mdaniel

Long-tube headers are optional. They certainly are helpful with a centrifigual supercharger, but let's not confuse want with need.

You could also add 8-Rib balancer, flip-drive, etc to your supercharger shopping list.

I've had two supercharged Vettes and one twin turbo. They all had their pros and cons. Turbo are my personal favorite by far but there is no perfect answer. Really depends what your goals are, how you plan to use the car, how much you want to spend, etc.

You can go crazy fast with either.

Z06-TT

to make this more fair can we give the suprecharger cars a +1" handicap. lol. lol. lol.

yes this converatsion willl go on FOREVER.

if your making power and spinning. your not doing the important stuff right.

_zebra

that's almost like saying you should put 35" mud tires on your stock truck without lower gears. yes, your torque converter (or clutch for you real men) can make up for it, but it's gonna be abysmal to drive.
if you decide to significantly up the diameter & weight of your tires, you should install lower gears to make up for the difference in mechanical advantage your driveline lost.

the same situation applies to a blower - if you're moving significantly more air into an engine, you should provide a better way to extrude that extra air. turbos are a different situation because you're having custom logs built to bolt directly to the housing or in the case of a rear-mount, they are more of a restriction than the factory manifolds anyway, making the extra flow of headers a moot point.

when you start talking about 8-rib kits & flip drives, that's because you're pushing your system beyond what a basic kit is designed to do.

Detoxx03

I'm a Red Wings fan so i'll be in agreement with you on that but as for headers being optional I totally disagree. They are a must plain and simple and the only exception is if you have turbo's.

topdown01

This is interesting and certainly impact a decision, do you know of any links that further explains this or can comments be written to this forum to further explain?

Thanks!

joshtownsend

You don't have to buy headers.. unless you want bigger power.. I made over 600 with a p1sc1 and a tune, not meth, no headers, no intake, on a 2000.. which means I had 241 heads... The reason people say you need headers is much like people say you need a big lsa cam or you need lower compression.., it based on most tuners not being real tuners..that's plain and simple. It makes it a smaller window to get it right and consistent which most "tuners" wont put in the work or time to get it right.. it much easier to copy someone else's tune on top your tune and send a bill in for $400- $700 and call it a day.

joshtownsend

haha TT cars favorite word... "i was catching you!!!"

Detoxx03

Don't need a big cam or low compression but headers will optimize a supercharged setup.

joshtownsend

You said you "need" them... not its optimize... You don't need anything but a blower to make power...if you want more power, more parts are needed... that's was the discussion.

Detoxx03

It best to just buy headers. No reason not to buy them. If you don't want them then don't mod the car at all. No sense in buying a blower and not letting your exhaust flow freely.

Z06-TT

i want to meet up with a 800 horse super LS7..... show you this traction stuff isnt that hard to do. i really say driver makes a difference. lol

Arun@Dasilvamotorsports

I can show you a 750 horse 402.

Numbers are in the sig.

topdown01

Thank you everyone for all the spirited debates, I have loved reading them all

Anyone have experience/thoughts with the latest UUP Turbo Package for the C5?

c7rvette

yep what he says, plus for some reason, Turbo cars are always in the shop for something....if I lived closer to my shop and had money to burn, Turbos would be the way to go...plus they do make the most jam...but they need to make more jam to beat a blowered car one really nice thing though is belts aint an issue for a turbo'd car....nice for somebody that does the top speed racing!!

Arun@Dasilvamotorsports

Everything is true-but you do realize that a YSi car just ran 215mph at the Texas Mile this weekend?

Some shops don't know how to put on a belt and align it properly even if they tried.

topdown01

Arun, what sc system do you have? Other mods that were required?

Thanks,

Kev

DOUG @ ECS

As an install center I would have to say that about 50% of the completely stock car supercharger installs are without headers.

That being said, I strongly recommend them for multiple of reasons. Less back pressure means less cylinder head pressure, so basically more power with greater engine safety.
Also if a cat fails on a stock system it can block off an entire bank, making engine damage more likely then a header car, where as a headers system has a cross over pipe pre cats. You will lose power, but usually thats it.

I'm sure it's no shocker that I'm pro supercharger for the Vette, I feel it's simpler in general, and I do not care for the "disconnected" feeling I get from the boost not always being identical. IE- a supercharger is "X" RPM @ "X" throttle position = "X" power and boost being made, while turbo's can vary. Plus they are easier to stage for drag racing since you are not trying to spool a turbo at the line.

The last paragraph is just my personal opinion though, so take it for just that.

Z06-TT

idk what turbo cars you ride in. but the whole "turbo lag" is pretty much gone with a properly set up system. lol.

but its good to hear from a Supercharger company that for even safty reasons a customer should buy headers. so..... all these 5-6K super kits just gained a grand in price. lol

roadrage06

I have an CarTech book (How to Build High-Performance: Chevy LS1/LS6 V-8s) that makes pretty good crapper reading material. In there I believe they rate the crankshaft at 600 -- after that they recommend forging it.

Can't recall where or who on here, but I'm pretty certain I've read from a few other members that the "threshold" at which things start breaking seems to be around 600.

Sorry I couldn't be more specific with sources, but if you are wise to contrary, by all means point me in the right direction -- I'd love to push this thing some day.

DOUG @ ECS

Your trying to launch a turbo kit, I get it... and your doing it because you prefer turbo's which is cool. However I still like centrifugal superchargers for Vettes, regardless of price, install time etc etc etc, to each his own. Thats why we chose to put our efforts into them, options are good, good luck with it.

This said while we have a Camaro in the bay for a turbo install, I'm not saying I'm against them, I just like the over all ease of the centri on a Vette. Again just my opinion so take it for nothing more then that.