Anyone know what the most best supercharger out there is? I mean by quality, and very little required to install. I've been thinking about getting a procharger one, but have no clue what I should be looking for when buying one. I want one that will give me a little more boost but wont tear my engine apart.

Any suggestions?

Quick Robin... TO THE BATMOBILE.

 

In terms of "most best" (LOL) supercharger, it really depends more on the application than the supercharger itself. You have two types of superchargers out there that you can use on the G. A Screw type offered by Stillen, and the Centrifugal type offered by companies like Vortech and Pro Charger to name the two more common ones.

Heres something I wrote up a while back, it'll give you a better idea of what the diference between the type of superchargers out there and which ones work the best....

Roots-type Supercharger
The Roots-type blower has been the most common over the years and is still the most widely used in racing and is most likely still the most popular on street vehicles, although primarily limited to street rods and earlier model street machines. This blower typically has two rotors inside that interleave with each other. As the rotors spin around air is drawn in the top of the blower, captured in the space between the rotors and the blower housing, and then carried around the outside perimeter of the case and expelled out the bottom of the blower. A Roots blower theoretically makes the same boost at 100 engine RPM as it does at 5000 engine RPM. However, in actual practice this is not the case because of necessary clearances between the rotors and then case. These clearances permit a certain amount of leakage at lower RPM which reduces boost output. Usually by about 3000 to 3500 RPM the blower is spinning fast enough that these clearances are no longer a factor and boost will be essentially flat the rest of the way up the RPM Range. Many engines do not have big enough valves or big enough cam to allow the engine to accept all the boost the blower can produce. In these circumstances the boost reading on your gauge will continue to increase in the upper RPM ranges but this is not because the blower is making the boost, it is because the pressure is building up inside the manifold and can't get into the engine. On an engine that is ideally set up for a blower, the boost output will be fairly flat from 3500 RPM on up.

Centrifugal Superchargers.
These blowers are a very strong cousin to the turbocharger. The main difference is a turbo is driven by the exhaust gases whereby the centrifugal blower is driven by a belt. However, the basic construction of this blower is very similar to a turbo. The centrifugal style blower was originally made popular by Paxton (which started life under the McCulloch name) and this arena has been joined by Powerdyne, Vortec, and Accessible Technologies. While all of these superchargers function essentially the same, they each have some important differences. In general terms, centrifugal blowers can produce more power and torque at a given level of boost than a Roots-type blower. The reason for this is that internal compression superchargers do not heat the incoming air up as much as an external compression supercharger. Heated air expands which means it is less dense. You might set up a Roots blower and a centrifugal blower both to produce 7 pounds of boost, but the centrifugal blowers 7 pounds of air is going to be more dense than the roots, thus making more power even though both blowers are theoretically making the same amount off boost. On the flip side, the centrifugal blower makes more boost the faster it goes which means that at lower engine speeds it is not making very much boost and usually this type of supercharger cannot match the Root & Screw-Type blowers low to mid end power production. The centrifugal supercharger, despite its popularity, still doesn't have the look many people think a blower should have.

Screw-Type Supercharger.
For street application, the only current supercharger offered using this design is the Whipple (made by Autorotor). Versions of the Whipple are being marketed by others under their own brand name like Kenne-Bell and Stillen. The screw-type blower is similar in appearance to a Roots blower and also has two rotors inside the housing. However these rotors basically have twisted flutes on them that somewhat resemble a wood screw. These flutes interleave with one another. The air enters at one end of the blower and is captured between the rotors flutes. As the rotor turn the air is moved along the length of the blower in ever decreasing space which compress the air. Then the air is expelled out the bottom of the blower at the end into the manifold. Being an internal compression blower, the screw-type offers the same advantages as the centrifugal supercharger in that the air is not heated up as much as on the Roots and thus produces a cooler, more dense charge of air into the engine and is more efficient than a Roots. While this supercharger design is one of the best in terms of overall performance (low-mid-high RPM band) and efficiency (50+% more HP) and is gaining in popularity, its cost is substantially more than most other systems out there today.

Installation wise, once again falls down to what type of charger you want to go with, as some have more plumbing and or brackets to work with than others, thus will take more time. Also many new systems are intercooled, which means more install time in getting that setup.

Another factor thats important is the maintence end of these units. Some require frequent fluid changes and or use your engines oil (which can have some serious cons), while others are maintence free for 100K miles.

Superchargers arent for the faint of heart, and regardless of what anyone says, NO kit is a simple bolt-on and go process. My M3 was supercharged, my Denali was supercharged, and my Yukon is supercharged and even though each kit said it was a bolt-on and go install, they all required fine tunning and thats something you should take into consideration. Its not for the faint of heart!

I remember this one kid at a car show asked this other guy with a crazy twin supercharged chevy pickup, what does a supercharger do, and he responded with - it'll keep your car in the garage or shop for days, weeks and month on end. Drive you nuts and cause all sorts of problems....

I couldnt help but find that rather amusing, as I've been there! Sorry for the novel guys, but this is one of thsose questions that comes up a lot. Thought I would shed some lite for those who wanted to know...



"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a *****, but only enough blood to run one at a time."

 

Good overview.
The Stillen is a Roots/Eaton type blower(check their website carefully), not a Kenne Bell or Lysholm type twin screw. People can differ, but I think the Roots type is good for stoplight racers, and this car is not optimally such a car. The Centrifugals are better for road cars, where you are going to be living above 3000rpm. The Lysholm is a great unit, but very expensive and I am not aware of one available for our car at this time.

Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways

 

Wow thank you so much man for that explanaion, but still what would you recomend and what company. I just want a supercharger that will give me the least problems like 100 k one you were talking about and that my G can handle. I willing to put in more money just to have my g without problems you know, maybe some interior engine work.

Would do you think of the procharger supercharger?

And once again thank you so much for the explanation. I know more about turbos, but am Liking superchargers more now.
they seem more efficient no?

Quick Robin... TO THE BATMOBILE.

 

Turbo's are definately more efficient then SC's. Superchargers robs engine torque and horsepower while making power. Turbo's uses exhaust gases to make power, making turbo's MUCH more efficient. I know Eagle1 has the ATI in his car, so I'll let him comment about the procharger.
The reason why I choose Vortech over Procharger is for several reasons.
1. Vortech uses a filter before the blower while ATI uses an inline filter after the blower.
2. Vortech has a more sophisticated piggy-back computer which can be programed via a laptop. Procharger uses a FMU with a bunch of sliders. The Vortech also has timing control which is ESSENTAIL for forced induction.
3. Vortech superchargers are much quieter then procharger blowers.
4. Now this can be argued upon which is better, but I prefer the blower to SHARE the engine oil rather then having a self contained unit.
5. Vortech units are about $500 cheaper the a procharger unit.

Objects in mirror will soon disappear...

 

Stillen claims they "make" their own units, but as with many parts Stillen "makes" its nothing more than rebadged items manufactured by others for Stillen.

Here's a common Eaton unit the M62 . . .


Here's a few Whipple's (Autorotor unit) . . .


Here's the Stillen Unit . . .


If you call up Stillen and ask them if their superchargers a Roots or a Tiwn-Screw type supercharger, they will answer with - YES! They refer to a roots as being a twin-screw design. In a sense, as I have expliend it is a twin-screw design, but the internal "screws" are quite diferent than those of a real roots type blower found on muscle cars which work from top to bottom, vs the twin screw designs that work from the rear to the bottom (hence the twin screw "fluted" design)....



"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain and a *****, but only enough blood to run one at a time."

 

Sloneek:
I have had the procharger for about 4000 miles so far, and no problems at all. It runs smooth and indeed has with the break in begun to run better and better. I have the ECU custom reflashed and the engine redlined at 7100 and it pulls all the way smooth and no detonation problems experienced. But I was very slow and methodical and careful in building up to that, and undoubtedly a bit lucky too, because I caught the lean condition in exactly the right time with every mod that caused it to run leaner than expected. And adjusted for it. There have been others caught suddenly and dramatically in bad moments which cost the life of their engine.

Some turbos have gone blooie too. Suffice to say that the challenges here are without regard to the type of FI or the unit that you use.

There are only a couple of Vortech units out there on the G car, both done by what appears to be a very capable shop down in Charlotte....but it is clear those boys really sweated to make it right. I think that in less capable tuner hands an explosive outcome not only could but likely would have been the result. Zimbo and Dollar can directly attest to their respect and appreciation for the skill of their installers. I don't think that one may expect the majority of players in the tuner field to be quite so good. Just my view from reading the posts.

I bought the unit back in August because at the time, that was the only option available, and it was a good one, other than the Stillen unit. I did not want to punch the hood and my driving/mod preference was for a highperformance road and track car, not a street light racer.

The Vortech and the ATI, for all the competitive banter that flies back and forth as they wrestle for share of a small and focused market.....are pretty much the same in terms of design, price, performance etc. There are minor elements that each have that are superior to the other, but nothing that in my mind is determinative.

IF there was a Lysholm unit available that is what I would have done. But there was not, is not, and it seems unlikely that there will be....unless you want to do your own conversion and application of such a unit to your car. That is pro-mod stuff and I was not willing to be that radical. Maybe later.

Turbos are great. I love them. But superchargers have some big advantages. Power is NOW, complexity is less, installation is easier, cost is less, intercooled charge is denser and more powerful. Turbos do not have the parasitic drag of a supercharger and can produce more power, but they work better as part of a powerplant designed to use them than as a bolt on. There are serious heat and cooling issues with them. But they are quieter, more fuel efficient too. Take a look at the two books Corky Bell wrote on Superchargers and Turbochargers and you will get a good introduction to the topic. Very readable stuff.

Have fun!

Cpe 6MT/Aero/Prem/ATI/RT cats/Borla hdrs-catbcks/Nismo flywhl-cltch/TS-ECU/Tein flex EDFC/Stillen sways

 

Thats for all the feedback guys, lol but i think I need to get a superchargers/turbochargers for dummies book. IF they have one and read into it.

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!

Quick Robin... TO THE BATMOBILE.

 

Advice to myself. Give my car all the gas it needs to run that SC! :P

Thanks - Joey Avino