Here's a question for the techies and drag-racers among us:

I'm curious as to whether there are any street-legal SC kits available out there operating on very low boost, so as not to increase the power to more than 350-375 rwhp.
If yes, which are they and what do they cost? And most importantly, could the same performance be reached by adding different mods at a cheaper cost (I'm thinking cams/heads + CAI + UDP + etc.)?
The reason I'm asking this is because I don't plan to do any racing in this car (at least not more than a couple of times, just for fun), but I'd like to see even more power and torque squeezed out from the engine.
Please argue your point with technical facts, I'm sure this could be interesting for many members of the non-racing, though performance-oriented crowd.
Thanks!

P.S.: no NOS suggestions, please. I for one am not interested.

 

For a no-hassle, put-it-on and forget about it supercharger kit, you can't do any better than the Roush system (5 psi). It simply doesn't have the lungs to compete with the rest of the more racey superchargers, but wasn't designed to. It seems like the perfect choice for what you want to do, and it was the perfect choice for me. The engineering has already been done, just bolt it on and enjoy. There will be power upgrades available from Roush and others later should the need arise, but nothing like what is available for the larger superchargers. The power range seems to be between 355-370 rwhp, with a few making 380s.

That said, you can achieve low boost with any of the kits that are available.

Here's mine:

 

I think Roush is your best bet, especially since if you can keep the warranty on your car.

 

Interesting.... but how about the price?
$5,700 isn't much cheaper than the KB and Whipple superchargers. The Saleen blower runs somewhat better numbers than the Roush at more or less the same price, while the Vortech kit (I know, different design) costs only $3,600.

I wish there was a supercharger for sale around $3,500 that produced no more than 375 rwhp....

I'm waiting for the N/A advocates to chime in too.

 

The Roush can be had for much less than the advertised price. I paid $5200 for mine, but I have heard of a few people finding them for under $5k. It's a tad expensive, but the parts are really nice and fit like they should for the money.

 

I say go with JLT with predator ($600), electric water pump ($350), UDP ($250), port/polish heads ($1800), (dare I say "cams" ?), x-pipe ($700), long tube headers ($300), lightweight flywheel ($330), heavy duty clutch while you're at it ($250), hurst shifter ($250), and 4.10 gears ($300).

Obviously going N/A isn't exactly cheap either, but with those mods your car will be as fast as you want it to feel. (And you won't have to stress about those lousy stock rods.)

As far as the Roushcharger is concerned, I just can't see spending over $5k, almost $6k depending on where you get it, for what the complication of supercharging and what really isn't a whole lot more horsepower.

 

Saleen's stock kit only make about 4 psi and uses the stock injectors last I heard...and it makes around 360

 

What brand of LT headers are you seeing for $300?

 

Not possible, I have an auto.

Does anyone have either real numbers or an accurate estimate for these 2 setups on an automatic 05/06 GT:

1. CAI + tune + UDP + electric water pump + LT headers + cat-backs + 3.73(or 4.10) gears

2. Heads + cams + all above

 

Yeah, my header price estimate was about $200 bucks low, but my X-pipe price estimate was about $200 bucks high, so it balances out.


The rest I'm pretty sure are accurate (but I'm too lazy to look up and verify).

 

Don't forget the throttle body spacer.

 

Adding up your N/A mods comes to $5130.00 (probably not including the labor for installation either?) and it seems you would end up with more of a weekend drag racer than an everyday driver? To each his own but the Roush SC at 5lbs sounds like a much less labor intensive way to accomplish the 350 - 370rwhp range and it should be fine as an every day driver? Curious, what RWHP levels would you be in with the the N/A mods above?

 

On the topic of SC's.....I'm looking at doing the same thing - getting a reliable, low boost SC (Roush comes to mind) that won't void my warranty. Question is will this be just as reliable of a daily driver if I'm not intending on racing it - just wanting to have more hp under the hood....to surprise a few folks now and then? When running an SC under the above conditions, would other mods be required, i.e., upgraded suspension/brakes, etc?

Thanks for your input