[mustangmaniac95]

Alright you guys, im trying to save up for either a supercharger or a turbo charger..which way would you guys go?
If i were to get a supercharger, could i get one such as a kenne belle, to where i can screw onto the intake, or would i have to get one such as a vortech or procharger?

I have been looking at turbos also, which one would be better for my 95 GT, and which one is easier to install and to tune?

Thanks you guys, just been wondering this, and trying to save up my money right now for this..I think I might buy the cobra upgraded brakes first though, any ideas where i can find a real nice set of brakes for a good price? im talking about the rotors, calipers, and lines, or can i use my stock GT lines?

[ryanw]

kenny bell makes a supercharger that bolts on to the lower intake of either a gt40/cobra or the stock intake.

turbo would make more power but the supercharger would be much easier of an install.

[mustangmaniac95]

so if i were to get a kenne belle, i would need to get a gt40 intake?

[mcglsr2]

Originally Posted by mustangmaniac95 Alright you guys, im trying to save up for either a supercharger or a turbo charger..which way would you guys go? If i were to get a supercharger, could i get one such as a kenne belle, to where i can screw onto the intake, or would i have to get one such as a vortech or procharger? I have been looking at turbos also, which one would be better for my 95 GT, and which one is easier to install and to tune? Thanks you guys, just been wondering this, and trying to save up my money right now for this..I think I might buy the cobra upgraded brakes first though, any ideas where i can find a real nice set of brakes for a good price? im talking about the rotors, calipers, and lines, or can i use my stock GT lines?

Hey, I have neither a turbo nor a supercharger on my GT, but I do have two other cars that are turbo charged, and I've done quite a bit of research on supercharges for the GT. I hope I can help out a little, just understand that this is not coming from direct experience with either on my GT.

Depending on how much work you want to do, I would say go with a supercharger. There are some turbo kits are available, like Hellion, but it will require a lot of plumbing and an intercooler. I personally am a fan of turbos, but if you want something super easy to install (compared to a turbo kit), a supercharger is hard to beat. For low boost, around 8psi or less, you could probably get away without having to use an intercooler. Of the 3 types available, the lysholm (or twin-screw) - which is what kenne bell is - is very hard to beat. You will get full boost starting around 2K rpms or so, all the way to your redline. The other types, roots and centrifugal, can get up to similar amounts of boost as the kenne bell, but have disadvantages. Roots are not efficient at all, and centrifugal are like turbos in that they have to "spool" so to speak - you won't get max boost until higher in the rpm range. The downside to the kenne bell is that it is more expensive then the other types. If your budget allows it, I'd suggest the kenne bell. If your budget doesn't allow it, I think you will still be happy with a centrifugal.

The beauty of the supercharger is that it's very simple to install, and doesn't affect too much on the engine itself. Basically, you throw it on, perhaps adjust fueling according the to manufacture's instructions, maybe a piggy back, and away you go. Everything else can stay as it is. With a turbo kit, regardless of single or dual, you will have to do exhaust work, you will need new headers for the turbo, you will most likely need an intercooler unless you keep boost really low, you will probably need an air bypass valve if you run higher boost, you will need to do something with fueling, similar to the supercharger, etc. There's a lot more involved in the turbo kit, so really it comes down to how much effort you want to put into it. Oh, and the turbo kits usually are more expensive, more-so then a kenne bell, depending.

Lastly, if you plan on running big boost, you *will* need to do some work to the engine if you want it to last a while. At the least, lower compression ratio pistons would not be a bad idea. If you are running low boost, then you can probably get by with the engine as is.

I'm making a lot of assumptions here about your setup and what you want to achieve, so if I'm way off the mark or telling you something you already know, sorry about that.

If I missed anything, or gave some bad advice, please someone call me out on it.

[mcglsr2]

Originally Posted by mustangmaniac95 so if i were to get a kenne belle, i would need to get a gt40 intake?

No. The kenne bell can work on either a stock lower intake or the gt40, you would have to specify when ordering so they know which to send you.

[mustangmaniac95]

wow thats some great information i didnt know mcglsr2, thanks...I really do like the kenne belle, but i do see that they tend to be more expensive..but i really want a supercharger i can bolt onto my intake like the kenne belle..as i am still pretty young, only 17, lol I think 7-8 psi would be plenty enough for me and my safety lol...i would rather not buy an intercooler, but if i need to i will...ive read some of the advantages and disadvantages of both turbos and superchargers, but leaning more towards a supercharger..and i have seen that turbos require so many extra parts such as headers and downpipes, etc...I want whats best for my car, so i will put effort into it to do it right, the first time..I dont think im going to cheap out, im probably just going to save this year, change my brakes, and hopefully have enough to buy a supercharger and put it on by the end of the school year going into summer

[mcglsr2]

Originally Posted by mustangmaniac95 wow thats some great information i didnt know mcglsr2, thanks...I really do like the kenne belle, but i do see that they tend to be more expensive..but i really want a supercharger i can bolt onto my intake like the kenne belle..as i am still pretty young, only 17, lol I think 7-8 psi would be plenty enough for me and my safety lol...i would rather not buy an intercooler, but if i need to i will...ive read some of the advantages and disadvantages of both turbos and superchargers, but leaning more towards a supercharger..and i have seen that turbos require so many extra parts such as headers and downpipes, etc...I want whats best for my car, so i will put effort into it to do it right, the first time..I dont think im going to cheap out, im probably just going to save this year, change my brakes, and hopefully have enough to buy a supercharger and put it on by the end of the school year going into summer

Sure thing, I hope I helped some.

Regarding the kenne bell vs something else like a paxton or vortech - those last two might be options as well. A vortech or similar centrifugal is like half the price of the kenne bell. The install is easy as well, you add it on to the front of the car, like the other accessories (a/c, power steering, etc), and just route the output of the supercharger to the intake manifold. It's almost as easy as the kenne bell with regard to installation, so keep that in mind. From a purely technical standpoint, the kenne bell is the superior supercharger. However, the world doesn't usually work like that. Meaning this: if you plan to run 6 to 8 psi, do you really think you'll notice the difference between a kenne bell and a centrifugal? Sure, the kenne bell produces more boost and therefore more power across a wider rpm range. So, technically, it's faster. But with a centrifugal, you will still be making boost as you climb rpms, so your car will still be faster than it currently is. Could it be as fast if it had a kenne bell? Maybe not. But it also costs half the amount. So what I would suggest is this: think hard about how important to you that max boost across the rpm range is. Or is it good enough to just be faster? I notice you want to save up for a Cobra brake upgrade. I just did this on my 95, about $1K is what it took. For the price of the kenne bell, you could do a centrifugal AND your brake upgrade. In the end, it's your car, your call. You do what you feel is best. I'm just saying that, while on paper, in dyno charts, etc, the kenne bell looks better, and technically it is better, that doesn't mean you wouldn't be perfectly happy with a centrifugal, and have some money left over to boot.

Real world differences are often easily blurred. If the goal is to make your car better, and money is a limiting factor, I would personally suggest a centrifugal and brake upgrade over the kenne bell. You will get more enjoyment out of your car. Is it as fast as it *could* be? No...but would you really notice? If the goal is to have the fastest car, then drop the supercharger entirely and go for a built bottom end with a twin turbo setup pushing 25psi to 30psi of boost... It's all about the trade-offs. By the way, the Cobra brake upgrade is MUUUUCH better than the stock GT brakes...the Cobra rear disc is larger than the stock GT front if that tells you anything

[ryanw]

I my self im going the supercharger rout with next years tax return.

but as far as cost goes, the ON3 turbo is under 2000 dollars which is cheaper then a supercharger. but yes your going to need more parts to make a turbo work.

the problem i see with the kenny bell supercharger is that you have to use either the stock intake or the gt40 intake, wich dont flow as much as other aftermarket intakes. i dont know about you but i hate being locked into one or two specific parts. Another problem with the roots, or cork sqrew superchargers like the kenny bell, is they get heat soaked more then the centrifugal supercharger. heat soaked means less power. you want the air entering your engine to be as cold as possible kenny bell doesnt have an intercooler.

id lean towards the centrifugal...but thats just my two cents

[mustangmaniac95]

Alright, thanks guys, lot of stuff i didnt know..i might be leaning towards a paxton s/c..whats the difference between paxton, vortech, and procharger?

[steveofire]

I have a boost brothers turbo kit on my 94 sn95 and they run under 1500 for everything you would need including all the headers and intercooler. I have been running this kit for 3 years now with no issues and works great. As far as the install on my stock motor setup I was able to still keep everything including the ac and the hardest part was just putting on the headers but that only took about 2 hours for both sides if you want so more info just let me know yeah these are cheep kits but I have had really good luck with mine and still running the same turbo that came with the kit.

[mcglsr2]

Originally Posted by mustangmaniac95 Alright, thanks guys, lot of stuff i didnt know..i might be leaning towards a paxton s/c..whats the difference between paxton, vortech, and procharger?

All 3 of those centrifugal superchargers are basically the same. They operate in the same basic fundamental way. Paxton was first to the scene, back with the Shelby Mustangs, and Votech was started by a guy that left Paxton. Procharger started on it's own. Back in the day, there were differences in the way the internals were set up, some were internally gear driven, others used cog belts, etc. These days, though, I suspect they are all quite similar. I personally can't say one is better than the other, other folks here might be able to chime in with good/bad experiences. Because they are so similar, they will have a similar if not almost identical boost per rpm. As long as the unit is self-oiling (which I think they all are but I am not 100% sure), and the kit contains everything you need, and the company has excellent customer service, you could probably go with any of them and not see any difference. See what others think that have one of the above units, pick your favorite, and have a blast

[mcglsr2]

Originally Posted by ryanw the problem i see with the kenny bell supercharger is that you have to use either the stock intake or the gt40 intake, wich dont flow as much as other aftermarket intakes. i dont know about you but i hate being locked into one or two specific parts. Another problem with the roots, or cork sqrew superchargers like the kenny bell, is they get heat soaked more then the centrifugal supercharger. heat soaked means less power. you want the air entering your engine to be as cold as possible kenny bell doesnt have an intercooler. id lean towards the centrifugal...but thats just my two cents

Two thoughts on the above. Regarding the Kenne Bell and the stock vs. GT40 lower intakes, ryanw is absolutely right, you are forced to one or the other, and that's it. Having said that, I don't personally think it's that big of an issue. No offense, ryanw. The whole point of a blower or turbo is to force air. That forced air isn't going to care if it's going through a GT40 intake or a stock one. Technically, yes, the better flowing the lower intake the more airflow, more power etc. But for that better flowing intake, just up the boost 1psi on the stock/GT40 and you've already overcome the "bottleneck." Of course, you could up the boost on the better flowing unit too, and around we go in a circle. However, in every day use, I wager a dollar people won't notice a difference. You'd be better off putting time and energy into better flowing heads than a better flowing lower intake. The lower intake is very important on a NA motor. However, when you add boost, it just isn't as important anymore, if at all. So, and again this is just my opinion, I think it's fine that kenne bell works off the GT40 or stock lower intake. And think on this: if it really was that much of a bottleneck, Kenne Bell would have thrown R&D money at it, come up with their own custom lower intake, and sold that along with the kit to help differentiate themselves from others. Lastly, that's part of the beauty of forced induction - you don't *need* to focus on making your engine flow better. You can, and for max power you should, but unlike NA motors where every little trick can get you an extra couple of CFM, if you want more flow with a FI setup, just the up the boost. Problem solved.

Lastly, just for clarification on the kenne bell efficiency (and no, I'm not a fanboi or anything), roots blowers and lysholm blowers (which the kenne bell is), while based on the same principle, are in different leagues when it comes to efficiency. Roots, because of the lack of precision between screws, is on something of the order of 50-60% efficiency. Lysholm screws, because of the greater precision, don't heat up the air as much during compression, and end up with something like a thermal efficiency of 70-80%. Which is really good. Modern turbos in the sweet spot crank out about 80% efficiency or so. Because of this, while heat soak is still an issue, and is on any FI setup, it's much more of an issue with a roots type blower (especially as psi increases) than it is with the kenne bell. That's part of the reason the kenne bell costs so much (not counting various markups), it costs more to manufacture the high precision screws.

[mustangmaniac95]

alright thank you guys, great information your giving me..i was looking on the corral and i found someone selling a complete vortech v1 supercharger for 1800 shipped..he said its been on his car for 3000 miles, but doesnt know how much the first owner had on it...he also says that he does not push it hard all the time, so idk if i should believe that or not...he sent me pictures of the s/c and its in terrific condition

[nolife]

Originally Posted by mcglsr2 Sure thing, I hope I helped some. From a purely technical standpoint, the kenne bell is the superior supercharger. However, the world doesn't usually work like that. Meaning this: if you plan to run 6 to 8 psi, do you really think you'll notice the difference between a kenne bell and a centrifugal? Sure, the kenne bell produces more boost and therefore more power across a wider rpm range. So, technically, it's faster. But with a centrifugal, you will still be making boost as you climb rpms, so your car will still be faster than it currently is. Could it be as fast if it had a kenne bell? Maybe not.

Average power from idle to redline is not relevant for determining how fast the car will be. The KB generally does have more low end rpm torque and HP but if you are "getting on it" either on the street or at the track, how often and how much time is your engine under 3-4K rpm where the KB typically has an advantage? Just about 1 second max if you are launching from a dead stop on street tires. All other times your foot is to the floor, you will be close to and above 4K rpm where the centrifugal SC's have an advantage. If you want to get from point A to point B in the fastest time, you need to compare average HP and torque of the two setups at the rpm you will be at between the shift points, not from idle to redline. The initial seat in your pants feel of low end torque is cool and has a big mental impact and puts a smile on your face but you are only in that range for a very small percentage of time.