I know this question has been asked a million times, but i've read all the old threads, but didn't find anything too current, that really answered the advice type questions that I had. Please advice me so i have a good S2k experience!!

I'm currently in the market for an s2k, I really don't care about the year, so i figure i can get something already boosted for 25k, and then allot another 5k to tune it to make me happy, and buy stuff for the car to make it mine. I'm 100% going boosted but I have the age old question I cant answer, a super or a turbo? I've read about every post in here on turbo vs. super, but i really cant decide what to get. I really want a turbo, I know its going to make more power down low, and as stupid as this sounds I love the sound, that alone almost sells me on the turbo. But It has to be reliable. From what I've read the superchargers are much more reliable, because the turbo takes so much more time to tune, and is more finnicky. But this really isn't to much of a concern, because I am probably going to buy a car with either a turbo or a super already on it. So I'm hoping to buy a car someone else has already paid to have the setup headaches sorted out. I guess I have 3 questions.

1) If they are both setup and tuned correctly how much more reliable is the supercharger?? I have no problem spending 2-3k in computer management(hopefully I wont need a motec) if its going to make it solid and reliable.

2) Would you reccommend buying a car with the FI already installed? Or is this a bad idea that I'm having? I figure I get a lot more performance parts for my money, that I'm just going to buy anyway. But on the other hand, I could end up with a car someone ran Super lean while tuning, and is just waiting to blow.

3) How much more power do I really get from the turbo over a supercharger? From what I've read without TOO much work, 375ish at the crank is doable for the super, and 400+ for the turbo, are these about right? 400 is what I want(OK OK 450 really.. ), is that doable from the supercharger? Like I said, i've got 5k to a lot over the price of whatever FI kit I choose.

In my mind this car just screams turbo, it's an inline engine which is the ideal setup for a single turbo, and as high revving as it is, you'll have to gear the supercharger low in order not to spin it to pieces at the 9k redline, so your probably not going to be making hardly any boost down low.

I really really prefer the turbo, but reliability is a must, basically I was just hoping to hear some testimonials from people with first hand experience. I know this question has been asked a hundred times, but I just didn't really fid the answers I was looking for in the older posts. Thank you all for your time, and I can wait to get my car!! PS this is a great forum from what I have sen so far!

 

First off, never, never buy someone elses project. It's usually up for sale for a damn good reason and you'll probably spend more time and money fixing the cluster of a job someone else did on the car. Do it yourself to make sure that it's done right the first time. Now that we have that out of the way, lets get on the topic of the reliability issue... The supercharger kits are designed and engineered to be bolt on upgrades that you throw on and forget about. Vortech and Comptech have made reliability, installation and maintenance easy. However they were never intended to make that kind of power and will usually require a good amount of mods in addition to the factory kit. It'll be tons easier to reach your power goals going turbo but the installation and tuning will make or break you. It is not a bolt on affair. However if you know what you're doing or have a good shop/tuner to work with I don't see you having major issues. They're have been a few very successful turbo installations with no problems whatsoever but the guys that have done it seem to be very knowledgeable and meticulous about how they went about it. So to directly answer your question, if they're both set up and tuned correctly they'll both be fairly reliable. Don't take this as the gospel because it is just my opinions and observations. You should talk to the guys that have done it and failed then those that have succeeded then talk to some respectable tuners/shops in your area. Make your decision then.

 

Well, i was considering selling mine for 27.5K after dyno tune. I won't sell it unless it's a "done" project relatively speaking. Reason for selling (IF I SELL) would be to upgrade to an NSX.

I am a turbo 2002 berlina with a good number of mods. PM me if you want more info. Clean Carfax.