You guys asked for it so here it goes,
@85rkyboby @TOOLOW91 @Old Skooler @A5literMan
So let’s talk
Vortech for a few minutes here…
There has recently been more than a few questions about some of the Vortech products and what blowers are right for your application. What makes one model different from the others? Hopefully I can explain that all to you here.
Let’s start with the basic different trim levels:
V1 - This blower has a 3.45:1 step up ratio with straight cut gears and is engine oil fed. The V1 series is available in several different compressor trim stages: SCi, Si and T
V2 - This blower has a 3.61:1 step up ration with helical cut gears and is also engine oil fed. This series is considerably quieter due to gear design and provides a slightly steeper step up ratio. The V2 series is also available in several different compressor trim stages: SCi, Si and T
V3 - This blower features the same 3.61:1 step up ratio and helical cut gears as the V2 but is self-lubricating. This has recently been the go to head unit for most street applications due to ease of installation and maintenance. The V3 series is also available in several different compressor stages: SCi and Si
V7 - This blower has the 3.45:1 step up ratio and straight cut gear design similar to the V1 series but with higher speed bearings. This unit is only available in engine oil fed models. The V7 series blowers are available in the Ysi and JT compressor configurations with the JT being only available as a CCW rotation unit.
All of the above mentioned blowers (with the exception of the JT trim) are available in curved and straight discharge models and available in CW and CCW rotation units. All of the above referenced head units feature the same physical bolt patterns and will easily interchange in the same bracket system.
V20 - This blower features a 4.21:1 step up ratio and is only offered in oil fed models. There are several different trim levels from the V27-Ysi to the V28-123 and everything in between. These blowers have a robust bearing case and completely different transmission housing when compared to the rest of the lineup. These are very heavy duty race blowers with very expensive and highly developed bearing packages and can support upward of 4,000+ HP. This will not typically be a blower for the street warrior and will only be found on some of the most serious drag cars and extreme effort street cars.
About compressor stages:
Compressor stages are designed to handle different levels of power and all make power differently when compared to one another. While I will list what they are rated for, we can later discuss where these compressor stages apply best to certain applications.
SCi - The SCi compressor stage is Vortech’s beginning stage and offered in their most base model blower kit for the fox body. While this blower can support up to 725 HP, it is rarely used in that capacity. This blower flow 1050 cfm and is 75% efficient.
Si - This is the most popular compressor stage that you see in the fox body market and really is the go to in my opinion. This compressor will support up to 775 HP, flows 1150 cfm and is 78% efficient. While most people do not run this unit to the maximum level it has a lot of potential and with the proper supporting parts will live up to its expectations.
T - This compressor stage has recently under gone some redevelopment. The T trim of years past will support 825 HP and the newly redesigned compressor, the Ti will support 950 HP. This blower flows 1400 cfm, is 75% efficient and is great choice for your extreme street car build as well as killer track combination.
JT - While this is typically found on the modular motors it still has a place and is worth mentioning. This compressor will support 1,000 HP and flows 1,450 cfm at a 75% efficiency rating.
Ysi - This compressor is the one that has been there and done that and won’t be going anywhere for a long time to come. The Ysi supports 1,200 HP, flows 1,600 cfm and is 78% efficient. This blower is found on quite the number of extreme mustang builds and race cars alike. While final data has not been released there is a new Billet wheel upgrade for the Ysi adding the designation Ysi-b. This upgrade is worth at least 200 HP putting this blower in the 1,400+ HP range and should really be a shining start both on the street and at the track in coming months.
A final few thoughts:
So what makes the V7 and V27 Ysi blowers different? The compressor stages are identical leaving only the bearing housings/transmissions to change.
Are there other blowers out there? Sure thing, Vortech has a long history and has a lot of older units that are out of production still out running on the street. It isn’t unlikely to run into an old A trim or even a ball driven SN89
What about the bigger blowers? They have them and I would be happy to answer any questions that you have or provide more information on them. I only briefly touched on the V20 series since it does not apply to the broad base of street cars and street warriors out there.
I hope this was helpful and look forward to discussing the questions that you guys have. Keep in mind that this is only one part of the market. Paxton a subsidiary of Vortech has their entire line of blowers that we didn’t even touch on. Procharger has a market share in the industry here and to be frank I am not well versed on their product. I would welcome any technical information that anyone could provide on their products or others. Kenny Bell and
Whipple, we didn’t forget you either. I would prefer this to be a beginning to some sort of supercharger resource and would like to avoid the Nitrous vs Turbo vs Blower discussions here if possible.
Thanks,
Nick
@madspeed Let me know if this should have been in Tech or if Talk is the right place for this