Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragoneye
Never any flaming here.  
Tell that to the people who made the ZR1 Corvette. It's got an Eaton roots supercharger. (which is the same unit Magnacharger sells in their kits.)  The very newest generation is nearly if not as efficient as Turbos.
Admittedly, I've never owned either. But nearly everyone I've talked to who has says that they loved their Pro Charger until they replaced it with something else (like a Maggie). The power delivery is smooth and linear, but slow. Slow because you don't make advertised boost, and therefore advertised power until redline. Kinda...harsh on the engine, if you ask me. Many consider centrifugal-style blowers to be belt-driven, fake turbochargers, and therefore inferior units.
I think any added power is good, and a helluvalot of fun. But centrifugal delievery of it would be last on my list. (imo) |
Gm has to use what they own (eaton). The problem is heat soak form being made of metal, and being mounted to th top of the engine. Heat rises, metal obsorbs heat, transfers heat to air. Now when you compress air, the air becomes super heated from being compressed, so the air needs to be cooled to maintain performance and less prone to detonation. Now you have a heater core mounted inside the metal magnisun intake manifold to try and cool the air. The problem is, the intercooler (heater core), is heat soaked buy the engine, rendering it almost useless. This is why people use the methanol to try and reduce the heat soak.
Don't listen if you want, I have worked with these, and simular units for years. Yes the maggys give instant boost, but also inlet air temperatures of 180+ degrees. If you research the mustang, GTP, and other forums for cars that run these SC, you will see that people have made more hp, run faster times, with both centrifical SC and turbos on the same cars.
Now as far as a centrifugal SC, you can run more boost safely. The engine is most prone to detonation at peak torque. The higher you rev and engine, the safer it is to run more boost. This is because at higher RPM's the valve isn't open as long, so there is lees time to fill the cylinder, resulting in lower cylinder pressure. Also I have seen more hp and tq down low at lower boost levels due to cooler inlet air temps.
The centrifugal and the maggy's are belt driven (fake turbos).
Turbos are known to make the most HP per cubic inch, but there is some lag. I have race LS cars for over 10 years with all different set ups. I have raced NA stock cube, strokers, NOS, SC, and turbo. I can tell you first hand that the maggys are crap, ProChargers are ok, but theres nothing like turbos. You want driveabilty, reliability, TQ and HP to go fast in a heavy car, Turbos will all ways be the best bet. No belt slippage that both the maggy and all SC have when trying to make real power. The maggys are very asy to install, but it's about spending money wisely to get the best performance. BTW the APS turbo systems typically take about 40+ hours to install, but well worth it.
I will be fabricating my own system on the camaro, but will wait until next winter. I want to play while most don't have the car and it's rare to see. It will take me about 100-150 hours to build, but I will enjoy the project.