pro's & con's of a s/c car?
 

I'm looking at buying a car this weekend that is powerdyne supercharged. I have never even driven a s/c car, so I was wondering some of the pro's & con's of a s/c car. How reliable are s/c cars? I've already gotten some input on this, but I would like to get views from different people. BTW- it's a 1993 GT w/97k on it. Thanks, Keith

Have had a Paxton blower on my car for the last 3 years,haven't had a problem yet.

I drove the car down to texas this past summer,a whole 1500 miles to,then 1500 miles back,they can be just as reliable as any other combination,a person just needs to take care of the combination that they have whether it be N/A,nitrous injected or supercharged.

What about other factors...
 

how is the gas mileage affected? How is the longevity of the engine effected? Do you constantly have to re-tune the engine to keep it running? Thanks for any replies!

Gas mileage isn't bad at all,all depends on how much you keep your foot off the "go pedal" if you know what I mean.I've got 3.73's and 5-speed and I can't complain.

For as longevity is concerned,there's many guys running blower combinations with 100,000 miles plus,so I'll let you be the judge of that ;)

There's no need to re-tune a great running combo unless your are changing something within the combo itself to make it run better yet.

s/c motors
 

I run a vortec with 14 lbs boost and aftclr. Even with 4.10 gears I average on the FWY between 19 an 20.5 mpg. I have friends that have similar combinations as mine with 100, 000 miles on the motor and hit the strips at least every other weekend...As long as you have strong internals, you shouldn't have any problem. Besides I think the powerdine is one of the lowest output s/c and the cheapest.They are self oiling , and quiet...at least the ones I have been around. Keep your foot out of it and you mileage will not change. Depending on the style of driving and how many times you like to see boost you can avg. about 8 to 10 mpg.

Mustanguy....
 

What times are you running? How many pounds of boost is your car putting out? How many miles do you have on your car? Thanks, Keith

Keith,

Haven't had time to take the car to the drag-strip,much the same reason I can't seem to find to add my other "toys" to the car due to lack of time as well.

Right now with the pulley I'm running,I'm seeing 6lbs. of boost.When I get "time" I'll be changing pullies to run 8-9lbs of boost.

The mileage on the car now is 51,450 miles. I bought the car with 41,000 miles that was 5 years ago ;)

Bought my wifes car s/c in Arizona, drove a rental to get it then drove back to southeast Texas in it,some 1200 miles, it did great, It's a Vortech, the fuel, spark and exhaust have been upgraded on it and the gas mileage has stayed the same just about, regular oil changes and nothing wrong here yet, we've had it for 9 months now, we bought it with 14K miles on it, we now have 30K on it, we love that car, it's a 95GT by the way, stock everything on the motor, got a trickflow intake with the throttle body adapter in the garage along with some cooler plugs too, just need the time.:rolleyes:

I really think it's all in the tune. I had a custom chip burned for my car on the dyno that not only did wonders for drivability but gave the car a nice safe air-fuel ratio while making good power. So I have just over 6,000 supercharged miles with no problems. I just swapped my head unit though and can't really get on it until the car is retuned on the dyno. That's the same approach I took the first time I put the s/c on, and since the original tune, the car has been the model of reliability. The only thing I had to do was check the tightness of belt and that was it. I also think it depends on the amount of boost, running 6-9psi shouldn't be to much of a problem. I'm running 11+psi now and I starting to become a lot more worried about fuel, timing, and internal issues with pistons and head gaskets.

I'm assuming the Powerdyne on the car you're buying is the belt driven version so there really isn't any maintence with that blower. For those of us running a gear driven blower, oil changes are going to become a bit more frequent.

Good luck.

I have been running boost for 6 years now and I can tell you that once you drive a forced induction car, it is tough to go back to N/A. Superchargers make it possible to have a streetable, affordable engine with power previously reserved only for the high rev, high comp, solid roller, mountain cam engines. As everyone has stated, it is all in the tune. Don't let her go lean, be careful with the smaller pulleys, and maintain your engine well. You will get many years of enjoyment; and when you are ready for more- build a motor designed to handle it, crank up the manifold pressure, add a cooler, chassis and driveline and hang on. Boost is addictive!

Thanks!
 

Thank you all for the responses. I will let you guys know tomorrow whether I'm buying this car. I was also wondering if anyone has a link to a site that teaches about superchargers. Thanks, Keith

I'm buying the car
 

I test drove it on Saturday and was really happy with the car. I will let you guys know what the car can do in the 1/4 mile as soon as I hit the track. Here are the pics I was given.
Take care, Keith

So you bought the car? I've driven supercharged cars, then getting in mine is tough:( I love boost! ~Brian

Another pic
 

pic 2

pic 3
 

another pic!

I am actually buying the car today after work. I already let the seller know I wanted it and signed some of the paperwork. You guys have no idea how happy this will make me again (well maybe some of you know). The mustang in my sig (88) has been in the process of being rebuilt so since I've been on these boards I've been driving a 98 Tacoma. Driving a stang around again will be great. I'll post a better picture when I get the car. Thanks for all the help you guys gave me in deceided to purchase this car, Keith

New toyz!
 

Wahooo!

Looks like a nicely taken care of car too ;)

Congratz on the new toy :D

Thanks
 

Thanks Mustanguy! The interior is in really good condition too, here's a picture of the interior.