i see all these people saying how much cheeper a SC is than doing a turbo. i found the turbo kit at inline pro for 5k. most of the SC kits are in that area. so my question is why does everyone do a SC that nets roughly 300whp and a turbo that does 400whp at the same price?

i know im new so please dont flame

 

Welcome to the forum, Yes be prepared for an onslaught of people to tell you to search -
I bought the Supercharger because it was in my mind at least a better option fro my applications because I wanted a car that was still friendly enough to do track events, meaning that to the powerband was similar to stock just more power available because the S/C systems are RPM dependant where Turbo's can boost very quickly and unsettle a car in corners if you are not familiar with it's characteristics.
It really depends on what you want your car to do

 

First, you're not going to get 400 HP with a turbo just bolting one on and 2nd, when you finally get to 400 HP, it will have cost you way more than what it cost you for a 300 HP S/C.
Additionally, it's relatively easy to just bolt on one of the available supercharger kits and with no further fiddling, you can drive it down the road with close to 300 WHP. It is highly unlikely you can do this with a turbo. It will take you hours of tuning with extra money for this and that to get the thing to just idle and run with good output. To get 400 HP, you're looking at MORE time and MORE money for stuff to make it happen. Remember, time is money.
Recently, someone posted that after putting on a turbo, they achieved much less than the 300 HP (something like 260+ ?) being talked about here. But, he was able to say he had a "turbo". You can almost get this with an all motor set-up, albeit for a lot of money, too.

 

thank you for that. i was just going off of what the website said. it said 4XXWHP at 18 psi. i have just been reading that there are some people that are not as happy with the supercharger as they thought. i was figureing that the turbo kit came pretuned.

 

- there is a thread just like this probably a few weeks old...
- anyways, seems like the "basic" slap-on turbo kits (boosting ~7psi) make the same as a SC @ +/- 300hp...
- supposedly the turbo cars spool up faster (full boost) which brings up why some SC owners are disappointed on bottom

 

There is a turbo kit that by Ultimate-Racing that comes "pre-tuned" but I've heard unless you want your cat and O2 sensor to go out in a hurry you have to get it tuned. The turbo systems offer equivelent horsepower at equivalent boost 5-7psi. However what sets them apart is the torque, you can hit max torque with the turbo kits at around 5-6,000 rpm where as the S/C you wont hit max torque until much later. That's why you feel the turbo rather than the S/C. I bought the S/C because it is CARB legal and we have to abide by that in California. If you don't have to abide by CARB then in my opinion turbo is the way to go.

 

The real difference is not price, but commitment. You can buy a Comptech SC kit for $5500 (probably cheaper street price), bolt it on in the garage and go. Carb legal the whole lot.

You can buy a turbo kit for about the same price and it'll produce similar top end and more torque. But the install is far more intrusive and you really need to do custom tuning. Not many will attempt this install and tune at home. You have to route plumbing through the front of the car for the intercooler and often relocate the oil filter. Also, if you've spent $30 odd K on a car and $5K on an turbo system you'd be crazy to just tune with a $300 piggyback so budget another $2K for stand alone and tuning.

At the end of the day a turbo kit is just a bigger commitment. More time, money and issues. Still, sounds like the payoff is worth it.

 

Very nicely put Aus.

 

Well i wont go into too much detail. but really go supercharger. i am 3 years and my 5th engine because i wanted 500hp. Big deal!!.. I wish i would have gone SC. Much,,much cheaper.. trust me. but hey what do i know..

 

They simply provide a map for the Emanage that just gets the car up and running. Definitely don't plan on being able to drive on the base map. Just makes it easier for the tuner. I definitely had some parts that needed fine tuning.

After having the car for a week and close to 300 miles I am happy to say the car is in great condition with a load of power. I will opt for a standalone though shortly just to make things even better. I'm able to get an AEM EMS for $1200 with a full tune for $500, but I am actually going to get a reduction due my good relationship with the shop. Not that expensive considering what I am getting. Will dyno the car and post the results soon.