor with a turbo. The differences are like night and day, but as I first mentioned it depends upon the goals you have for your car...oh yeah, and your budget...the need for speed costs quite a bit of money.

 

I drive a SC and biased towards it while my friend had a crazy fast Turbo S2000 and it was kinda cool. Unfortunately Turbo car caught fire and thats that.

1) Turbo car WILL be faster
2) Supercharged car will feel like a Naturaly Aspirated S2000 on crack. But don't waste your time with lower PSI pulleys. Do it right and run 11psi+ right away and tuned with VTEC dropped to 3-4k for nice boost in low-end power.

If you want to be crazy fast, go turbo. If you want to be possibly more reliable than a turbo and be really quick but have predictable power delivery, go with high PSI Supercharged setup. Once again, don't make my mistake and go with a low psi pulley first.

- Dmitriy

 

Centri blowers make the car feel like it is NA but with just insane vtec basically. Turbo will completely change the way the car feels which is good or bad depend on how you like the cars stock nature. Turbo will be faster except for a tiny kit like the greddy or something. Those are no good and even a base comptech kit will blow it away.

All depends on what you want. I am supercharged and love it. I have thought of going turbo but the reliability and maintenance free nature of the supercharger have kept me with it. You will not get huge torque gains with the supercharger kit. I make just over 420whp now with my vortech sc kit and only 250tq I believe. I have an AP1 so torque numbers would be higher in an AP2. Stock torque was under 150 so still some torque gains but not as much as the hp gains of course and it's all up top.

Supercharges also give you MUCH better throttle response which I find nice but won't have the same slam you in the seat feel when the turbo spools which is good and bad. You won't have the same traction issues since the sc builds up the higher you go with no spike.

Can't go wrong either way as both will make the S2000 a lot faster and a lot more fun!

 

if you are having to deal with higher maintenance with a turbo setup, it was either built wrong or installed poorly. a properly built turbo system will function just as well as a supercharger system. the whole "higher maintenance" stigma comes from poorly put together setups. people seem to think going with cheap parts will save them money, when in the long run it ends up costing you more when you have to do things a second or third time.

you have more flexibility with a turbo and it is far easier to turn the boost up to make a bit more power if you like. if the turbo is sized properly and the manifold is designed well, a turbo can almost match the responsiveness of a sc. your power goal would allow you to get that quick response by running a smaller size turbo. upgrading down the road for more power is a little easier to do with a turbo setup as well.

aaron

 

While turbo setups can be reliable I have never seen a single non oem turbo setup that didn't have little things pop up here and there. I've heard many people say they don't, only to see them posting up issues etc.
My sc setup I've installed and not had to touch besides upgrading pulley/belt in over 5 years and 65k miles. No coupler issues, heat issues, cracking issues, oil drain or feed line issues, nothing which I have never seen in a turbo setup that's not stock. Don't get me wrong I love turbo's and go back and forth many times on changing out to a turbo but I have never seen a non aftermarket setup be 100% maintenance free like a sc kit can be.

As for response I have also never felt a turbo car be close to as responsive as a sc kit. Not only is the boost instant with a sc you also have no fmic with long piping so the combo of that makes a big difference even when comparing to a tiny turbo.

 

A turbo will always make more low end power compared to a centrifugal SC. Because of this, a turbo car is always faster than an equivalent SC car. Most will agree that a SC requires lees maintenance is less stressful on your motor. Both can be dangerous if not tuned right so be careful with that. Parts small turbo can net you your power goals and so can any of the blowers on the market. It's all about which application suits you better