Super Vs Turbo

MaForrest · January 30, 2010

in about 50,000 miles, I will be rebuilding my 5.7L out of my '97 Sierra. I have been thinking about a few ways I could go about increasing my power since I am always towing my boats or jeep or my Ranger when it breaks down. My choises are to build the motor up, rebuild it stock and get a supercharger for it, or rebuild it with forged pistons and rods and turbo it. I am wanting to gain at least 100 hp more then what I have now. I got some time to save my money for all this so I would like to hear from anyone who has anything to say about all 3 options. Thanks.

gregrocks89 · January 30, 2010

i wouldnt mind if i could find a turbo for my gm. but i was told turbo is the way to go all depending what you do with your truck. And this is what i was told, if you drive down dusty roads and if you take your truck mudding the supercharger will do no good. Just cuase it will collect more shit. I dunno whether that is true not just what i was told.

MaForrest · January 31, 2010

i wouldnt mind if i could find a turbo for my gm. but i was told turbo is the way to go all depending what you do with your truck. And this is what i was told, if you drive down dusty roads and if you take your truck mudding the supercharger will do no good. Just cuase it will collect more shit. I dunno whether that is true not just what i was told.

Well that makes good scence to me. You figure a supercharger or turbo will be sucking in as much extra air as it is pushing into your motor so ya, that is a good point. If I do decide to go either of those routes, i will be making certain that I get the highest quality air filter I can find and make sure I clean it at least once a week. Where I live is mainly agriculture and is always dusty from plowed fields and other farm stuff. Thanks for the insite.

Nytemare · January 31, 2010

i wouldnt mind if i could find a turbo for my gm. but i was told turbo is the way to go all depending what you do with your truck. And this is what i was told, if you drive down dusty roads and if you take your truck mudding the supercharger will do no good. Just cuase it will collect more shit. I dunno whether that is true not just what i was told.

Well that makes good scence to me. You figure a supercharger or turbo will be sucking in as much extra air as it is pushing into your motor so ya, that is a good point. If I do decide to go either of those routes, i will be making certain that I get the highest quality air filter I can find and make sure I clean it at least once a week. Where I live is mainly agriculture and is always dusty from plowed fields and other farm stuff. Thanks for the insite.

Guys....both have filters on them.

A supercharger is a much more direct fit item. It sits on the engine, in place of the intake manifold and pushes air in to the heads....no charge pipes no front mounted cooler....etc....ofcourse thats a roots style blower.

Turbo is capable of producing much more power...but you have to route the charge pipes, mount the inter-cooler...etc.

For your power goals, either would do...a supercharger is more expensive than a turbo...but much less to think about...you will need to leave the truck idling to let the turbo spool down after a run on the highway, or after you have been gassing it, this can be accomplished by the use of a turbo timer...turbos are also famous for over-boosting in part throttle situations (creates more boost than you need...this is not good for your engine).

If you are looking for 100 more ponies I would suggest building a higher compression engine, 11:1, with a nice high torque RV cam. It will be a whole bunch cheaper than building a low-compression engine for boost purposes and buying some sort of a huffer to blow air in it.

Actually a better suggestion is go get a Crate motor from GM...A HT383 smallblock...its made to drop right in your truck and accept your stock intake and fuel system. It comes with 340HP and 435ft-lbs of torque. This is almost exactly 100 more on the hp and torque numbers you have now...and it comes with a warranty 24 months/50K miles. Its got all the forged internals you will need to do with your truck, and it runs on pump gas...87 octane. A little tune for 93 octane and you'll probably be looking at a few more HP/Ft-lbs.

Its 5300 bucks on summit racing.

gregrocks89 · January 31, 2010

hmm didnt know that. all i knew is just what i was told as mentioned before

here is a link to a 383 http://www.jegs.com/i/GM+Performance/809/17800393/10002/-1

Nytemare · January 31, 2010

hmm didnt know that. all i knew is just what i was told as mentioned before

here is a link to a 383 http://www.jegs.com/i/GM+Performance/809/17800393/10002/-1

yup thats the one I'm talkin about....same price as at Summit.

I would check with your local parts department first though...sometimes they can actually get them cheaper than Jegs or Summit sells them for...I know I can get a 502 Ramjet for 9000 CAD...Jegs sells them for 10K USD

ybsane · January 31, 2010

i wouldnt mind if i could find a turbo for my gm. but i was told turbo is the way to go all depending what you do with your truck. And this is what i was told, if you drive down dusty roads and if you take your truck mudding the supercharger will do no good. Just cuase it will collect more shit. I dunno whether that is true not just what i was told.

Well that makes good scence to me. You figure a supercharger or turbo will be sucking in as much extra air as it is pushing into your motor so ya, that is a good point. If I do decide to go either of those routes, i will be making certain that I get the highest quality air filter I can find and make sure I clean it at least once a week. Where I live is mainly agriculture and is always dusty from plowed fields and other farm stuff. Thanks for the insite.

Guys....both have filters on them.

A supercharger is a much more direct fit item. It sits on the engine, in place of the intake manifold and pushes air in to the heads....no charge pipes no front mounted cooler....etc....ofcourse thats a roots style blower.

Turbo is capable of producing much more power...but you have to route the charge pipes, mount the inter-cooler...etc.

For your power goals, either would do...a supercharger is more expensive than a turbo...but much less to think about...you will need to leave the truck idling to let the turbo spool down after a run on the highway, or after you have been gassing it, this can be accomplished by the use of a turbo timer...turbos are also famous for over-boosting in part throttle situations (creates more boost than you need...this is not good for your engine).

If you are looking for 100 more ponies I would suggest building a higher compression engine, 11:1, with a nice high torque RV cam. It will be a whole bunch cheaper than building a low-compression engine for boost purposes and buying some sort of a huffer to blow air in it.

Actually a better suggestion is go get a Crate motor from GM...A HT383 smallblock...its made to drop right in your truck and accept your stock intake and fuel system. It comes with 340HP and 435ft-lbs of torque. This is almost exactly 100 more on the hp and torque numbers you have now...and it comes with a warranty 24 months/50K miles. Its got all the forged internals you will need to do with your truck, and it runs on pump gas...87 octane. A little tune for 93 octane and you'll probably be looking at a few more HP/Ft-lbs.

Its 5300 bucks on summit racing.

Aiden good suggestion on the 383.... Also don't forget with a stroker motor they are not designed for high reving horse-power but low end grunt. Besides having more Hp/Tq than the stock motor the amount of torque these motors put out will be at a lower RPM than the factory motor. This is ideal for towing, plus it will give you instant throttle reponse at low RPM's too.

The Super charger/Turbo idea is good also but I think for the cost and overall gain, plus day-day reliability the 383 motor would be the best. Especially if you get a custom tune for it, who ever programs it can dial it for your needs real well.

Rob

MaForrest · January 31, 2010

Ya I like the 383 idea. Lot less of a headache and all in all will be cheaper then rebuilding my stock motor and spending the money to turbo or supercharge it. And I know the difference between the two but I didn't know if there were any " Why not to turbo or why not to supercharge" reasons. I appreciate everyones advise. Now with that 383 and my stock fuel and air supplies, while getting a custom tune as well, has anyone heard of the round about MPG these engines are getting??

Nytemare · February 1, 2010

Ya I like the 383 idea. Lot less of a headache and all in all will be cheaper then rebuilding my stock motor and spending the money to turbo or supercharge it. And I know the difference between the two but I didn't know if there were any " Why not to turbo or why not to supercharge" reasons. I appreciate everyones advise. Now with that 383 and my stock fuel and air supplies, while getting a custom tune as well, has anyone heard of the round about MPG these engines are getting??

It should be very comparable to what your getting now with an un-tuned 5.7L...they are made to be an upgrade to the 5.7 and be emmisions legal, so I would say you should get the same economy.

The extra grunt you will have, and being that you will have it tuned and dialed in properly, you will probably gain 1 or 2 MPG, and a whole lot more drive-ability.

If you have a TBI engine in your truck now, upgrade to a set of 454 SS injectors...they will give you a little more fuel to play with.

MaForrest · February 1, 2010

quote]

It should be very comparable to what your getting now with an un-tuned 5.7L...they are made to be an upgrade to the 5.7 and be emmisions legal, so I would say you should get the same economy.

The extra grunt you will have, and being that you will have it tuned and dialed in properly, you will probably gain 1 or 2 MPG, and a whole lot more drive-ability.

If you have a TBI engine in your truck now, upgrade to a set of 454 SS injectors...they will give you a little more fuel to play with.

I have the mpi in my truck with that stupid fuel spider thing under the intake. And right now i am getting 9.8 on average, mainly due to my front end being all out of whack and dragging those front tires every which way. When everything is tight and good to go, i avg between 13.7 with alot of town driving and 15 on flat freeway. So if i can keep them numbers with an extra 90hp from the 383, that sounds like the way to do it. Also, is there a way to change the injectors out on my motor? Being as it dont have the external fuel rails with the injectors and its not a TBI, i was wondering how I could go about upping the fuel going to the motor. Do they sell a bigger spider for the truck?

Nytemare · February 3, 2010

quote]
It should be very comparable to what your getting now with an un-tuned 5.7L...they are made to be an upgrade to the 5.7 and be emmisions legal, so I would say you should get the same economy.

The extra grunt you will have, and being that you will have it tuned and dialed in properly, you will probably gain 1 or 2 MPG, and a whole lot more drive-ability.

If you have a TBI engine in your truck now, upgrade to a set of 454 SS injectors...they will give you a little more fuel to play with.

I have the mpi in my truck with that stupid fuel spider thing under the intake. And right now i am getting 9.8 on average, mainly due to my front end being all out of whack and dragging those front tires every which way. When everything is tight and good to go, i avg between 13.7 with alot of town driving and 15 on flat freeway. So if i can keep them numbers with an extra 90hp from the 383, that sounds like the way to do it. Also, is there a way to change the injectors out on my motor? Being as it dont have the external fuel rails with the injectors and its not a TBI, i was wondering how I could go about upping the fuel going to the motor. Do they sell a bigger spider for the truck?

I haven't done much with the MPFI 5.7L before. But I would imagine that it would be light years ahead of a TBI truck anyway. I would look into getting a nice tune for it to maximize your fuel efficiency and power...If you do go this route this should be a very nice upgrade...I am really interested to see you do this now.

MaForrest · February 5, 2010

quote]

I haven't done much with the MPFI 5.7L before. But I would imagine that it would be light years ahead of a TBI truck anyway. I would look into getting a nice tune for it to maximize your fuel efficiency and power...If you do go this route this should be a very nice upgrade...I am really interested to see you do this now.

Lol well I cant wait either. First thing first, I got to get it into the shop to get that front end re-done and then I will be looking into that engine. (Also, this way I have a spare long block 350 I can start bolting up in the ranger) I will be sure to post as many pics of the front end being done as well as pics and videos of the motor...like before and after 0-60s and maybe some 0-60's towing my jeep or somthing. I might also do a little before and after articulation shots of her once I get that d44 and skyjackers bolted under her.

Nytemare · February 7, 2010

I haven't done much with the MPFI 5.7L before. But I would imagine that it would be light years ahead of a TBI truck anyway. I would look into getting a nice tune for it to maximize your fuel efficiency and power...If you do go this route this should be a very nice upgrade...I am really interested to see you do this now.

Lol well I cant wait either. First thing first, I got to get it into the shop to get that front end re-done and then I will be looking into that engine. (Also, this way I have a spare long block 350 I can start bolting up in the ranger) I will be sure to post as many pics of the front end being done as well as pics and videos of the motor...like before and after 0-60s and maybe some 0-60's towing my jeep or somthing. I might also do a little before and after articulation shots of her once I get that d44 and skyjackers bolted under her.

Yeah man...a stock-ish rebuild on a 350 would be nice in your ranger...

Yeah...make sure the pics and videos keep comming....I am very interested in how this turns out.

MaForrest · February 7, 2010

I think so. I mean the poor truck came stock with a breath taking 90hp. So i think even a stock 350 with the 255hp will be a very nice upgrade. And I will make sure to post those pics and videos as soon as I get the funds to take her in. Im going to talk to a GM motor place next week so I will keep you posted on what they tell me.

Nytemare · February 8, 2010

I think so. I mean the poor truck came stock with a breath taking 90hp. So i think even a stock 350 with the 255hp will be a very nice upgrade. And I will make sure to post those pics and videos as soon as I get the funds to take her in. Im going to talk to a GM motor place next week so I will keep you posted on what they tell me.

Yeah...talk to a few places....like I said...jegs and summit are around the 3200 mark...you may get one cheaper from a dealership. Shop around.