Curious on experience and advice on two questions:

1) Which is better a turbo or a supercharger on a 3.8 997?

2) Is the higher operating pressure associated with these systems damaging to the engine?

 

I think there is only a supercharge kit on the market right now for the .2's?

 

But for the 997.1 with the 3.8L engine, there are at least two turbo kits and one supercharger kit.

 

I have a '07 T4S, is that a 997.1 or a 997.2? I thought 997.1

 

'07 is 997.1, so you have options.

As to which is 'best': people's opinion will be colored by the selection they made themselves.

I only have first-hand experience with the Turbo kit from Vivid (see thread elsewhere in this forum). I love it. The 'grin factor' is huge and I find it transforms the car completely.

Others will weigh in with their system of choice

 

What do you think about the comments that the engines were not designed to operate under those pressures and that by doing so you really are tempting fate? I want that boost grin factor!!!

 

Actually, that statement needs to be taken with a major grain of salt.

There is plenty of reference data out there of Turbo Kits and Superchargers on the 996 engine, without any negative impact on engine life or driveability.

The 997 (at least my '06 C2S) uses forged pistons (the 996 did not).
Forged pistons are even more tolerant of a higher power band.

Finally, the established tuners out there (TCP, Vivid, EVO) all provide solutions that are well below the projected tolerance of your engine.
I'm running at 6 PSI boost and according to the guys at Softronic, I could be running at 8 PSI all day long.

I drive my car hard, every day and I fully expect it to last as long as it would without the kit. With that said, anything that was going to break on your car, will probably break a bit earlier because of the extra strain. But it is my understanding that the kit will not break anything that would never have failed, had the kit not been installed.

You SHOULD expect to spend more on tires and brakes than you would without the turbo or SC . And religious maintenance becomes more important. I do an oil change and a front-to-back check by my Indy mechanic every 5,000 miles at the very least.

One other thing to remember: the sound / noise level will go up considerably. The new exhaust is basically just a set of straight pipes with some 200-cell race cats at the end.
Feel free to ask any questions in here or off-line.

 

Awesome! Im on the fence between a turbo and a super charger and need to research what's difference relative to performance, reliability and cost.

I'm looking at an after market warranty and want to know whether or not it will make the warranty void. I want tue performance, but want to jnderstand the options and ramifications. I had heard PSI boosts of 19 is that wrong? I may have misunderstood.

 

19PSI sounds like a lot for stock internals... are there lower compression pistons that can be swapped to run more boost?

 

For the 3.8 997, the TPC Racing CT-520 Turbo kit is a great kit that wakes the car up. The power comes on smooth, making the car a pleasure to drive. Where some people would think that having a turbo would mean that there is "lag" compared to the supercharger, there is no waiting for the power with this kit. We have clients tracking their 997's with the CT-520 kit and enjoy it very much because they can put the power down and have it come in smooth.

The drive-ability of the car is fantastic. When driving a car with the TPC Racing CT-520 kit as a daily driver, you don't notice anything different, but once you get into the throttle, a new world opens up. The exhaust note is a bit louder than stock with more grunt to it, but nothing obnoxious that produces a loud drone in the cabin.

Here is a link to our TPC Racing CT-520 Kit that shows dyno charts, videos, and other information. TPC Racing CT-520 Turbo Kit

 

Just watched the videos on the site...man I'm really considering the TPC kit. Sucks that you guys are in MD and not AZ.

 

As the sales process has already begun based on the latest post, for neutrality's sake, please also talk to Dan at Vivid Racing.

I am in no way affiliated with them. I am just a happy customer.

Look at both kits side by side, listen to both companies explain their respective selling points and then make your choice.

 

And Vivid IS in AZ

 

Here is a list of our TPC Racing Dealers

This is a truly proven product and if there is anything any of us at TPC Racing can help you with, please feel free to contact us.

 

I will! That makes the most sense to consider all the options.