My name is Rick and I'm quite new to forums. I myself own a 2002 Z06(daily driver) and a 1997 Turbo Camaro(toy). I know, I know - probably cars you guys don't like. However, my best friend just recently purchased a 2005 Suzuka Blue S2000, and we plan on doing some work to it within the month. But...this car is very different from my experience, so I turn to you gentleman.

If questions I ask have already been discussed, than please just throw the link my way.

1) I personally am a turbo guy, however, I think this low torque F22 engine would benefit more from a S/C. I haven't found an twin screw designs, so are the Centrifugal designs the only way to go? Also, back to my original wonder, IS a S/C a better idea than a turbo? We are aiming for about 400rwhp, which we have generally been told is not anti-ideal.

2) What are the weakpoints on the 2005 S2000? After making previously mentioned power, what will need to be upgraded? I'm guessing the clutch and axles.

Thank you for your time,
Rick

PS: Here's a picture of his car. All we've done to it thus far are coilovers.



Tried using search but weird things were popping up. :/

 

On the turbo vs SC thing, you'll get a lot of different opinions.

A turbo is going to give the best gains...if you can get it working, as it will give a good bit more low-end and midrange torque. There are less kits, and the most popular (Greddy) isn't really a good kit as it is pretty much tapped out at 320whp and has not-so-great components. Others like Inlinepro are great but more expensive. Tuning a 11:1 compression motor for a turbo isn't easy. You basically WILL need a standalone ECU.

The supercharger kits, especially with lower boost (~300whp) are considered turn-key reliable. They don't build boost much down low so the 11:1 comp ratio works really well with them.

There's one kit with an Eaton M62, but the company is out of business, and the kit is limited on the high end. The Centrifugal kits (5 of them at my last count) are pretty much the most popular. There are 3 Paxton and 2 Rotrex kits. The Paxton kits at least are not too difficult to put in, and can run off the stock ECU up to about 6psi (280-310whp). Going with a standalone ECU an injectors, these kits can do 400whp and above.

Weaknesses? On a 2005 nothing under the hood really. The block is strong, and the internals are forged. The clutch will go pretty quick, so it should be upgraded. The differential isn't the strongest. It stands up pretty well to non-abuse, but a full-on launch from a dead stop will strain it pretty bad (the diff unit is good, the casing not so much). To upgrade that you can go all-out and get a different diff alltogether, or have a stock one upgraded. The transmission is pretty stout, as well.

I'm running a 6psi ScienceOfSpeed kit now, and love it. The stock clutch is holding up surprisingly well, but I also don't "get on it" until after I've started actually rolling.

 

this could be moved to the FI forum for concentrated help good luck!!!

 

You need an engine management. Do yall have emissions?

Get the ptuning turbo kit, best/most complete/most thought out FI option available right now.

If you want to launch, upgrade the diff (search "puddymod", "ford 8.8", "r200"). If you like to punch it in 2nd gear once you are making lots of power, get an extra tranny. You will need to upgrade the clutch.

All of the s/cs for above 400whp are centrifugal, which won't add much power down low, so if you are wanting torque down low, that's not going to be your best bet.

 

Welcome to the forums! Most of the folks here like cars period be it foreign or domestic if there really is such a thing now a days.

You probably would get a better response in the FI section though those guys can get a little hostile.


Regarding your questions:

There WAS a twin screw type kit, but it's not widely supported and is only offered on a per order basis from one manufacturer last I read. So that essentially leaves you with centrifugal/rotrex based superchargers.

1. As far as sc vs turbo...that's a can of worms. There are many high mileage sc'd s2000s out there. Getting to 400whp (dynojet) has become so easy, it's now formuleic: pick your sc of choice-vortech or science of speed-and a 13 psi pully, engine management, exhaust/cat of choice, tb, tuning and your'e done. No twin screw blower will get you to 400whp. Best that was achieved here was around 350. The only rotrex kit that will get you to 400 is the TTS kit, Kraftwerks is maxed at 380whp.

Regarding turbos, they will easily get you to 400. You just have to decide what kind of power band you want and what mods you want to do to control heat. The longer tubular style manifolds have outstanding efficiency, however they are enormous heat generators. You'll need to relocate the fusebox and battery for most kits. The log type manifolds require more boost to get to 400 and depending on your turbo that is/is not an issue. There is a ton of data for turbo set ups here. Spend some time researching them. The bigger your turbo gets (and I'm talking ginormous turbos here), the quick boost advantage they have over SC's starts to diminish. Just for reference, most SC s2000s at 400 whp make 200whp around 4500-5500 so when you look at power curves of turbos you have a nice comparison point to go from. Generally though, turbos smash sc's in terms of areas under the curve for our engine.

2. You are correct, you will need a new clutch however the axles are fine. The differential is the weak point for us. As long as you stay around 400whp and don't dump the clutch, you'll be okay. Launch hard and you may say good bye to your differiental. Good news is there are three options to fix this. Inline pro and Full Blown have diff replacement kits and puddymod will considerably reinforce the stock one.

 

he pretty much nailed it on the head. If your friend plans on drag racing, the diff and the clutch will definitely be the first ones to go. If he wants a very reliable 280-335whp s2000 then the comptech/vortech sc is the most popular setup. You can find em at a great price, and from what I hear they are pretty easy to install. If i remember correctly the oil pan needs to be tapped for the vortech where as the comptech does not. Both the vortech/comptech have aftercooler kits available and it would be a wise idea if your friend wants to run the higher boost pulley. There are many people here with 70k miles plus on a vorteched/comptech setup and some even with 150k problem free (i think it was modifrys s2k)? I think the higher end whp s2ks typically use the vortech to put down a little better numbers. Oh and more pics of your z06 and camaro, Ive always loved those! vids?

 

If low-end torque is what you seek, the centrifugal blower setups for the S2k aren't the way to go, as they build boost with rpm. Turbo will give WAY more low-end torque and a much broader power curve.

 

pics of the said turbo camaro

 

weak spots
transmission
differential

strong spots
everything else

for 400rwhp and nice tq everywhere go with a tubular manifold and a gt30ish sized turbo or a divided turbo manifold and a gt35ish sized turbo.

you will make sick sick power. i had a roots blower on my s2k, click link in my sig to see dyno. it was a lot of fun, but blower was too small. now i am rocking a big turbo setup. mmmmmmmmm, TQ! stock block is very stout.

and just cause this is a 4 banger import site, we still like american muscle. check my daily driver

x2 on pics of turbo camaro.

 

Lots of owners here have gone on to C6 Vettes (LS3 or LS7) for their next ride... You're in good company here.

The replies above have already covered the basics well:
- A Roots blower would give great low end, but nobody sells a kit with one that's big enough for >350whp.
- A Rotrex blower gives good low end and great midrange / top end. Kraftwerks won't hit your power goals, but the TTS kit might just do the trick.
- Centrifugal blowers like Vortech / Paxton do nothing for low end torque on these cars unless you spin them really high. The available kits don't cure the lack of low end unless you try swapping pulleys and doing crazy stuff.
- Turbos can be whatever you want them to be. In general, a GT3071R on a variety of kits will give you instant spool and plenty of torque. A well designed kit like Ptuning with a GT3076R will make the car very fast, without giving up any spool. The Greddy kit makes tons of low end, but fizzles out at high rpm and can't make much more than 310whp unless you start swapping out parts (like the turbo).

I recently purchased the Science of Speed kit with a Novi 1200 centrifugal blower. Even running at 12psi, it didn't make a noticeable difference at low rpm. Midrange was better than stock but not exciting. At high rpm, it made good power but nothing compared to a good turbo setup. Now I'm at 14.4psi and low rpm doesn't suck as much as it used to, but it's still weaker than a new Civic until you get into the midrange. I just ordered a smaller pulley which I'm guessing will make 17-ish psi, which is too much boost without E85 or meth injection or race gas. I'll be using a boost limiter valve to blow off the excess at high rpm, hoping that will allow me to improve the low end without blowing the motor. Next step after that is to swap compressor wheels; 928 motorsports makes one that is supposed to increase flow from the Novi 1200. (But they're having trouble with the new designs and currently I can't get one.)

As you can see, I'm going to an awful lot of trouble to try to cure the lack of low end in this car with a centrifugal SC. I went with a centrifugal because I didn't want to be limited to the low/mid 300's, and figured with enough messing around I could get to a point where it was good enough. Plus the SOS kit cost me far less than the other options. If I was planning to keep this car a lot longer and didn't mind making a bigger investment, I'd have gone with the TTS Rotrex kit or (if it wasn't my daily driver) Ptuning.