bang for the buck: supercharger vs trickflow top end kit

90lxwhite · Oct 31, 2011

Hey guys my dad has a 95 gt that recently had a motor rebuild but it was pretty mild with stuff like refinished heads, 3 angle valve job and a comp cam and tune. (had to get sct chip b/c the dummy who built it put the comp cam in and it didnt want to work right) Other than that its pretty much stock except for stuff like high flow cats and mufflers, cai, and 3.73 gears, oh and it's a T5. After all that $ spent it only dyno'd 209 hp at the wheels and maybe like 250 lbs of torque might have been more cant remember off the top of my head the torque numbers. Well now he's wanting more so we're thinking about getting the trickflow top end kit or a supercharger. Which do yall recommend as far as power to money spent ratio? Is there a supercharger setup that will fit under the stock hood? And try and figure installation cost and tuning into the suggestions. This isn't a daily driver but he wants to keep it fairly street friendly, he drives it a few times a week and on weekends. Thanks fellas for any advice/info

revhead347 · Oct 31, 2011

I'd go for the blower kit money wise. Why the heck did they buy a cam for a car with stock heads? That's a complete waste of money. 5 spd cars always make around 190rwhp stock, so that's actually not too bad of a gain.

Kurt

90lxwhite · Oct 31, 2011

as for the cam, ahh wasn't my build man. Dad took it to a guy who had been in town building motors since the beginning of time but after we got it back we were like man, should've went somewhere else. Live and learn I suppose. Any supercharger suggestions then, like which brand would be the most straight forward to install and use. What would be an estimated hp gain with a supercharger putting out the "out of the box" 8- 9 lbs of boost or whatever it is? I've heard that the topend kit will get you around 100 hp gain or so. But that's a lot of labor cost involved I imagine.

FastDriver · Oct 31, 2011

Honestly, you might make a little more with a blower, but I would much rather have the top-end kit. Making roughly 300 to the tire with a 302 n/a is a lot more tricky than making about the same but with a whining blower under the hood. Plus, all of the hard work will be out of the way for any future mods. Once you've got a H/C/I on the car, if you want more out of the car later, then add the blower, and it will get out like a blower car should and still surprise some people.

Trust me, a mid-low 12 second n/a 302 is fast, but a mid-low 12 second blown V8 just doesn't impress in the same way. Not to mention, the top-end kit will be easier on the motor, too.

2002BLGT · Oct 31, 2011

Top end kit would be my choice , it will have more low end torque than a centrifugal blower this way too

revhead347 · Oct 31, 2011

Depends on how much boost you want to push. For 8lbs, the Vortech, or Paxton is what I prefer. You can pick up a good used kit for a decent price. There is usually a stack of them available on the Corral classifieds. Any more boost than that, and it's a good idea to have an intercooler, which has to be set up custom on a Vortech or Paxton kit, but comes standard on the ProCharger kit. The downside to the Procharger kit is that it runs off the same serpentine belt as everything else, and it requires battery relocation. The Vortech and Paxton have a dedicated belt for the head unit.

Kurt

toyman · Oct 31, 2011

Then there's the KB which just bolts on. Lots of torque off the throttle and at full boost @2200 rpm. But maybe I'm biased

Iyzak · Nov 1, 2011

im looking into the same thing i was gunna go tfs top end kit however they make 260rwhp and about $300 less,after buying the adapter to make the intake fit, then the Vortech 7-9psi kit alot of people are saying the kits downfall if the intake maybe you can invest into a Edelbrock intake and make alil more hp
im thinking what imma do is run the vortech sc kit for $3k at jegs then buy a e303 cam and lifters then start on suspension you can make all the power in the world but you'll get stompped if you cant hook up

over all im thinking you could go either way and make about the same power output and spend about $300 less going top end kit however im thinking with the sc + cam tuned for a super charger you will make alittle hp hence why imma try the e303 + vortech route ill let you know how it turns out

either way id buy lifters so im not counting that cost against either set up

revhead347 · Nov 1, 2011

H/C/I swaps nickel and dime you to death. Things like new hose clamps, spark plugs, head studs, the right head gaskets. It never seems to end. Not that there aren't a bunch of nickel and dime items with the supercharger kit either I guess.

Kurt

90lxwhite · Nov 1, 2011

yeah so basically I guess what Im asking is what is the cheapest way to get around 300hp motor or wheels. (not nitrous) Spent a bunch on the rebuild and got hardly nothing out of it. Dad let the old bastard pretty much have free will on it and he didnt do much. I believe the guy who built its old ass was used to carburated old schoool stuff. He tried to put roller rockers on it but could get em to work for some reason or another and we were like damn Wayne all you had to do was put a spacer... Sore subject kind of. But anyway back to the drawing board, have alot of blue collar money invested into the motor but its stock mostly 209 hp at the wheels, we got hosed. So yall thing supercharger would be the way to go? the motor is fresh

VibrantRedGT · Nov 1, 2011

The way your describing the cam that was installed, that a tune was required and it only made 209HP to the wheels is a big red flag to me. I'd put the stock cam back in it and bolt on the blower. The car after this should make right around 300HP to the wheels with 8-10psi.

95snoozer · Nov 1, 2011

TFS top end kit. with track heat intake, not street heat.

Find out what comp cam is in the mustang now and it might be a better cam than the trick flow stage 1, which isnt a bad cam, just not the best.

get back to us on the cam. You might be able to get away with buying the kit and selling the cam.

Of course, my preferred setup by far would be Trick flow heads, comp cam, holley systemax II

I built a true budget setup in college that made ~300, if I was going aftermarket aluminum heads I would not want anything less than 320 rwhp

a 320 rwhp N/a car will be faster than most 8 psi supercharged stock 5.0s

Iyzak · Nov 1, 2011

sorry to hear your bad experience you could go supercharger jegs has the vortech complete kit 7-9psi for just under $3k then you could always do a home made porting job on the heads (take a gasket from your intake put in over your head spray paint aross it any paint that got on the head by the intake holes dremmel out) as well as throw a supercharged tuned cam (e303, f303 , go to summit they have a few pages full) then pop some lifters in you should hit atleast 300rwhp then maybe headers if you wanted

either route you go you should be happy

95snoozer · Nov 1, 2011

90lxwhite said:
yeah so basically I guess what Im asking is what is the cheapest way to get around 300hp motor or wheels. (not nitrous) Spent a bunch on the rebuild and got hardly nothing out of it. Dad let the old bastard pretty much have free will on it and he didnt do much. I believe the guy who built its old ass was used to carburated old schoool stuff. He tried to put roller rockers on it but could get em to work for some reason or another and we were like damn Wayne all you had to do was put a spacer... Sore subject kind of. But anyway back to the drawing board, have alot of blue collar money invested into the motor but its stock mostly 209 hp at the wheels, we got hosed. So yall thing supercharger would be the way to go? the motor is fresh

FYI, my Stock headed e303 cam Fresh 302 dynoed. 246/290
It later got even faster with some fine tuning so I wouldnt be surprised to have seen higher dyno figures down the road.

You are running a stock intake manifold?! this and the stock headers would explain the 209 rwhp.

You will pick up at least 30-35 HP with a performer intake and Headers. You will want an intake manifold anyways.

You are right, your dads engine builders is just not educated on how restrictive the stock intake manifold. If you do choose to correct these first, dont jump the gun and get things that wont work with your end goal. i.e. a systemax II will not work with stock heads. a performer will work with both stock heads and a nice stock aluminum head like trick flow afr or eddy. Headers are a must, but are much easier to install while the heads are off.

Iyzak · Nov 1, 2011

95snoozer said:
Headers are a must, but are much easier to install while the heads are off.

sorry im a fox body guy thats about to buy a 94-95 are they the same headers? or are they just as restrictive?
i looked at my stock 90's headers and could barely breathe they looked so restrictive

95snoozer · Nov 1, 2011

only real difference is the AGR port on the passenger side that has a pipe thread to redirect exhaust gasses. I DID run foxbody MAC Long tubes with no issues and deleted my EGR. It saved me a ton of money because I picked up headers for 100 bucks and prochamber in a trade. You can also only fit certain headers with the GT40P spark plug angle.

Iyzak · Nov 1, 2011

95snoozer said:
only real difference is the AGR port on the passenger side that has a pipe thread to redirect exhaust gasses. I DID run foxbody MAC Long tubes with no issues and deleted my EGR. It saved me a ton of money because I picked up headers for 100 bucks and prochamber in a trade. You can also only fit certain headers with the GT40P spark plug angle.

yeah i know the BBK long tubes fit with the angeled plugs

90lxwhite · Nov 1, 2011

yeah stock intake

Yeah still has the stock intake. Headers were actually going to be the next $ spent on it. Prob gonna go w/ shorty that bolt right up. As far as intake manifold yeah he wants one but was thinking for the money it wouldnt make that much more power with the stock heads at this point in time. Is this true?

VibrantRedGT · Nov 2, 2011

90lxwhite said:
Yeah still has the stock intake. Headers were actually going to be the next $ spent on it. Prob gonna go w/ shorty that bolt right up. As far as intake manifold yeah he wants one but was thinking for the money it wouldnt make that much more power with the stock heads at this point in time. Is this true?

On the stock block and heads I installed an Edelbrock Peformer Intake, 70MM Throttle Body and Pro-M 77 Mass air meter. With these parts, full exhaust, pulley's and timing it made 241HP / 289 TQ. So to answer your question it probably picked up 37HP at the wheels with the induction mods. That's pretty hefty and got me into the 13's shortly after.

Gregg@TFS · Nov 7, 2011

Bang for the buck the TFS top end kit will produce more than a low boost supercharger with your current set up. I believe someone above said that they would go with the top end kit then later on look at the supercharger. I would have to agree with him. The top end kit will provide you around 300-310 rear wheel on a stock short block when properly tunes.

bang for the buck: supercharger vs trickflow top end kit

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