Paxton vs Procharger vs Vortech

Vids of procharger with Helical gear option (100 buck) seems pretty stealthy

As Vortech and Paxtons largest auto dealer in the world.. let me chime in!! (we do a lot of prochargers too btw)



Our specialty really is in the Centri supercharger kits.

I'll play devils advocate as best as I can on both setups.

Things you need to look at, vortech and paxton are essentially the same setup, just different head units.

On entry level pricing, on the paxton side, you get a larger head unit. More growing potential for the same money. Also, you'll get about the same power out of each kit but with less boost on the paxton. Most of our 2015 cars we have been dropping one pulley size to a 3.6". The stronger engines in the 15's have been doing well with this.

The paxton / vortech use the oem crank pulley which we are a big fan of. Always have been. IMO you see no extra stress on the crank with the stock tensioner being used.

The standard kit has a 6 rib setup, but all the setups are upgradeable to 8 rib down the road.

Both standard kits are SL (self lubricated), and need to have the oil changed every 5000 or so miles.

You have the option do upgrade the head unit to an oil fed hd blower on any of the kits as well, you also have the option to upgrade to a "competition" kit out of the gate which would give you the hd oil fed head unit, along with the 8 rib upgrade from the start.

The standard intercooler on the paxton / vortech is "rated" for about 900 or so hp. We ran our 2011 car with the standard intercooler to about 1073 wheel, and 8.7s at full weight.

One customer went 8.8's on the standard 2200 SL head unit with stage 1 e85 fuel system, aluminator, high grip pulley, and some weight reduction on a 2011-2014 car. So lots of potential for not alot of $$. I would put the 2200 on the level of a stage 2 procharger with a d1 upgrade. Comparable, your about $1300 less for the 2200 on our custom package setups.

Install is a little more time consuming, but not a lot, probably 1-2 more hours than the procharger kit. But either kit will install fairly easy. No cutting of the bumper is needed with either kit.

The vortech / paxton head units tend to run a little lower iats from what we have seen. But both kits do pretty good, especially with the stage 2 procharger intercooler.

Common misconception, "you have to pull the head unit to change the pulley or belt".
Not true, with a lift, we can change a belt in about 10-12 minutes. At the track, on the grount, we can do it in about 15-20 minutes.

Common misconception - You go through alot of belts - Again, not true. In over 5 years on our 2011 car , we have never thrown a belt, probably somewhere in the 400-500 pass range, we have never thrown a belt on one of these cars. We actually see quite a bit more pd setups tossing belts at really high hp levels. Even on 10 rib pd setups.

$$ wise, I do believe the 2200 is the undisputed winner bang for the buck / growing potential kit. Doesn't mean it's the perfect kit for everyone, but it is our go to kit!

On the procharger side of things. For 2015 they added a direct drive setup, which i have been pushing for since 2011. again, big fan of that setup, and we've had guys go 8's on the 6 rib setups, and i think for any stock engine car, you'll be able to put more hp than the engine could take on the 6 rib setup.

To go 8 rib plus - you have to go to the dedicated setup. Some like this, some don't. Basically you add an extra pulley on the front of the crank. we have seen a few cranks snap on procharged cars. Only 3 over 5 years, and all 3 were in that 1000 wheel mark. So i don't think it's something for the average guy to be concerned about.

You also have the ability to go larger than 8 rib, with Prochargers setup. And the step ratios are pretty nice on the procharger head units.

One benefit to the dedicated drive setup, is that you can change belts and pullies in about 5 minutes with or without a lift. That is kind of nice.

Again, on either setup, if you install everything and line up correctly, you should not have issues with belts on either setup.

Paxton / Vortech kits come "how they come", meaning, the 2200 comes with a 3.8 pulley and if you want to change boost you have to buy another pulley. If you want to buy a different bov, you have to buy a different bov.

Procharger has the ability to customize more out of the box. You can pick your choice of the normal loud gear or the quiet gear for a $100 upgrade. You can also upgrade your BOV to the big red out of the gate, and get credit for the standard bov. Again, nice to be able to customize.

At the end of the day, both kits are very nice.

We have done in the neighborhood of 500-600 centri packages over the last 6 years. Self installs, in house installs, in house tuning with lund, remote tuning with lund, customers having packages installed and tuned other places. Any combo you want, we can do.

No one comes anywhere close to what we do with centris on the coyote cars, and were always here to help.

Hopefully this is objective enough on both kits and lends some insight to you guys as far as what you want out of your blower.

Beef
513-478-1965

8am to 10pm seven days a week!!!!

How we roll

^^^Although I have already bought my Paxton through you, that is some very helpful information for those that are still looking. Thanks.

Beef is the man. Glad I bought from him.

Common misconception, "you have to pull the head unit to change the pulley or belt".
Not true, with a lift, we can change a belt in about 10-12 minutes. At the track, on the ground, we can do it in about 15-20 minutes.

I can concur, I have had ZERO belt issues with my Vortech, and the kit has been great. No belt squeaking, slipping, etc.

How are you guys doing a quick pulley change? I was going to remove the belt, and then remove the bolts on the head unit except for one and pivot the head unit towards the passenger side.

beefcake said:

As Vortech and Paxtons largest auto dealer in the world.. let me chime in!! (we do a lot of prochargers too btw)
...

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WOW, Beefcake, you should copy and paste it to every "pain in the as* newcomer" like me! This is a great sum up.
Could you just add "the sound" conclusion? You wrote me:
"sound wise the Paxton is inbetween the procharger quiet gears and normal gears. alot of the noise you hear will come from the bov. if you use the stock bov with filter on the paxton, you won't hear it a ton."
Could you shortly clarify this? That will be surely nice addition here.

rainmaker said:

Common misconception, "you have to pull the head unit to change the pulley or belt".
Not true, with a lift, we can change a belt in about 10-12 minutes. At the track, on the ground, we can do it in about 15-20 minutes.

I can concur, I have had ZERO belt issues with my Vortech, and the kit has been great. No belt squeaking, slipping, etc.

How are you guys doing a quick pulley change? I was going to remove the belt, and then remove the bolts on the head unit except for one and pivot the head unit towards the passenger side.

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won't work, you have one pulley in the bracket setup that is on the inside of the belt.

we go from underneath.

for pulley changes, always loosen the nut on the s/c before popping the belt.

for pulley or belt changes

pop the belt by raising the tensioner, then remove the idler right above the tensioner (this is the easiest way to get the belt back on)

loosen the bracket bolts a little bit so it's not compressed

pull the belt out through the bottom, remove the one idler in the bracket system that is keeping the belt in the bracket setup

feed new belt back in, set pulley that was removed from the bracket setup back inside the belt and push back up in. tighten everything back down

(one trick too, is to put a little super glue or tiny amount of rtv on the removed pulley to hold the washer onto the back side, so it doesn't fall off when putting the pulley back)

after you get the belt fed back around everything, finish off by lifting tensioner and pushing the idler above tensioner that you removed down into place and popping it back in. if your on one of the setups that have an ultra tight belt, much easier with one person holding the tensioner.

TheRaider said:

WOW, Beefcake, you should copy and paste it to every "pain in the as* newcomer" like me! This is a great sum up.
Could you just add "the sound" conclusion? You wrote me:
"sound wise the Paxton is inbetween the procharger quiet gears and normal gears. alot of the noise you hear will come from the bov. if you use the stock bov with filter on the paxton, you won't hear it a ton."
Could you shortly clarify this? That will be surely nice addition here.

Click to expand...

the bov that comes with the kit has a small filter on the end, it's there obviosly to keep dirt and debree off the car, but with it inside the filter, very little chance of dirt getting in, if you remove the filter, it will open the noise factor up a tad bit

OMG. I have found below video in other topic: "Beefcake Special Non Billet JT Trim 3.6" Pulley 8 Rib with the Vortech Race BOV.."
Does Paxton sounds the same at idle? Sorry to say but I would shoot myself after hearing this that loud after the install:

TheRaider said:

OMG. I have found below video in other topic: "Beefcake Special Non Billet JT Trim 3.6" Pulley 8 Rib with the Vortech Race BOV.."
Does Paxton sounds the same at idle? Sorry to say but I would shoot myself after hearing this that loud after the install:

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Oh man sounds awesome!!!!

Roki187 said:

Oh man sound awesome!!!!

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Funny - it only shows how different expectations and taste people may have, even when they are into the same car. You love it, for me it is the worst ever Mustang idle that I heard. So, one day I am sure I am ready for Stage 2 Procharger, the other it is Paxton. After this video, I am suddenly closer to S2 Procharger again... Crazy. I am really confused.

TheRaider said:

Funny - it only shows how different expectations and taste people may have, even when they are into the same car. You love it, for me it is the worst ever Mustang idle that I heard. So, one day I am sure I am ready for Stage 2 Procharger, the other it is Paxton. After this video, I am suddenly closer to S2 Procharger again... Crazy. I am really confused.

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Pro charger is no more quiet than vortech, unless u go for the cut gears. I heard a stage 2 pull up and it was loud. I don't mind the sound of power...... But to each is own. I personally don't plan on getting a loud bov (I think the open style bov gives some centris the constant loud whooshing noise) also heard the vortech in person at idle and on boost. Sounds really nooooooiiiice. I think nearly every boosted car has its own unique awesome sound.

I've never heard a Procharger with the helical cut gear, but it might be what you are seeking. Keep in mind, that car is sitting in a parking structure and everything sounds louder in those. It reminds me of the Procharger with the straight (loud) gear, though.

TheRaider said:

Funny - it only shows how different expectations and taste people may have, even when they are into the same car. You love it, for me it is the worst ever Mustang idle that I heard. So, one day I am sure I am ready for Stage 2 Procharger, the other it is Paxton. After this video, I am suddenly closer to S2 Procharger again... Crazy. I am really confused.

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I'm kinda like you and don't want it that loud at idle...but I'm pretty sure one ride in that car and I wouldn't care what it sounded like. I recently got to drive a twin screw vette and it was decided in about 0.2 seconds that this car would get FI...now to just pick one!

And like JohnG said, you can get the helical gears in procharger and it might be quieter...I'd talk to beefcake and get his opinion as he has experience with all 3 centri units

TheRaider said:

OMG. I have found below video in other topic: "Beefcake Special Non Billet JT Trim 3.6" Pulley 8 Rib with the Vortech Race BOV.."
Does Paxton sounds the same at idle? Sorry to say but I would shoot myself after hearing this that loud after the install:

Click to expand...

thats why there is lots of different options. i know we spoke about the competition kits for growing potential as well. The 2200 as i mentioned is inbetween the 2 prochargers. The competition version of the 2200 uses a helical cut gear as well and is pretty quiet.

also, that vid has the extra loud bov. and the louder cut gear vortech. 2 things to make it louder

Roki187 said:

Oh man sounds awesome!!!!

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different strokes for different folds

TheRaider said:

Funny - it only shows how different expectations and taste people may have, even when they are into the same car. You love it, for me it is the worst ever Mustang idle that I heard. So, one day I am sure I am ready for Stage 2 Procharger, the other it is Paxton. After this video, I am suddenly closer to S2 Procharger again... Crazy. I am really confused.

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again, procharger with the cut gears, the reg paxton, or the oil fed paxton, one of those 3 will soot your needs well