Supercharging the Daily Driver...or Nitrous?

ChrisXoxide2 · May 12, 2004

At some point in the near future, I'd like to play around with adding more power to my 2000 GT vert. All I have is 3.73 gears and exhaust for the time being.

My issue is, I don't want to sacrifice much, maybe even any, of the daily driveability of the car. Some of the things in mind are gas mileage (I get about 275 miles to a 13 gallon fill now, and thats expensive enough for me), or reliability issues. I put 25,000 miles a year on the car. I know you can "safely" supercharge the car, but I just don't want to deal with any of the little issues that I'm guessing arise, once you change to a supercharged setup. I have a feeling its going to turn into too much of a project car I'm playing with things all the time on.

The other option is just using Nitrous. I really only want to add potential power to the car, so that if I'm at the track in the summer I can try to run some decent times. I don't street race or anything, so I'm not concerned with having power on tap at all times. I won't be getting a remote bottle opener or any of that stuff, probably just the regular base NX kit, and self install it.

Anyway, I'm curious what your guys opinions of this are, and what you view as the major differences between the two. People definately favor superchargers on this site, but for my own personal needs, I'm leaning heavily to just throwing a tank in the car. I also have a great source to get bottles filled, so thats another small benefit to the equation.

2002BLGT · May 12, 2004

I have a supercharger but I dont drive my car everyday , I love having the power there all the time but personally I think nitrous would be better because I am constantly putting my car in boost and with nitrous I know I would refrain from driving my car as hard so I am a supercharged guy voting for the nitrous .

V_Eight · May 12, 2004

I'd say go with nitrous. That way you don't have to fill up with premium every single tank.

Andrew

Tylerb59 · May 12, 2004

NAWWWZZZzzz

Supercharger yields greater performance which is great if you don't drive it often (long daily commutes), but with the current gas prices HAVING to fill up with Premium would blow.

$500 for NAWz, $200 for gears.

Low 13s.

Do it.

GoldnGT · May 12, 2004

Nitrous would be your better investment. Mine is a daily driver and i use nitrous on the weekends at the track. i put a wet 100 shot on it....

Mike

ChrisXoxide2 · May 12, 2004

As far as nitrous, what do you all think of the basic Nitrous Express Ford EFI kit? Stock injectors right? And that is a wet kit, I believe?

StangLou · May 12, 2004

If you dont want to worry about extra little things like better gas, and higher gas prices, then you will want to go with Naws . Im not a big fan of it, but it would work best for your application. Only bad thing is the power isnt always there like it is with a s/c.

kirkyg · May 12, 2004

$500 for nitrous? I'm afraid not. If you want windows switch, the works your gonna end up paying 1000-1200 minimum for a good setup thats safer than most. I might add that ive seen more destroyed intakes and blown motors from nitrous alone...i've seen very few supercharged motors that are blown. If your on a tight budget do neither...if you got some money get the supercharger. I've thrown around the idea of spraying but it just can't do it its too risky...

kirkyg

Go HoTO! · May 12, 2004

Chris:

Here are the benefits of N02:

1 - Less expensive up front - big bang for the buck
2 - Much more streetable when not using.
3 - Can use low octane fuel.
4 - Does not wear on the engine all the time like a blower.

Here are the downsides:
1 - $ for filling bottle
2 - Might be against the law to use on the street where you live
3 - Re-sale of car. Buyers seem to like blowers when looking at a car, but N02 has a bad, undeserved reputation. If they see it, they think the motor is shot.
4 - You have to re-tune your car when you want to use it depending on how your car is setup. For example, if your timing is advanced with a chip/programmer and you use 91+ octane, you will need to put the timing back to stock (or retard it beyond stock) and use 87 when running NO2. This could be a royal pain in the ass. These decisions depend also on how much of a shot you want to run.

If you go with NO2, be sure to use all the safety features like window switch and a system that uses your TPS signal. Dry is safer than wet for the ocassional user. The Venom-1000 works with the TPS and constantly monitors your 02 sensor so you don't run too lean.

I think the perfect setup for N02 is a car with basic bolt-ons (pullies, gears, exhaust) and a timing adjuster. It is a quick way to change your timing when you want. But, just just my opinion.

Your 3.73's are perfect for this power adder. I would stay with them. 4.10's rev too fast with the juice and you can get into trouble.

Blake

2002BLGT · May 12, 2004

ChrisXoxide2 said:
As far as nitrous, what do you all think of the basic Nitrous Express Ford EFI kit? Stock injectors right? And that is a wet kit, I believe?

Alot of guys on modulardepot are running this kit with great results and no major problems , just keep it below 125 shot , I would say 100 is all I would go with if I were to go that route . Stock fuel pump needs upgrading past 125 shot if you plan on using it often .

st0a3ng · May 12, 2004

so you guys would not suggest supercharging it? I have an '03 GT, and I want to add some power as well. I've really been looking into supercharging, and it seems like that is the way to go. What are the downsides of supercharging vs just adding nitrous?

kirkyg · May 12, 2004

Well its all about price...you get what you pay for. If you spray you will get yourself into the high 12's if your a good driver. Your going to be taking a chance as i dont care what anyone says its more risky to use nitrous than it is to use a supercharger. Also, people get themselves confused did i fill up with 91-93 octane this time? If you dont always use high octane gas you can't always use the bottle or you need to severly cut your timing down which requires a tuner or a switch chip of some kind.

With a supercharger its gonna cost you about 3x as much to get it setup and it will require premium gas all the time (atleast 91 octane but all depends on tune). However you will always have the power when you push the pedal as compared to arming your nitrous and making sure the pressure is right and activation your window switch etc.

Again you get what you pay for. If you spray you can expect to have some PITA's involved with getting that performance.

kirkyg

01BlkGT · May 12, 2004

Go HoTO! said:
4 - Does not wear on the engine all the time like a blower.

I could be wrong, but how is this true? With any blower you have to be at or near WOT for the blower to begin building boost. I know with my blower, idle, cruising, and mildly accelerating is all vac. The only time I see boost is when I get on it and the rpms are 2800+ (which the nature of Centri blowers).

My car is seeing use as a DD right now and have no issue what's so ever (besides having to us prem. fuel instead). It literally drives like a stock stang until you decide you want to play around. Best bet is if you want a safe, reliable DD with a power adder, talk to Tim at T&J (the link is in my sig). He'll be able to set you up with one of his kits (just have to decide if you want to go KB or Centri), awesome support and customer service. I've never had any experience with nitrous so I'll refrain from giving any opinions on that.

Go HoTO! · May 12, 2004

01blkGT: The truth lies somewhere is the middle. You are correct. If you drive it like a grocery getter at low rpms, your car will feel "stock" if it's blown, right? Thus, no added wear and tear. And monkies might fly out of my ass too. What's the chance of that happening? That thing will be blowing nearly all the time if I had one.

Supercharging or a Turbo is certainly the way to go for more power. ****, we could have a whole nother thread comparing Turbos and Superchargers. But, there are drawbacks to them which I think I addressed above. While I was looking at pros/cons of nitrous, you can kind of figure pros/cons of a blower.

Problem is, most of us spend $3,000 - $4,000 over time adding 5 hp here, 10 hp there, when a nice blower gets you going right away.

kirkyg · May 12, 2004

exactly...dont waste time on the little stuff...save for the blower. And especially dont waste money on things you can't keep on after getting a power adder like timing adjuster or pulleys.

kirkyg

01BlkGT · May 12, 2004

Go HoTO! said:
01blkGT: The truth lies somewhere is the middle. You are correct. If you drive it like a grocery getter at low rpms, your car will feel "stock" if it's blown, right? Thus, no added wear and tear. And monkies might fly out of my ass too. What's the chance of that happening? That thing will be blowing nearly all the time if I had one.

Problem is, most of us spend $3,000 - $4,000 over time adding 5 hp here, 10 hp there, when a nice blower gets you going right away.

Not trying to get in an arguement or start any wars, but just laying out my experience. Before I got the blower, I had the same ol' mentality thinking that I would be "in" boost all the time. Well, now that I have the blower I've found that to be not true. I dont know what rpms shift you consider not grocery getter, but you can shift at 3k (mostly WOT) and maybe eek out a lb of boost or so, but its still fun to drive, and feels mostly like it did before it was blown. Now once you get above 3k at WOT or go from cruising above 3k to WOT, that's when the fun begins . Mostly though I have found that its more of a mood thing. Its nice knowing you have the power whenever you want it, or to just cruise if you wish. I'd say talk to Tim, ask him how much for the set-up you want and go for it.

Go HoTO! · May 12, 2004

OK. I can't argue with that.

You know, if you want blower power, maybe the best thing to do is to trade the GT in on a Snake. Not only do you get more HP, but a lot of upgraded things as well and all fore an added investment close to what the blower costs (I am speaking of buying a used Snake of course).

Also, a blower on a 99+ Snake is supposed to be there...it came stock. It's a much better investment (ie - you loose less money) then purchasing a blower for a car that came without one. This is the #1 reason why I will never add a blower.

If you are a serious racer, though, then none of what I just said has any relevance at all. The only thing that matters then is the 1/4 mile.

2002BLGT · May 12, 2004

only arguement I have is that having a blower just makes you wanna FLOOR IT ALL THE TIME there for you are in boost all the time .

DeadLurker · May 12, 2004

25,000 miles a year? That's a lot of driving your doing...probably better off just keeping it n/a for now.

04DarkShadowGT · May 12, 2004

Also, a blower on a 99+ Snake is supposed to be there...it came stock. It's a much better investment (ie - you loose less money) then purchasing a blower for a car that came without one. This is the #1 reason why I will never add a blower.

the blower was only on 03 and 04 cobras. not 99 and 01

Supercharging the Daily Driver...or Nitrous?

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