Tom Beames

Your opinion plz. My neighbor has an 01 automatic hatchback. He is taking it to NJ (we live in No. VA) to have installed a Supercharger. He said it's about $7,500.00.

Certainly none of my business but does this sound like the best use of $7,500.00?

He said he was told that he would get about 600hp to the rear wheels and could 'destroy' the C6 Z.

The car is not raced and is not a dd. Has only a Corsa exhaust as a mod. He just wants to.

speedyhawk101

he's an idiot. I wouldn't suggest that it would DESTOY a C6Z. It MAY keep up but I'm doubting it.

It he gonna upgrade the tranny? IMO that will be the first thing to go.

TheDingo

This should be interesting...

hattitude

Not sure I understand the question............

I spent the money to supercharge my "Z", but there's no way to really justify it, I'm sure it wasn't the best use of that money....... it was totally for fun. And boy is it fun!!!

Whether or not it's a "Z", there are plenty of supercharged Corvettes that are fast and fun.........

Don't know that the expense of any of the performance builds for a car that is mostly street driven is the "best" use of that money..........

But did I say how fun it is...?

zeevette

I would disagree that "he's an idiot". Very good way to gain maximum HP for the minimun $$ spent. However, a SC alone will not allow a otherwise stock coupe to "destroy" a C6Z. It should yield about 500 to the wheels, which would make it pretty close.

~Josh

Usually (reality with a 5.7 LS1/6) 7.5 psi of boost will add 120 rwhp or so.

Being that he has a 350 crank hp LS1 with a catback that adds 10hp or less.... he "would" be pushing 440 hp at the wheels.

A stock C6Zo6 puts out 430~440 rwhp. With a tune it will put out 450 easy.

"Destroying" a C6 Zo6 is not going to happen especially with the higher (7000 rpm) redline the Z will pull out farther with each gear change. If the Z is modified.... bloodbath for your buddy.

If your friend wants 600 rwhp, he can drop the compression ratio and up the boost to 10 psi. The best way is with a forged bottom end and dished pistons, or on the cheap you can use 317 casting heads from an Escalade. Or.... he can not change heads and add a methanol injection kit to up the boost to 10 psi... don't forget the maxed out fuel pump.

Trust me, I've built an LS1 to over 600 rwhp using TwinTurbos. It's a slippery slope. With that power the tranny, differential (basically everything between the flexplate and pavement) will protest the power.

And one last thing; 600 rwhp is not always fun, traction is nowhere to be found, and blah, blah, blah blah blah...

danziger

Roots or centrifugal type of blower? The C6Z has a lot of area under the curve, better gearing and weighs less. I think your neighbor may be in for a dose of reality...

speedyhawk101

This is why he's an idiot. It's a silly claim.

~Josh

^ No need for petty names.. (you're insulting someone's friend, who may have accomplished MUCH more in life than you aside from paper hp numbers)

This isn't a playground sandbox..

DARRYLZO6

Seeing that the horepower ceiling on a bone stock block LS1 is probably 390-400rwhp, unless he plans on upgrading the driveline components, after the first few times he hammers on it, the end result wont be pretty. I would say $7500 is probablya good starting point. I would never "just" install a supercharger.

GeorgeZNJ

Here's a nonZ 346 ci,thats supercharged and wil destroy a C4ZR1, C5Z06, C6Z06, and a C6ZR1. It has a little more done than just a charger though. Of course it was done in NJ (home of East Coast Supercharging)

zeevette

I don't know where you got those numbers. A stock LS1 with a typical centri SC setup pushing about 7-8 lbs of boost should be closer to 500 RWHP than what you claim.

DARRYLZO6

If the trans and rearends are stock, 500 rwhp will definetely blow up those components. Stock LS1 rear ends have always been known as weak.

Chrisrokc

Stock LS1 motor sc'd or sprayed w/ 550+ rwhp is do able. Now the transmission is another story.

DARRYLZO6

Thats what Im saying. At 500+ rwhp something is going to BREAK. Ive seen too many guys install superchargers, turbos, etc. without upgrading the trans and rears, and end up back in the shop. As I said I would never "just" install a supercharger.

danziger

My stock LS1 bottom-end took 576rwhp/590rwtq for three years and looked great when it was torn-down due to a pushed head-gasket.

I understand what you are saying about the rest of the driveline, put your quote above is extremely pessimistic...

speedyhawk101

Opinions were asked for. I delivered.

Hogfish

Why is this guy an idiot??? He is going to be close to C6Z peformance for only $7,500. Buying a C6z would cost him his car plus about $30k.

Plus if you breakdown the cost per pony, a forced induction setup rates pretty high.

SCM_Crash

This sounds about right to me.

I don't think the Z weighs less than a C5 Coupe. I think they're both about 3200Lbs. A C5Z on the other hand weighs less (at less than 3100Lbs). This guy's friend is running an A4, so it would be an interesting race.

If this is a road course race, the C6Z should win. In the 1/4 mile, that may be a different story. It just depends on what they mean by "Destroy" because there's more than one type of race.

For drag racing, the C5 will have better rear-end gears for a FI setup as long as he has good tire, and the C6Z is going to have the disadvantage of being geared more for road course than drag strip. Aerodynamically, they're close. I believe the C6Z is slightly more aerodynamic, but this shouldn't be an issue until after 100MPH based on the fact that they're already so close.

I don't see a bone stock LS1 with a 7.5PSI blower making more than 500 to the ground. In fact, I'd picture it being closer to about 460-480rwhp (if he's lucky). In a straight line, that should be good enough to beat the C6Z.

One thing's for sure. That A4 and those gears (probably 2.73s) will blow up like the 4th of July.

danziger

Not trying to nit-pick, but there are too many unanswered questions about the C5's potential blower package.