so if i install the stillen myself i dont get the warranty? and stillen is way too far for me..im in deep south texas! the closest tuners are in houston, bout six hours away. would it be safe for me to install the vortech myself then drive the six hours and have it tuned? i love working on my car, so i want to have the satisfaction of doing something like this myself. but if its necessary, i guess i could pay for installation plus tune. its gonna raise the costs though...damn

 

you can install the vortech or stillen and then drive 6 hours just fine. Just don't get on the throttle hard - meaning just drive in a casual way with no more than 50% throttle. Cruising is no problem

 

That's what I did with my Vortech, did the install locally with a buddy and then drove around even though it was rich on the base map and then drove it 2 hours for the tune.

Yes you lose warranty if you install the Stillen yourself.

Going FI is going to cost a little up front but it is worth not cutting corners in the long run.

 

that's the cool thing about the vortech, you get a 3 year warrenty (for the full kit) no matter who installs it

 

i think you guys have swayed me into getting the vortech. im gonna do someone research and call up sgp racing and see if they can do the tune for me. how bad is the vortech install? think i can do it in one day?

 

it took me about 10 to 12 hours to do the install myself. its definately a possibility to get it done in one day. the install is pretty straight forward and the hardest part is of course the wiring into the computer. you can however buy the plug adapter to go from your stock ecu to the ss box without having to splice into any wires. i have had my kit for about a month now and i drive 70 miles a day and I love it. its got plenty of power over stock and i think you will be pleased with it!!! have any more questions just hit me up!

 

I don't even think you hit any boost at 2500rpm with the stock pulley.

 

it's not the psi that matters, it's the hp/tq. I've seen so many before/after dynos with vortechs and they all make 20-40 more tq at 2500 rpms than when they were NA. Of course, for automatics this really doesn't matter since the torque converter doesn't lock up until like 3500 rpms or whatever it is and will start allowing full power to be delivered to the driveshaft

with my car, i'm around 40 tq higher than when I was NA with all my NA mods and hit 2.2 psi at 2500 rpms with the 2.87 pulley, cams, headers, HF cats, dual exhaust etc. The psi and tq would actually be higher at 2500 rpms for me if my exhaust setup didn't flow as much.

I'm at around 275 tq at 2500 rpms on a dynojet
Most NA cars and turbo cars that hit the throttle at 2500 rpms are around 190-235 tq (turbo cars would have to hit the throttle earlier than 2500 rpms to get the turbo to spool up some by 2500 rpms)

 

How would you make more power when the supercharger is basically zapping some engine power in the lower rpms and you are hitting no boost?

I could definitely feel a low end improvement after taking off my blower this weekend and going back to NA (TT coming soon). Anything below 3k and the engine response is so much quicker and smoother now. Keep in mind, I was on the 3.33 pulley. And my engine is a lot quieter now,lol...don't miss the Vortech noise(s) at all.

 

For what you describe that you want . And having a AT5 , you would get the most out of the Stillen SC stage2 . It is going to produce twice the trq. in the lower to mid rpms range no matter if you have a AT5 or a MT6 . And if you added the 3.5 rear gear from a MT6 [ you can find guys that will do an even swap ] and you will have a very quick off the line car . The Stillen will reach 5psi with in a thousand rpm's or so .

Vortech will give you more top end whp exactly the opposite of where you say you want the most trq. and whp . The out of the box Vortech will not give you the trq down low and mid range that the Stillen does UNLESS you change pulley's and tune it . If you start changing pulleys and tuning the Vortech the more risk you take of having the injectors fail because of the higher fuel preasure needed to supply fuel for the smaller pulleys .

There are good points and bad points to each kit . The Stillen seems to suit your needs best . But the bad points are the two choices of hoods [ lastest being the best ] It also has a loud whine to the blower . The Vortech makes better whp up top . But if you start modding it to make better whp down low . You starrt putting lots more money into it . With fuel pumps , bigger injectors , smaller pulleys , exhausts , HFC's, and tunes . The blower makes a rocks tumbling in a can sound at idle , the BOV whistles at idle and cruising speeds.

I have a Vortech my self and Im glad I got it . Im just trying to give you a honest opinion of both . Others try to sway you one way or the other with out listening to what it is that you want . From what you describe , the Stillen seems to fit the bill . If I read it wrong and you dont mind spending more money to mod the car to make it faster , by all means ...get the Vortech .

 

To support what others have said...I love my Vortech because I did a lot of city driving and as long as I kept it under like 3300rpms....It was like a normal car and then when I wanted to hit on it, I could and just mash the gas...and then everything starts getting blurry ahhahaa But I ran my vortech stock sooo yeh depending on what you do to mods...it could be different. I only have a y-pipe and muffler on my car other than the Vortech.

 

this is all because you're running the stock 3.33 pulley and not making the blower do more work

but I'm still not sure why you'd think the parasitic loss is zapping the engine of power when all the dynos show everyone to be making more power

what's happening is the engine probably feels more responsive not having to turn the supercharger, but when you put your foot down, the vortech is going to make more power

 

wow this is getting confusing!! im honestly thinking for right out the box bolt on power without wanting to mod in the future, the stillen has gotto be the choice. driving in the city doesnt give me an opportunity to really get past 4000 rpm, unless of course i drive like an ***. i just want that instantaneous power as soon as i hit the pedal, and im guessing the stillen is the best choice for that. is there a really big difference between the stage 2 and 3? i know the differences on paper, but how bout in real world? i dont plan on tracking my car or going to the strip, so im really not concerned with future potential.

 

I had the stillen for 4 years and for around town in the lower rpms it is sweet.Instant and i mean instant tourqe the minute you nail it but now that i have the twins i dont miss that instant punch at all.My twin setup even at just 6 psi wiould have killed my stage4 and im going for a 9psi tune next month.But between the stillen and vortech for what you want i think it would be the stillen.

 

I don't get why it would make power. The Vortech does have parasitic loss, because some of the engine power is used the turn the blower. Even though the blower is turning at lower rpms, it's not actually efficiently compressing the air. So, under 3000 the blower acts nothing more than a short ram intake. It's actually when the blower is compressing the air (ie. .5psi+) you should be able to see a power increase over the stock power curve.

Now, if I went with the 2.87 pulley this would be different. I would probably be seeing boost a lot sooner in the rev range and the power curve would be shifted upwards. Probably as soon as 2k rpm.