hey i just bought a 1997 z28 and i want to make 500 horses outta it. what would be the best way? turbo, supercharger, nos, all motor? and i want it to be reliable and to be as cost efficient as possible? and what parts do i need?
thanks
Austin

 

Either way you decide will cost you a shortblock with H beam rods,forged pistons, stock crank can hang and of course the proper machine work..........
Turbo set up will get you there easily with a rear mount
Procharger will get you there Good ported heads,required
Nitrous will take you there good ported heads will help a lot
N/A well you need a great bottom end and great heads,generally AFRs fully ported with a good size solid roller cam and a BUTT load of tuning...................355 w/ 12.1+ comp. 383-386 cid or a 396" will need to happen....If you plan to drive it around alot I would suggest procharger or turbo with 355-385 inches
Its gonna be a money,plan and research venture for you however entirely doable goal

 

How much power have you driven in the past?

 

Are you looking for 500HP at the flywheel, or at the rear wheels? If at the rear wheels, do you have an automatic or manual transmission?

 

Injuneer has asked the right initial questions. There is a pretty big difference between 500 at the flywheel, and 500 at the tires.

Start out being realistic - How much money can you really afford to spend on the whole project ? Besides the engine itself, you need to have the supporting systems in place as well. At a minimum, these will include fuel pump & injectors, computer tuning, and headers & exhaust. Then you need to determine what kind of driveability you can tolerate. This is just the beginning of the process if you want to do it right.

 

It takes lots of $$$$$ don't forget about the trans/converter if its a A4, clutch if M6, 10 bolt isn't going to live long at 500 hp, better start thinking about suspension upgrades and some sub frame connectors, There is a laundry list of bolt ons and upgrades that need to be done when you get to those numbers. Do research lots and lots of it.

 

The reason I asked how much power he had driven is a lot of folks get a number in their head without any idea what that actually translates to from the driver's seat. Let's be realistic, if 500hp is used well it will cause an f-body to need a rollbar at the track, not many folks are willing or can afford to do that to their car.

 

Personally i'd take a 350hp car that can accelerate faster than a 500hp dyno queen