Which gives you more bang for your buck: nitrous or a supercharger?
I know that there is a major price difference between nitrous and a supercharger but which is really worth it? I have been looking in to Procharger but have also been thinking about nitrous lately. Which one is less abusive to the engine? And which one would you guys say is more "user friendly" as far as the instal and everyday use? That seems a lot to ask in a single post but I really appreciate your responses. Thanks a lot and Happy Holidays.
First of all you need to think about what you want to use your car for. Is it a just a daily driver that you want to run and gun occasionally, say friday night on the strip, or at the weekend drags? Or do you want on demand power all the time?? With Nitrous there is some prep involved, so you wouldnt neccassarily have your HP boost on demand. With a supercharger you have it all the time. Yes it costs a lot more, and depending on your driving habits I would suppose that it could be somewhat harder on your motor. But, I have read of cars going over 100,000 with a supercharger and having no problems. And that power is always there. Depending on what size NOS shot you use the amount of power added by the SC and the NOS wil be close to the same. But you can adjust your PSI with pulley swaps and such. Yuwissh is a moderator here and he is very knowledgable on the pros and cons of both. Ask him, he can tell you a lot more than I can. Personally I am going with a supercharger this summer just because I want the power on demand. Good luck. Jeff
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'97 GT with 80mm C&L MAF, C<rue-Flow CAI, MAC 70mm TB, Superchip, 180 thermo, B&M Ripper, King Cobra Clutch, FRPP aluminum quad/adj cable, MAC O/R H pipe, MIL's, Flows, Granatelli Solid control arms, FRPP 4.10's, FRPP aluminum driveshaft, Fidanza aluminum flywheel, FRPP 9mm wires, TMD aluminum U/D pulleys, Steeda full length SFC's (welded in), and 17" polished aluminum Cobra wheels with Nitto 555 Extremes, Kenwood/Alpine sound. Waiting for install: PI intake.
With a good nitrous set up it would take you about 8 to 10 years to spend as much money as a Supercharger cost! This is if you only use the nitrous at the track 20 to 30 times a season-like I plan on doing.
Also you don't have to worry as much about getting caught in the rain(have you ever driven a supercharged Mustang in the rain?).
I have a 125 shot on my car and love it.....purging next to riced out hondas makes my day! I won't lie though, if I had the money for a supercharger, I would have a Vortech whistling away!!
Jules
I am only planning on racing on the occasional weekend so I don't really need the power on demand. However I would like it when I am sitting at a light next to some Honda that sounds like a stupid go-cart.
Another thing that I worry about with an SC is spending all that money for one and having detonation problems. Is that a valid concern?
If the're set up right niether will have problems. If I were you I would look at a nitrous setup with its own fuel supply. 100hp shot will be nice.
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Black,79 Mustang mostly carbon fiber/kevlar body, M-2300-k brake kit, full roll cage, maximum motorsport suspension, custom geared 6 speed, 2 inch rear fender flares, 1 inch front, motor being built (no eta). Looks like the Mad Max interseptor and weighs about 1800lbs w/o motor (450hp 351w installed to move the car around)
Black, 82 Capri RS 5.0L, B303, 1.7 rockers, World 180 heads, +150hp N.O.S, Turbo coupe rear end, T-56(tremec tko would be beter), 80 cobra nose
nitrous, if not properly tuned for, will cause nice little dents in your pistons and damage to the bearings, plus you ave to constantly fill up the tank
Stever75007 i have had nitrous on my 97 and i was shoting a 150 shot, most people will tell you go with a 100 shot but believe me the minute you get beat by someone we must go bigger, nitrous was excellent i have no complaint's about it if that is what you can afford do it, it was awesome, as for the supercharger there is no comparison, once you've ridden in one you will say WOW, but then again it is a lot more money, i believe everyone on this web site should have one and i know everyone would want a supercharger, they are just pricey. As for the install both are relatively easy, i can hook up the Nitrous dry system kit #5171 in about 5 to 6 hours, the Supercharger i have now with the 3-core intercooler about 8 to 10 hours, in my garage with common garage tools nothing special needed. Stever if you have any other question's feel free to P.M. me. Thanks Mark.
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1997 Mustang G.T.= Mustang Monthly's June 2003 issue. Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, January 2004's Issue on the Cover. Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords 2004 Calendar, November is our Month. Also May 2005's issue of Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, feature article on the Vertical Door install, and a 2006 Calender feature for Kimball studios due out in January 2006.
Well I've been using a blower set up for about 3 years now and I love it. I had a Vortech on a stock motor and a few other minor bolt ons and it ran high 12's at 5280 altitude in Denver. Now I have a completely built racing motor that was entirely built for a blower set up, running 11's. The only problem I had running a blower on a stock motor was I tried to run to much boost for a stock motor, 14#'s, and blew three sets of head gaskets in one summer. You need to go conservative with a stock set up, 10#'s max is my suggestion unless you have an intercooler. I was overspining my blower therfore getting alot of hotter air and it caused major detonation. Also if you go with aftermarket heads you want to get them o-ringed, it's well worth it. So my opinion, blowers are the way to go, in the long run you won't be spending money refiling a bottle and worring about blowing your motor or melting some pistons or leaning out. Blowers, you always have the power at the touch of a pedal. Good luck!
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89GT
Completely built 306, Vortech S-trim
Slicks are just band- aids....try doing it on Drag Radials!!!
Of course one other option you have is to build a motor that will give you that 75 to 100 HP gain a Supercharger might get you and forget about both power adders. I ran N2O on my 65 Coupe with a Jacobs Controller. The arming switch and remote bottle opener and controller were mounted in the glove box (hiddedn), but I very rarely used it on the street. It would just blow the tires off the car. Either way you go, a nitrous motor should be built with certain components made for its use. and a blower motor usually begins as a low compression motor so more boost can be used. With nitrous compression ratio is really not a concern, as long as you use the proper fuels.
Lastly, if it is putting "little dents in your pistons, and wearing out your bearings" it isn't set up right.
If I can run a supercharger on a basically stock engine then I think that is the way I am going to go. I'm a college student so money is a major factor. But I would rather have the one time expense of a supercharger than always have to keep speding money on re-filling the bottle and all that. Plus I like the idea of power on demand. Will I have any problems running a supercharger with an AOD tranny? I really appreciate everyone's input. Thanks!
In that case you are probably right. It dawned on me early that if I was going to run nitrous, it would be cheaper for me to own my own refill station. It paid for itself in about 3 months and now it only costs me $1.75 per pound. Of course I also sell it for $3.50 per pound. Little extra business and pocket money pays for the racing.
Originally posted by Stever75007 Plus you have to admit that nothing looks tougher under the hood than a polished supercharger.
You shouldn't have any problem with a blower on a stock motor, just keep the boost conservative. If you want to see a killer blower set up, check out my pictures in the members gallery(blown89stang). Good luck!
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89GT
Completely built 306, Vortech S-trim
Slicks are just band- aids....try doing it on Drag Radials!!!
Both things can be equally damaging, but it's going to be easier to cause that damage with nitrous, because you're injecting liquid oxygen...burns uncontrollably in some conditions.
If you can afford, I say go pick yourself up a Novi 2000 from Paxton, bolt that big-un on there, and enjoy the whine...higher power levels are going to be attainable more easily with a blower than it would with nitrous. Just a thought.
But i'm still a nitrous guy myself. Weight breaks rule.
Which gives you more bang for your buck: nitrous or a supercharger? 
Stever75007 i have had nitrous on my 97 and i was shoting a 150 shot, most people will tell you go with a 100 shot but believe me the minute you get beat by someone we must go bigger, nitrous was excellent i have no complaint's about it if that is what you can afford do it, it was awesome, as for the supercharger there is no comparison, once you've ridden in one you will say WOW, but then again it is a lot more money, i believe everyone on this web site should have one and i know everyone would want a supercharger, they are just pricey. As for the install both are relatively easy, i can hook up the Nitrous dry system kit #5171 in about 5 to 6 hours, the Supercharger i have now with the 3-core intercooler about 8 to 10 hours, in my garage with common garage tools nothing special needed. Stever if you have any other question's feel free to P.M. me. Thanks Mark.
Weight breaks rule. 
