I own a 1991 with about every upgrade available. purchased from original owner a few years ago. It once had 698hp to the wheels. I purchased after a the motor lost a cylinder and replaced with a factory oem motor all stock and well built. Still has the header ecu etc. I am in need of more hp. I prefer keeping it reliable and only drive 1000 or so miles per year. Do I supercharge or turbo and what is the best product? I appreciate any input. I am in central florida if anyone knows of a shop nearby specializing in nsx
supercharger vs turbo
- Thread starter civilremedy
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The general consensus is to maintain stock engine reliability one should stay no more than 350-400wHP. Anything above that has an exponential affect on reliability. The unofficial longest track record IMHO of reliable setups is the Comptech supercharger. I believe that's because it's a modest bump to power and most guys that go turbo reach for higher output. My guess is a turbo setup that is well built, tuned well, relatively low torque comparable to the CTSC will achieve the same reliability levels. it's too bad the layout of our motors can't take advantage of a twin scroll setup as easily. Lots of guys here can provide input on a turbo setup like [MENTION=12356]Mac Attack[/MENTION], [MENTION=25419]Valhalla[/MENTION] and many others. I've never had a turbo setup but many years on the CTSC.
The CTSC is your best bet for cost and reliability. I have one...and it's ok.
Turbos are complex, expensive, and hot (bakes everything on the point of failure, eventually). Lots of HP though.
Turbos are complex, expensive, and hot (bakes everything on the point of failure, eventually). Lots of HP though.
side note: [MENTION=5430]drew[/MENTION] - dude!! Are you back in the NSX game? Holy shit.. you moved to NZ???
First Class Auto is your shop for the CFL area.
Any blower with less than 400rwhp and the proper tune and supporting mods.... especially a good ECU can be very reliable power.
Issue with most turbos is the sudden surge of power that can wreck 3rd gear. Ask [MENTION=4034]Coz[/MENTION]
Issue with most turbos is the sudden surge of power that can wreck 3rd gear. Ask [MENTION=4034]Coz[/MENTION]
I’m biased. Turbo for sure unless you’re in CA due to their laws.
What would you say the supporting mods ought to be? Injectors? ECU for sure. I am sure headers. Anything else?
I kind of hate the supercharger noises. Especially the grumble at idle but also the whine under load. I do like the added torque and the flat torque curve. I wonder if the drivetrain stress with a turbo also has a lot to do with overall torque level. Would a ~400-425 whp turbo put undue stress on the transmission? I know nearly nobody with a turbo limits the power to that level but it’s got to be a huge factor.
The NSX is Speed Density, the OEM ECU doesn't like added volume at the high end of the RPM range.
The CTSC adds a bit of low-end torque for cheap and easy. I drove with one for years in California. Personally, I don't think it was worth all the time and money; it really didn't add all that much...but then again I drove like an old man long before I got old.
I don't like turbo's: I prefer immediate low end torque to deal with traffic in CA. Require a lot of plumbing. And the heat just kills every soft or plastic part in the engine compartment. And custom management. I had a FD R1 and no more turbo's for me again. I prefer low end reliabilty over high end complexity.
/Yeah, New Zealand. It gives California an equal standing for inane vehicle regulation. It's a neat place to raise the kids...
The CTSC adds a bit of low-end torque for cheap and easy. I drove with one for years in California. Personally, I don't think it was worth all the time and money; it really didn't add all that much...but then again I drove like an old man long before I got old.
I don't like turbo's: I prefer immediate low end torque to deal with traffic in CA. Require a lot of plumbing. And the heat just kills every soft or plastic part in the engine compartment. And custom management. I had a FD R1 and no more turbo's for me again. I prefer low end reliabilty over high end complexity.
/Yeah, New Zealand. It gives California an equal standing for inane vehicle regulation. It's a neat place to raise the kids...
with a blower headers totally help.
yes, injectors. I have the ones for the SOS SC kit that can handle that power for pump that I may be selling.
BBSC throws the air and doesn't really warrant an IC since it doesn't heat the air up much.
u can do a Driving Ambition IC that fits the SOS SC and/or meth/water injection.
and also flex fuel, but it sucks for a daily used car since cold starts suck and MPGs suffer.
My car started life as NA but soon the urge for more power came as I was spending more time on the track.
The Comptech supercharger seemed the natural choice and it worked fine on the street.
It was like increasing the engine capacity to 3.5L vs the OEM 3.0L.
The big disappointment came on the track when after a couple of rounds I would loose 3 sec per lap due to heat soak.
After selling the CTSC, I bought the LoveFab turbo setup.
This was like day and night compared to the supercharger.
I must be getting about 400 rwhp and the car is most reliable even after doing many track days.
The only issue is that you are moving in a totally different category that requires proper brakes, proper cooling and with no catalytic converters it smells pretty bad.
Nonetheless it makes you discover a new car alltogether.
The Comptech supercharger seemed the natural choice and it worked fine on the street.
It was like increasing the engine capacity to 3.5L vs the OEM 3.0L.
The big disappointment came on the track when after a couple of rounds I would loose 3 sec per lap due to heat soak.
After selling the CTSC, I bought the LoveFab turbo setup.
This was like day and night compared to the supercharger.
I must be getting about 400 rwhp and the car is most reliable even after doing many track days.
The only issue is that you are moving in a totally different category that requires proper brakes, proper cooling and with no catalytic converters it smells pretty bad.
Nonetheless it makes you discover a new car alltogether.
anyone thought about trying one of these? https://torqamp.com/
I went for the SOS supercharger over the the turbo for a couple of reasons.
The Comptech Autorotor SC has so many miles of reliability here on prime and also provides that instant throttle response that turbo's often don't provide.
My previous high performace car was a Mazda RX7 with a 13b turbo engine and although i loved that engine (and it was probably the smoothest high revving engine i've ever driven), i love the instant torque without lag from the NSX SOS SC.
To me it feels like the car isn't a forced induction car!!
Just pure power all through the rev range.
Sure the turbo will be a quicker set up but it will always have that artificial boost feel, compared to the SC that feels like you've got a chunky V8 in the back.
Just my opinion.
The Comptech Autorotor SC has so many miles of reliability here on prime and also provides that instant throttle response that turbo's often don't provide.
My previous high performace car was a Mazda RX7 with a 13b turbo engine and although i loved that engine (and it was probably the smoothest high revving engine i've ever driven), i love the instant torque without lag from the NSX SOS SC.
To me it feels like the car isn't a forced induction car!!
Just pure power all through the rev range.
Sure the turbo will be a quicker set up but it will always have that artificial boost feel, compared to the SC that feels like you've got a chunky V8 in the back.
Just my opinion.
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As with anything in life, FI is a series of compromises. If you are looking for plug and play (for the most part) a low boost CTSC checks many boxes. But if you are looking for more power than the stock OEM setup, and let's face it, if you are looking into SC or turbo you ARE looking for more than a little more power, you are looking at high boost SC or turbo(s). More power requires more safeguards to make sure your car stays together. You will be looking at control over your ECU or going stand alone. You will be require to rework your fuel management with larger injectors and possibly a fuel pump with more capacity. You will want to add some type of cooling to the charge air or suffer heat soak or worse. You are going to want to install a system that monitors all of this and safeguards your engine, Going FI is not for the faint of heart and will cost some money.
There are many proven systems out there and reliability has greatly improved with better understanding of the different options and better equipment available. A lot of my friends are very happy with their CTSC and around 350 to 400 rwhp. But the whine, constant boost and fuel consumption, and heat soak were factors that steered me toward turbos.
For those seeking big power, the fad was for a big single turbo. This would put tremendous pressure upon engine and transmission parts that the stock NSX drivetrain was not engineered to handle. That is why we have heard/read of some catastrophic failures. But knowing the compromises and planning to minimize the cons, will point you in the right direction. I wanted more power than what the CTSC could produce. I also wanted it to be bulletproof and not have to worry about having to tune it every time I turned around. So I went with two smaller turbos, stand alone engine management and water to air intercooler to keep the charge air under control. I have torque, horsepower and I don't have to fiddle with it. And the power is very predictable with no noticeable lag at lower rpm's. Is it a V-8? No. But it is very fast and predictable and it will stay together for a long time.
There are many proven systems out there and reliability has greatly improved with better understanding of the different options and better equipment available. A lot of my friends are very happy with their CTSC and around 350 to 400 rwhp. But the whine, constant boost and fuel consumption, and heat soak were factors that steered me toward turbos.
For those seeking big power, the fad was for a big single turbo. This would put tremendous pressure upon engine and transmission parts that the stock NSX drivetrain was not engineered to handle. That is why we have heard/read of some catastrophic failures. But knowing the compromises and planning to minimize the cons, will point you in the right direction. I wanted more power than what the CTSC could produce. I also wanted it to be bulletproof and not have to worry about having to tune it every time I turned around. So I went with two smaller turbos, stand alone engine management and water to air intercooler to keep the charge air under control. I have torque, horsepower and I don't have to fiddle with it. And the power is very predictable with no noticeable lag at lower rpm's. Is it a V-8? No. But it is very fast and predictable and it will stay together for a long time.
only whats on their website, they were at SEMA tho
they have boosted a Prelude with great results, it should work its basically a turbo but does not run off exhaust gases but battery and those new batteries pump out some power without all the associated heat issues
they have boosted a Prelude with great results, it should work its basically a turbo but does not run off exhaust gases but battery and those new batteries pump out some power without all the associated heat issues
It's a clever design but will only generate less than 6 pounds of boost and certainly can't keep up once above 4500rpm in most applications. Add in the initial cost, VAT, shipping and possible stand alone engine management and you are probably better off going with a low boost CTSC.
I appreciate the input. I am on many cars and have owned this NSX about three or four years. I have used this site and posted one other time regarding finding and evaporator. The responses are much appreciated and come from knowledgeable people in regarding the NSX. The NSX is one of my favorite cars and one I bought from the original owner. It has every upgrade imaginable other than the replaced OEM motor. After reading every response, I may keep it as it is. When I read the various threads and compare them to other threads for the various cars I own, I see where the NSX is a special car.
What ever you do, whether it's turbo, supercharged or naturally aspirated, it all means one thing.
A hell of a lot of fun!
Sometimes i wish i had 3 NSX's.
One supercharged, one turbocharged and one high revving naturally aspirated beast.
Go with your gut and your budget.
There all good choices.
I've got the SOS twin turbo with probably everything they sell in their catalog. I used to have the BBSC which was a cool enough setup. Cheap, fast, reliable. You need to pick two. I've had just about zero problems with maybe 40k on my SOS turbo system. it's been the cat's ass.
It does look interesting. It is half of an F1 MGU-H, minus the turbine. I think the idea of an electrically driven compressor was tried back in the 80s. Reliability was the issue, as well as the need for variable compression.
With today's variable frequency drive controllers, I would believe it would be very tunable, and also controllable boost. Have 1 or 2 psi of boost all the time (off idle) with an smooth increase as the rpms grow.
For less than $5,000, it would be a good try. Without a turbo, it would imagine heat (and the need for an intercooler) would be less.
At the end of the day, its a supercharger.
I am also looking at making this same decision soon and had settled on turbos but reliability is a definite concern. With meth injection limiting heat soak things should work great for low boost correct? My concern is always the transmission and seeing where the torque limits are in danger of breaking components. The torque is really what I am always after but don't want to deal with constant breakage. I have enough to maintain!
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