Supercharger ..

I am contemplating to increase the 350Z's horse-power from the present engine hp of 287 by some 60 hp at the wheels by installing a supercharger or even a turbocharger. From what I gather from the internet, a turbocharger might boost the horse power to such an extent that I have to modify other parts of the car such as the engine's internals, the fuel pump, the injector's fuel rates, the exhaust gas discharge volume and so on since the turbocharger might just boost the car's horse power just a bit too much for my liking and probably unsuitable for use on Malaysian highways that restrict speed limit to 110 km per hour. Further, a turbocharger takes effect beyond a certain RPM at which a car speed would have gone beyond the limit. A turbocharger may be suitable for a car with manual transmission than for a car with an automatic one such as on my Fairlady.

A supercharger has no lag time as the turbocharger and as soon as you start the car and drive from standing still, the supercharger starts boosting your car engine and if you keep on pressing the throttle, it keeps on boosting up to even the redline on the tachometer; whereas a turbocharger starts boosting your engine when the RPM reaches past the 2,500-3,000 mark. A supercharger is hence more suitable on a automatic transmission car than on a manual one.

From a host of many popular supercharger systems in the market such as Greddy, Stillen, Vortech and so on, my final choice of a supercharger has narrowed down to the HKS system which fits nicely into underneath the Fairlady's bonnet without any modifications. According to one installer, the HKS system that he promotes would boost the horse power at the wheels by some 60 horses without any modifications except for a small cut at the front to fit the intercooler. The rest are bolt-on fittings. The kit is called the HKS GT Supercharger Kit that comes complete with intercooler, ECU, intake, filter, upgraded fuel pump, pulley and a host of many other necessary components.