Why did you choose to supercharge?

[svtippy]

would i get one absolutely!!! now why dont i have one its very simple $$$$$$$ i had a lightly moded lightning and i loved the power and miss the sc whine a lot

 

[t_j]

deleted

 

[The Macf]

What if I move to Arizona and build a replica that's lowered and supercharged? And still have my original offroad unsupercharged Raptor? What does that make me?

My last truck was supercharged. It weighed 3500 pounds, made 330 to the rear wheels and would hang with much faster cars from a roll and off the line. It would also outhandle most "drivers" cars. It was a blast to drive everyday but got old real quick.

For $10,000 I could put that money to better use elsewhere besides the engine. Intake and a tune still scare me sometimes. Can't wait to put the headers on.

 

[Jordan@Apollo-Optics]

I think before making comments on Supercharging or not, you need to actually drive one that is!!!

You have know idea how much better the truck is with all the extra power, it really makes the truck feel like it doesn't weigh as much as it does.

And plenty of guys are off-roading supercharged and loving it, they don't need to mash down on the pedal all the time, well unless their lead foot animals. LOL

I've had 3 supercharged vehicles in my life, one of which wasn't supercharged from the factory. I've had a 2005 Mustang GT that I put a whipple on and it put down 475hp/465tq, a 1999 Lightning with a ported blower and pulley that put down 441hp/530tq, and an 03 Cobra with a KB 2.2L blower and pulley at 17psi that put down 632/540. I don't say this to brag, so please don't take it that way, but to give background on my previous vehicles and that I'm not new to the supercharging world.

The reason I don't want a blower on a Raptor is you have one drive belt for everything. On the cobra, and lightning, it was designed for a blower and had two drive belts (I know the Cobra did, and I think the lightning did but I could be wrong). The advantage here is if the supercharger shreds a belt, all of my accessories still worked on the Cobra. I had the belt shred on me once and I was on the street with nicely paved asphalt - hardly the rough terrain our trucks see. I understand the benefits of having the supercharger and I'm sure the extra power is great, but the risk of shredding a belt at full throttle or when you're out in the dirt miles from a dealership or auto parts store that has the belt isn't something that is appealing to me. Yes, you can carry a spare, but if you shred one, there is probably an underlying issue that caused it and you'll just end up shredding the spare as well.

That is just one of my reasons. I'm not saying anybody who Whipple'd their trucks made a bad decision, but for the guys that haven't, or the guys that haven't done a lot of research on supercharged vehicles, I wanted to throw out the inherent risks of putting a supercharger on a vehicle that was never designed to have one in the first place. These risks can be mitigated and reduced, but they will always be there.

 

[Wilson]

This is my first vehicle with this much power stock, I did the headers because I've always wanted to. I was told if you do headers you should put on a CAI and a tune to get the full benefit from your headers. And if I wanted to really make power that I should put on a supercharger. Being new to the mod world I opted for starting with the simple mods first and if I ever feel the need for more power it's always available to put on. That being said for me the 361 rwhp is satisfying my needs so far. With my driving style and reading up on others problems I'd need all new components drive shaft so on and so on and I can't afford that, buying the pro charger is the cheep part.

 

[AZEngineer]

Back when I placed the order for my 2013 SCAB in Jan 2013 I was almost certain I would add a Whipple. I decided to drive it for 6 months to be sure I wanted to put that much extra into the truck and to be sure I would keep it long enough to get enough enjoyment out of the extra bucks.

AZScooter is right about each owners needs being different. I've been offroad quite a bit from crawling on rocks with Jeeps to running fast on desert dirt roads. I've upgraded the front an read suspension and I now I feel I have the right balance for me. I don't want to drive faster with the suspension I have. I can't believe I am typing this but the truck has plenty of power.

On the Supercharger....I have decided not to get one. I drive 3 miles to and from work and we have other cars for when we take longer drives on the HWY. I also don't go to the dunes and don't really plan on it. If I wanted to run in sand I would get one.

The one upgrade I am still pondering is better brakes. I don't need better brakes offroad. They have plenty of grab on dirt, tire traction is the limiter there. And I don't run hard enough to get fade offroad. But on road I really want more stopping power. In panic stops on dry pavement I barely get any tire noise. I would expect some tire chirping or some brake ABS pedal feel. At least on my truck on the road the tires have more grab than the brakes. I would love to be able to stop quicker on the road. But I don't want to sacrifice cold braking performance and I don't want squeaking brakes. Seems that with all the aftermarket performance pads you get better hot performance at the expense of worse cold performance and/or more noise.

As I've researched the brakes question it seems that upgraded calipers and discs with the stock diameter reduce fade with hot but they don't do much for cold braking (panic stop on the street). So I still read and research since I don't want to upside wheel diameter.

 

[Az Scooter]

As for brakes, I like the R1 discs and pads. I put them on my truck a couple of months ago, and have been very pleased. The only complaint is that sometimes they squeak when cold.

 

[MTF]

I always carry hand tools and one or two extra belts.
The new Whipples are designed with a bypass valve so no need for that to be spinning.
But overheat you will and draining the battery is the problem. Steering isn't fun either. LOL

Having said this, even NA Raptors break belts so, it's up to you to be prepared.

 

[RaptorFlipper]

The bottom line is that with any mod of an SC caliber, there are going to be positives and negatives on and off road. I wanted the extra power and acceleration increase and am ok with possible issues with belts, upgraded parts, etc. I would have to say the majority of us who have the SC, did it for the street application(acceleration, towing, fun factor) more than off-road. I could be wrong.

There is also no question that doing things like exhaust, headers, CAI, tunes, first is the wat to go, and see if that is enough. I am the opposite of AZ engineer in that I never thought I would supercharge. I always wanted to stay NA. But after trying all the other stuff, and reading enough from guys on here, I decided to go for it. I am extremely pleased. He thought he would supercharge, but now is happy with it as is. That is the beauty of this forum, and having a truck with so many available options.

To MACF: If you have 2 raptors(one lowered, and one off-road), I would just say: that is damn cool! Wish I had 2!

 

[Stealthf1]

In all seriousness, I ordered the truck with throwing the Roush on as soon as it was delivered at the time a few guys where trying to do Whipple setups and some had issues back in the day. First Roush calibrated kit sold in the country is what sold me on the Roush setup along with the customer service and solid company backing the setup. Another plus is the fact we could push the limits and see what upgrades were needed for future setups with the kit and tuning involved.. not to brag but we did have one of the first Raptors with a blower and long tubes running before my whittle counterparts joined the club. So all about seeing what we could do with the motor and the setup and just having fun while doing so.

Plus stock.. is just so...stock.