I am trying to decide on whether to do heads and a cam, a sc, or a turbo. I have a good idea of how they feel from turbo to sc. I have read some good descriptions on that. How would a comparable hp heads cam car feel at the same hp? I keep changing my mind back and forth from all three. I want a good strong running street car, that I can play with at the track once or twice a year and hopefully put a hurtin' on some of those '03+ cobras. I haven't decided on a hp level yet. I know there will be some pretty big $$ differences. I am just worried about the power curve really. Which type of setup will keep the most power under the curve?

Any opinions?

TIA

 

Ive rode in or drove pretty much all of the above and can honestly say that the turbo application's are awesome. When done right the power curve is really smooth, you can make tons of power when you need it but still be silky smooth for everyday driving and cruising.The only reason i dont have a turbo setup is $$$. I do however have an 85 Grand National and love the way these things react. If you have the money and someone to do the setup and tune then you cant go wrong with a turbo.

 

In order of seat-of-the-pants impressiveness, assuming the same peak power level:

Nitrous
Turbo
N/A
Centrifugal

 

I'd switch N/A and Centrifugal.....I love the constant increasing pull that doesn't start to taper off at the big end. Other than that....that's how I see it as well.

 

I put a 4.5 psi powerdyne on my stock motor and made 340/372 at the wheels. After the ringlands went south, I rebuilt it with a CC306 and stock heads. Made 350/340 at the wheels. With the blower, the front end would really come up and put you in your seat when the boost came on. Power really dropped off at about 5300rpm. Now, the power doesn't hit as hard at first, but it keeps pulling, harder and harder, up till around 6800rpm. I also feel I have a much more reliable setup now. Forced induction on a stock bottom end LT1 wil never last long..

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, but my experience was the opposite. I had an N/A 11/1 383 in a 3rd gen that pulled extremely hard down low and mid, but ran out of pull around 5800 but ran 11.0 at 124. My next combo was a 9/1 355 at 14 psi (non intercooled) from a T-trim that just didn't have the low or mid range torque of the high compression stroker. It also only ran about 2 mph faster even though it made about 60 hp more due to the lack of low/mid.

I prefer a strong bottom-end pull over a linear, smooth powerband.

Mike

 

Right, but I am running a 353ci and a cam that really only makes power in the upper rpms.

 

My turbo ls1 drives like stock (cept for the 3700 stall) and sounds stock thru the stock catback. I went to Discount tire yesterday and the kid who pulled it in to the shop asked why i had all the gauges on a stock car. When I told him it ran 10.3s @ 700 rwhp he thought I was full of ****!! He later digressed after he saw under the hood...incon setup..twin boost activated cutouts etc. So..in summary....drives like stock...but explodes when you floor it. Depends on what you want. h/c sounds very intimidating....s/c has that whistle....turbo is stealthy....all have pros/cons