Question About Durability of Supercharged Cars

[RockyTop]

Regardless of this obvious opportunity for every tuner that visits this board to give their opinions, I am curious to hear from others on this board about the durability of supercharged cars when used for road racing (or at least frequent road course driving). I am also curious whether turbocharging or supercharging is more durable. I suspect that the answer lies in the ability of the manufacturer to correctly address air fuel ratios thoughout the car's rpm band, but I am totally ignorant in this area (and lots of others) !

 

[Gerald]

Good question. I've never taken mine on a road course and probably never will. I think NO2 buyers / supercharger / turbo customers are street / strip people.....

Gerald

 

[BYT U L8R]

Gerald,
I am very seriously considering a SC for my 98. If you don't mind some Q's...
How many miles on your system?
How often do you need it (engine/SC) serviced?
Any unusual aspects of the system that make the car a non-everyday car?
Sorry for seeming nosey, but might as well ask the guy who's had it done.
Thanks

Jamie

 

[Jerry Scott[CO]]

This is a very good question and should be asked of any tuner that offers a turbo or supercharged system. The Viper throws off a lot of excess heat and charging the intake air is going to compound the problem. I have yet to see a charged intake Viper hold together after a few road-track miles in 90 deg. heat. They may work for street driving, but no one has any real data on a road racing track car. This engine is not like the easily replaceable modified Chevy or Ford, thus finding a replacement Viper engine at a reasonable cost is going to get more and more expensive and difficult as time goes on.

 

[Joseph Dell]

So far 7k miles on the system and 10k on the car.
I change the oil myself and have had no engine issues whatsoever.
I drive the car everyday except when it rains hard. It is my prefered daily driver.

I hope this helps!

JD

 

[Bonkers]

I incinerated the tranny on my old Z28 and, tragically, I eventually fried a couple of pistons (rings?) as well. You need to be VERY carefully when SCing any NA motor and would suggest you ignore claims that any SuperC/Turbo is "bolt-on." A couple of friends have boosted (as in forced induction) 5.0 muckstangs that have made it years without problems. If you must get a pump, let the pros do it for you.

 

[TomMiriViper]

I agree, nothing just bolt on about a supercharger or turbo. I'm lucky to be around the corner from DLM. I see them spend hundreds of hours on ONE car for a level I kit. From what I see every car is different and each one has their own air/fuel. Doug says they put one together and the computer shows 14.1 and another will show 11.5 ??? I've got thousands of miles with just basic maintenance on my car and run mine hard. Still love it!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[dbvettez06]

Good question...I am getting my Z06[flame suit on] back from ARE this week...My biggest concern was long term...The blower is not a 12 hour bolt on like some would lead you to believe..The programming that comes with some are vague at best...We have rwhp #s of 510 and rwtq 452.....Still, one of the most cost efficient methods to get some solid #s

 

[MES]

1bad what boost were you running and was it a kit, or custom install on that LT1?

 

[jamie furman]

I have had a supercharged car for over 2 years now without any problems but I would rather have naturally aspirated car for a track car for is linear power delivery and predictability.

 

[GTzViper]

Is a supercharger worth the $$$ if you live at high altitude? Say....5000FT? What kind of gains should I expect if the SC produces 100RWHP at sea level? I think its 3% loss for every 1000FT but would the same apply to the SC ?

 

[Eddie N]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by GTzViper:
Is a supercharger worth the $$$ if you live at high altitude? Say....5000FT? What kind of gains should I expect if the SC produces 100RWHP at sea level? I think its 3% loss for every 1000FT but would the same apply to the SC ?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

from everything ive read, boost is boost, whether its 10 psi at sea level or 10 psi at 3600.. i could be wrong though, but it makes sense..

- eddie -