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Full Bolt-Ons or Procharger?

AlphaCoyote

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I am currently debating on doing full bolt-ons or a procharger. I currently have Borla S-Type Cat-back Exhaust, JLT CAI, and SCT Tune. I was originally thinking of doing long tube headers with high flow cats, gt350 intake manifold, and a flex fuel tune. But i just got my Christmas bonus so im thining of just procharging it. If i do go the route of procharging what does that all entail? upgrading fuel system? suspension? Bigger tires?

What's the better option?

This is my Daily driver btw.
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ahl395

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When I was originally planning out my Mustang purchase, I had a whole list of bolt on mods to do to it. Once I added it up, and estimated how much HP that would give me, and compared it to that of the Procharger (or any FI), personally that made the decision for me.

Spend a few thousand on a bunch of bolt ons to gain 100-150hp, or add on another couple thousand and get 250-400hp and beyond if I build the motor. No offense to those with bolt-ons, but this was just a clear answer for me. Especially since I love overkill and am never happy, I needed the horsepower-doubling option lol. Otherwise I may have spent a few thousand and still not been happy.

If you go with the Procharger, it's advisable to upgrade the OPG/CG (Oil pump gears and crank gear) as they can shatter under added HP and RPM. Some upgrade the harmonic balancer also. Fuel system is fine unless you are going E85 (which is highly recommended if it's available to you). Most kits come with a "BAP" (Fuel pump voltage booster) and larger injectors and that takes care of fueling without upgrading the whole system. Tires and suspension should be upgraded if you want to actually put the extra power down on the road. Wide and sticky tires are what you want. Since its your DD (as is mine) I would go with MPSS/MP4S tires as they can last you 20-30k miles and still provide good traction, wider the better. With PP wheels you can easily fit a 285 on the rear. Suspension upgrades like the BMR CB005 cradle lockout and differential bushings help put the power down and keep fishtailing to a minimum.

I would highly recommend the Beefcake Special Procharger package as that includes everything in one kit for a good price. [MENTION=10926]beefcake[/MENTION]. You can check my build log if you want for ideas as my Procharged car is also my semi-DD.

Overall, with everything listed above. There's no doubt a Procharger will cost much more than bolt ons, but what's the point in spending a few thousand and having regrets when you can add a few more thousand and have more power? :D That's my line of thinking anyway. That being said, there's plenty of people that arent wow'ed by FI as I am, and it can cost you more money in the long run if parts fail (your clutch will be first)
 

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i can tell you from experience and experience with customers.

by the time you get done with the n/a build and looks at the total $ invested your gonna be like.

Damn...coulda had a power adder.

you can make good power n/a we did a guy thats on here and he's at 525 n/a

but, for about the same $, or close to it, coulda had 650..., feel free to ring me with any q's you have
 

RoadCone

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i can tell you from experience and experience with customers.

by the time you get done with the n/a build and looks at the total $ invested your gonna be like.

Damn...coulda had a power adder.

you can make good power n/a we did a guy thats on here and he's at 525 n/a

but, for about the same $, or close to it, coulda had 650..., feel free to ring me with any q's you have
Would this be me with said 525?? lol

Here is my take on it... I absolutely loved my 525 NA build... It was fun and hopefully provides a footprint for my new setup. It was fun on the street and track and basically hassle free. To hear it spin up above 8000 was amazing.

I tried to pick parts that could be used later down the road, such as OPG and cams.

The problem comes when you want more.... 620whp build was going to cost $8800 for the short block and another 3-4K in the heads. At this point is when I decided to call it a day and purchase a Whipple.

I would look at the future and what you want. Would I go straight to FI if I had it to do over, absolutely NOT! It would have saved me a little money, but if you buy quality parts, you can resell them and have $$ towards your next purchase.

Just my opinion.
 

beefcake

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Would this be me with said 525?? lol

Here is my take on it... I absolutely loved my 525 NA build... It was fun and hopefully provides a footprint for my new setup. It was fun on the street and track and basically hassle free. To hear it spin up above 8000 was amazing.

I tried to pick parts that could be used later down the road, such as OPG and cams.

The problem comes when you want more.... 620whp build was going to cost $8800 for the short block and another 3-4K in the heads. At this point is when I decided to call it a day and purchase a Whipple.

I would look at the future and what you want. Would I go straight to FI if I had it to do over, absolutely NOT! It would have saved me a little money, but if you buy quality parts, you can resell them and have $$ towards your next purchase.

Just my opinion.
yes, but i know you'd end up with a blower anyway, and all that supporting mods is just more power later :)
 

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sublimaze

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I am currently debating on doing full bolt-ons or a procharger. I currently have Borla S-Type Cat-back Exhaust, JLT CAI, and SCT Tune. I was originally thinking of doing long tube headers with high flow cats, gt350 intake manifold, and a flex fuel tune. But i just got my Christmas bonus so im thining of just procharging it. If i do go the route of procharging what does that all entail? upgrading fuel system? suspension? Bigger tires?

What's the better option?

This is my Daily driver btw.
I have to agree with [MENTION=20644]ahl395[/MENTION] and [MENTION=10926]beefcake[/MENTION]. Add up the total cost of full bolt-ons, and you are just shy of getting your foot in the FI door. The thing is, you never get enough power. You can max out the bolt-ons and that will keep you happy for a while...but then you will start craving more. You will reach the limit pretty quickly with straight bolt-ons, but FI lets you go a lot further. If I were you, I would start with a (relatively) cheap centri blower and go from there.

Now as you start moving up the power curve, traction will become an issue. The stock tires and suspension were obviously designed for stock power output. When you start putting down big power at the wheels, you will definitely need beefier tires, and suspension mods to keep the tires planted. But you don't have to do everything at once. Learn to feather the throttle to stay on the edge of traction, and you'll be able to keep the stock tires. Just don't expect to win many stop light races at first.
 

08StangGT_CS

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So my first new mustang was an 08. Threw a KB on it. It was a pretty fun car. I later sold it and got a '12 GT since I wanted a 5.0.

I wanted to do something different so I did Comp cams. I sent the heads to Livernois to get CNC'ed and get springs. Did the manifold and full exhaust and even added a nitrous kit and even had a Nano system for a bit more horsepower.

When it was all said and done I probably spent as much in this setup as I did in the blower. After getting the nano I found that no one local would refill that so money down the drain. I used a whole one bottle of nitrous during the 5 years I owned the car so I should have saved that too. I should have just done a blower.

I am trying not to spend too much money (the wheels, tires, shocks, struts after 1000 miles is all I'm doing, I promise) on this one but If I had to do it again I definitely think the blower is the way to go.
 

gearhead2685

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Would this be me with said 525?? lol

Here is my take on it... I absolutely loved my 525 NA build... It was fun and hopefully provides a footprint for my new setup. It was fun on the street and track and basically hassle free. To hear it spin up above 8000 was amazing.

I tried to pick parts that could be used later down the road, such as OPG and cams.

The problem comes when you want more.... 620whp build was going to cost $8800 for the short block and another 3-4K in the heads. At this point is when I decided to call it a day and purchase a Whipple.

I would look at the future and what you want. Would I go straight to FI if I had it to do over, absolutely NOT! It would have saved me a little money, but if you buy quality parts, you can resell them and have $$ towards your next purchase.

Just my opinion.
huh where are you getting over 10k for a 600whp na build? MMR has gt350 heads onsale right now for like 3400 and mega buck bottom end ismt meeded for NA just do a nice 5.2 block and decent rotating assembly.

Of course boost is cheaper for hp than NA ita fookish to even compare them.

Im sad your NA build is dead but now the bars set high amd someone else needs to try top that or the big NA build from chris wright that JPC did.
 

beefcake

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huh where are you getting over 10k for a 600whp na build? MMR has gt350 heads onsale right now for like 3400 and mega buck bottom end ismt meeded for NA just do a nice 5.2 block and decent rotating assembly.

Of course boost is cheaper for hp than NA ita fookish to even compare them.

Im sad your NA build is dead but now the bars set high amd someone else needs to try top that or the big NA build from chris wright that JPC did.
i'd say he's going for a high compression shortblock if staying n/a as well...
 

JFox86

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So first question is what is your goal for the car? 600+RWHP is fun as hell but for some people it might be too much for a daily driver. Or are you looking for just a little more?

If you want a nice bump I say at least do LT's. That way if you do decide to go the blower route in the future those will compliment nicely. You can pick up a nice set of headers real cheap this weekend.

Regarding the manifold if you really want one look for a used one. That's what I did. Procharger with a GT350IM would scream!
 

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BlownOne

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Most of the basics for na builds will prepare your car for boost anyways so start with headers and work your way around the car. There’s a lot of little pieces to be puzzle of properly setting up a FI build, so either ante up and do it all at once or slow flow it and do it in stages (suspension, exhaust, opg/tg, fuel).

There’s nothing like the whistling sound my Procharger makes tho!
 

stang77

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When I was originally planning out my Mustang purchase, I had a whole list of bolt on mods to do to it. Once I added it up, and estimated how much HP that would give me, and compared it to that of the Procharger (or any FI), personally that made the decision for me.

Spend a few thousand on a bunch of bolt ons to gain 100-150hp, or add on another couple thousand and get 250-400hp and beyond if I build the motor. No offense to those with bolt-ons, but this was just a clear answer for me. Especially since I love overkill and am never happy, I needed the horsepower-doubling option lol. Otherwise I may have spent a few thousand and still not been happy.

If you go with the Procharger, it's advisable to upgrade the OPG/CG (Oil pump gears and crank gear) as they can shatter under added HP and RPM. Some upgrade the harmonic balancer also. Fuel system is fine unless you are going E85 (which is highly recommended if it's available to you). Most kits come with a "BAP" (Fuel pump voltage booster) and larger injectors and that takes care of fueling without upgrading the whole system. Tires and suspension should be upgraded if you want to actually put the extra power down on the road. Wide and sticky tires are what you want. Since its your DD (as is mine) I would go with MPSS/MP4S tires as they can last you 20-30k miles and still provide good traction, wider the better. With PP wheels you can easily fit a 285 on the rear. Suspension upgrades like the BMR CB005 cradle lockout and differential bushings help put the power down and keep fishtailing to a minimum.

I would highly recommend the Beefcake Special Procharger package as that includes everything in one kit for a good price. [MENTION=10926]beefcake[/MENTION]. You can check my build log if you want for ideas as my Procharged car is also my semi-DD.

Overall, with everything listed above. There's no doubt a Procharger will cost much more than bolt ons, but what's the point in spending a few thousand and having regrets when you can add a few more thousand and have more power? :D That's my line of thinking anyway. That being said, there's plenty of people that arent wow'ed by FI as I am, and it can cost you more money in the long run if parts fail (your clutch will be first)

Where in NJ are you from? Evolution just did my GT350 Manifold for me. Dasan at Lund got the tune just right. Car pulls like a freight train up top. Next on my list is definitely a Pro Charger. Evolution sent me a quote for one. In the meantime I'm saving and doing some suspension stuff.
 

ahl395

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Where in NJ are you from? Evolution just did my GT350 Manifold for me. Dasan at Lund got the tune just right. Car pulls like a freight train up top. Next on my list is definitely a Pro Charger. Evolution sent me a quote for one. In the meantime I'm saving and doing some suspension stuff.
Im along the coast, we could definitely meet up sometime if you want to get a feel of the Procharger. I'll send you a PM. Definitely good to save for the suspension stuff as you will want that even more with FI. Check your PM inbox :cheers:
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