hci vs supercharger

mustang6tee8

Member

Jul 19, 2005

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College Station, TX

Mar 23, 2006

#1

• Mar 23, 2006

• #1

So, I'm thinking of getting some more power out of my 5.0 as we all are. I'm thinking 2 routes: H/C/I or a supercharger. How would my stock internal, 80,000 mile motor hold up with a 6psi supercharger?? What would the horsepower outcome be for both?

 

95GTV8

New Member

Jul 25, 2005

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Washington State

Mar 23, 2006

#2

• Mar 23, 2006

• #2

both would be fine, but i'd do H/C/I first. The lower intake manifold will choke the super-charger and you'll want to fix that as will the heads. Do H/C/I 1st and if you still want more power throw a supercharger on afterwards.

 

BlackVert

15 Year Member

Oct 3, 2003

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Bethesda, MD

Mar 23, 2006

#3

• Mar 23, 2006

• #3

The HCI is a good starting place because even if you end up deciding to strap on a SC, you'll net much more power from a SC on a HCI car motor you will from a stock motor.

A typical HCI car can put down 290-300 rwhp.

There is no "typical" SC car because there are so many differences.

 

G

Green 94 5.0

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Mar 25, 2002

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Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Mar 23, 2006

#4

• Mar 23, 2006

• #4

both the supercharger and the h/c/i combo will produce similar results from a stock starting point. if you are looking for longevity though, the h/c/i is definitely the way to go.

 

B

BaXTeR3221

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Jan 12, 2004

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Orange County, NY

Mar 23, 2006

#5

• Mar 23, 2006

• #5

I agree with the other guys, though HCI will end up costing you more than an entry level blower. Power should be about the same. I really think its more of a personal preference. I'd check to see if your motor is still healthy and then go from there. Obviously if it isn't, you dont want to add boost on top of that.

 

G

Green 94 5.0

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Mar 25, 2002

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Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Mar 23, 2006

#6

• Mar 23, 2006

• #6

BaXTeR3221 said:

I agree with the other guys, though HCI will end up costing you more than an entry level blower. Power should be about the same. I really think its more of a personal preference. I'd check to see if your motor is still healthy and then go from there. Obviously if it isn't, you dont want to add boost on top of that.

Click to expand...

actually, a cobra intake, gt40x heads, and a tfs stage 1 cam is very affordable. combined with the correct exhaust mods, 65mm t/b, cobra rockers, and a set of 24lb injectors, 300whp is very obtainable on not much of a budget. an entry level blower is a bare bones kit with nothing more than the essentials to add boost. you still need the supporting fuel mods to have any sort of reliability. by the time the supporting mods are done, you could have practically bought the complete kit. the h/c/i setup i mentioned above can be had for about $1700 total if you shop around for the right deals. with that h/c/i setup, reliability should not be any sort of issue either.

 

Pokageek

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Jun 10, 2005

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Mar 23, 2006

#7

• Mar 23, 2006

• #7

H/C/I first.

 

ProKiller

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Apr 26, 2002

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PA

Mar 23, 2006

#8

• Mar 23, 2006

• #8

h/c/i is a more reliable combo. superchargers usually require more tuning. you can buy parts in pieces with the h/c/i where as a supercharger its better to buy a complete kit.

 

mricci

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Aug 17, 2003

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Massachusetts

Mar 23, 2006

#9

• Mar 23, 2006

• #9

Also adding a supercharger adds a lot of weight to the front of your car, while H/C/I saves weight by putting on aluminum heads.

 

final5-0

Mustang Master

Apr 6, 2003

6,817

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DFW Texas

Mar 23, 2006

#10

• Mar 23, 2006

• #10

Here is a thought or two from one who did the h/c/i thing first

If you are the kinda guy who can understand a blown combo takes a bit more thought to run, maintain, or whatever .......

I'd do the blower first

but

NOT with the fmu, no tune, thing

I'd most likely not get h/c/i like I got now if I did the blower btw.

Grady

 

GRGT1994

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Sep 22, 2004

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Mar 23, 2006

#11

• Mar 23, 2006

• #11

I'll second Grady as another HCI guy saying do the blower first. But here's my thoughts.

If you have a stock motor that is running quite well, you have to keep in mind that an HCI kit will break all of the nice clean factory seals on the top half of your engine. There are a number of issues you can run into here, including broken bolts, leaking gaskets, etc. And that's just for the install. By comparison, the blower is not very invasive at all.

Comparing a Vortech or Procharger kit to a Trickflow or Edelbrock top end kit will yeild comparable results (probably favoring the HCI, but not by a dramatic level). So with the supercharger you get similar power, and potentially far fewer headaches. It's probably true that the HCI would be better in terms of longevity. But that might not be too much of a concern for an 80,000 mile car.

 

B

bimmertech

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May 3, 2005

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merriam, ks

Mar 23, 2006

#12

• Mar 23, 2006

• #12

blower first, then build up a badass longblock and throw that into the mix.

but i'm with grady, the h/c that i have now i would have done different if i knew i was gonna get a blower.

btw i have h/c and getting prepared to slap on the vortech.