Mark VIII power adder facts

MercuryLs

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Seeing how I have had Nitrous, Kenne Bell, and now a Vortech I figured I would write a comparison for those looking into putting a power adder on. I didn't cover turbo(s) because I have not had it(them) on my Mark VIII.



Nitrous:

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The initial cost of Nitrous is cheap, far less expensive than a blower kit. Though nitrous in most area's is between $4-$5 per LB to fill the bottle. To figure out how long the bottle will last I have a basic formula for you. 100shot + 10sec= 1lb of nitrous.

Now Nitrous is in a sealed bottle so obviously as it drains out of the bottle the pressure drops. A lot of peoples answer to this pressure drop is to use a bottle heater. This is OK to a point, but failed heaters have caused more than one bottle explosion. Also keep in mind the LIQUID nitrous is what you want to inject into your motor. So if your using a bottle heater it is turning that liquid into a gas to fill the volume of the bottle.

I personally NEVER have used a bottle heater, here is why. I have a bottle/kit from Nano Nitrous. How it works is as the nitrous is draining out of the bottle the Nano bottle fills the lost volume with pressurized air- keeping the pressure at a steady rate. Also because of this it allows you to use 100% of the nitrous in your bottle- more bang for your buck!

WET or DRY? Now I know some of you may argue this point, but I'm telling you from my personal experience.... You could not pay me to put a dry kit on my car! Dry kits TRICK your pcm into injecting more fuel, because it does this you also now have to get bigger injectors so it can spray that more fuel. I know your argument to Wet is it can pool and backfire, well correct jetting and not getting too greedy with the shot will keep that from happening. Also do not use a fogger for anything over a 200shot, beyond that point you should be looking at a direct port.

Nitrous you can hide easier to give your car more of a "sleeper" look. Though it does suck if your rolling down the road and a camaro or something wants to play and you don't have your bottle in the car. Or it is in the car, but not turned on. This is where boost comes in....

Kenne Bell/Roots Blower


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Boost is great. You have it when ever you want it, no need to fill bottles. It's on tap and ready to go! Though the initial cost is higher due to the cost of the kit.

A kenne bell blower is nice because it has INSTANT boost. A kenne bell feels like have a BIG BLOCK under the hood. All that lowend torque is there at the crack of the throttle. Our Mark VIIIs are heavy and have a high RPM torque peak, so having the lowend torque from the KB is great.

Now in saying that there is a down side. It's hard for our Mark VIIIs to HOOK all of that lowend torque now offered by the KB. Even with MT Streets on my car it would just FLAME the tires at will.

Also unless you do a C-Head (Tumble port) conversion you are stuck with a non-Intercooled blower. Roots blowers make a lot more heat than centrifugals.


Vortech Blower


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The Vortech blower is like having a turbo under the hood. It doesn't hit as hard off the line, but once boost comes up your off like a rocket. A centrifugal blower also gives you the ability to run an intercooler. (I know I don't have one, that's coming later) Also Centrifugal blowers don't heat the air as much as a roots blower.


So to sum it up:
-If you just want some extra power for the track, or you just want to up your game a little and don't have a lot of $$$ Stick with Nitrous.
-If you want TIRE SHREDDING Torque, full boost at the crack of the throttle go with the Kenne Bell
-If you want to come off the line well and have a great top end charge, go with a Centrifugal.

Well there it is in a nut shell. Happy Modding, and be safe!
 
Great write up, I have been waiting for you to put something like this together.

Its a first hand been there and done that write up.
While there may be points some will find to dispute......its hard to argue with someone who has first hand experience.
Great job!

:cool:
 
Very nice, stuff I knew but still good stuff that many can learn from. Kudos. :)
 
WET or DRY? Now I know some of you may argue this point, but I'm telling you from my personal experience.... You could not pay me to put a dry kit on my car! Dry kits TRICK your pcm into injecting more fuel, because it does this you also now have to get bigger injectors so it can spray that more fuel. I know your argument to Wet is it can pool and backfire, well correct jetting and not getting too greedy with the shot will keep that from happening. Also do not use a fogger for anything over a 200shot, beyond that point you should be looking at a direct port.


Amen to this paragraph. Although I would like to point out that nitrous done correctly, with a progressive controller, hobbes switch, A/F cutout switch, heater, proper tune and window switch isn't exactly cheap anymore, I guess it is all relative.
 
Good write up Mercuryls and I agree with you as I have been in cars with all those power adders above plus Some turbo cars too. I would pick turbo over those power adders mentioned earlier but there is no room for turbo in Mark VIII's unless you spend a lot of time and money to fabricate your own Turbo setup. Thats why I will stick with my Vortech for little longer.
 
Now Nitrous is in a sealed bottle so obviously as it drains out of the bottle the pressure drops. A lot of peoples answer to this pressure drop is to use a bottle heater. This is OK to a point, but failed heaters have caused more than one bottle explosion. Also keep in mind the LIQUID nitrous is what you want to inject into your motor. So if your using a bottle heater it is turning that liquid into a gas to fill the volume of the bottle.

The pressure really doesn't drop due to the fact that there is less nitrous in the bottle, as long as there is some liquid nitrous it will stay the same as long as the temperature is the same. The problem is that as gas flows out, the temp drops and thus the pressure drops (pV = nRT). If you could have a heater that keeps the temp exactly the same, you could run 8 pounds out of the bottle and have the pressure stay exactly the same. This same concept means that as you increase the temperature with the heater, because the volume must remain the same it will increase the pressure without changing the liquid/gas ratio. As for bottle explosions... you should have a burst disc and a blow down tube anyway.

Naturally, repressurizing the bottle with another gas (usually nitrogen) is a better solution than a heater, but it's a bit on the expensive side.
 
Great write up, how much would a Vortech cost to buy and install ?
 
crazy turbo question

great wright up!!! thought that is how it was but it is good to hear first hand

do you think if you removed the fuel tank went to a cell in the trunk there would be a way to plumb a remote turbo set up like that. there doing it on zo6's and i have seen something like this on a 3/4 ton chevy 6.0 truck to
any opinions.:confused:

i was putting this in the back of my head for the far futcher. my stacks are getting low now.

and he!! i splooged on it still aint a sticky but now my o,y,e,a,h keys keeps sticking LOL
 
i am just curious mercuryls why did u ditch the kenne bell for the vortech?

I couldn't get it to hook off the line. I run DRs all the time, and I just could never get the full power down off the line. So I wanted to go with a blower that had less of a hit off the line but made up for it with a better top end charge. Plus with the power level I'm running I need to be able to have the option to intercool my blower down the road.
 
Just for clarification Kenne bell SC's are twin screw type and not the old school roots design blower, which is even more heat producing.
 
Many plus ones and a few....

bits of disagreement.

I've used all the 'adders' at one time or another, and at present, I own a land speed record at Maxton. I set it (four of them, actually) running a 'Pro 300' system from NX. Part of the system is a transponder that reads the pressure and controls the bottle heater. It does an excellent job. A burst membrane and blow-down tube routed through the trunk floor are required by the safety regs. I run methanol with the spray.

Having had experience of Roots and centrifugal blowers in the past---as well as turbos---the only answer for me is a pair of turbos on my four litre V-8. Although I race my car, it's also a daily driver.The ultimate 'adder' combination is not only the pair of turbos, but also the addition of the NX spray and the methanol fuel cell in the trunk.

I'm, slowly, putting together an engine with enough internal strength to take what I intend to throw at it.

And I'll change class again when I get it together. (See 'Land Speed LS' in the HP LS section)
KS
 
Would be nice if cost comparison was a part of this writeup.

+1

and all you would need outside the obvious to make it work
 
My setup and mods are $18,000 + in parts only, and does not include chassis mods or initial car cost.
 
How is the clearance for the vortech? I’m about to do this, but I read someone had to move the radiator down and forward to clear the inlet. Did you have to do this? Anything else?
 

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