Just my opinion here… I know I haven't been a part of this forum for too long but I've had plenty of experiences with both superchargers and turbos. My conclusion is it's always going to be a gamble. The best you can do is research, research, and research again on all the kits out there. Great info on here about all the kits out there and the components. You'll always get the I've had great experiences with this or the horror stories with that.

I seriously recommend a nice used Z, something older with low miles. I know it's tough to weed out how a car has been treated but once in a while you can find a car that had a lot of love and care. The other problem with your scenario is the money you plan to spend. You don't sound ignorant and probably know you're going to spend some decent money just getting a complete kit, say $5000-7000. You don't want crazy and you don't want extreme power. Definitely down to a single turbo kit or a Stillen stage 2 s/c.

I'd suggest a Powerlab kit if you can spend the extra money but I hear good things about APS, nice price. I've got nothing against the Stillen blower but it limits options of going for more power if you ever change your mind. The thing about turbos is by nature they are high maintenance. Things come loose, leaks happen, gaskets might blow, things get hot. Superchagers are a little more predictable, not necessarily more reliable. Then you'd have to get a hood…… Single turbo if you take the pride in your car and give it some attention.

Last it's all in the tune. Cheap out on the fuel management and you'll be paying many times over the extra cost you would have spent for a more complete kit. Just summing up what you will read.

 

PowerLab = $6000+ and very hard to find a used one

APS = Out of Production - may become even harder to find.

That being said, Robs_350Z might actually be a keeper of a NOOB - Welcome .

 

s2k is slow as ballz.. you FI it and you get 400whp and 35rwtq. I'll give you a ride in my TT z, if you want. I'm in Cerritos and we're neighbors

 

Sweet! Not to often the word noob and positive feed back come together. I found myself in a similar situation early fall with my Altima coupe and future options I'd have with the car. Great car overall but just not the platform to build on.

I've got nothing aginst the S2k except the fact I'm not a convertable guy, just something about it. Track car or not the Z was always my number choice, never even concidered the S2k. That being said, a good friend is on his third one and I love the sound of that engine. Suspension is definitely as solid as a factory comes. I live right by King Motorsports, hopefully anyone who owns a honda knows of them, if I had an S2k I might consider just building that thing up.

Personally I think it depends which car really speaks to you. The body lines of the Z has always been to me what supras are to others. I'm still trying to make up my mind if I should go single or twin. Sound Performance is an hour away. What it really comes down to is engine build, pro EFI, and twins all at once or have some fun with a powerlab on a stock motor for now build later.

 

Canny sage.... lame. Stock for Stock our little 4 banger puts up a good fight against your 6. A turbo kit on an s2000 puts out closer to 500rwhp and 280tq. plenty for the size of the car. It would not make a good daily driver. A supercharger kit on an s2000 has been proven time after time that it is reliable and that it is track worthy. Turbo kits seem to have overheating issues. A video of a utah local here at MMP- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-S1VncrG4Y

Also for the non convertible types check out the mooncraft hardtop on the s2000, or the mugen.

 

Nice vid and i was hoping to see him catch the car in front of him but not that way.

 

You gotta dump a lot of money into the motor/quality turbo parts/tuning to get 500rwhp out of an s2k.

 

Face it to get power or turbo either the S or the Z you need to have money. You can always buy a used kit. I'm not sure what is required to turbo the Z to that much power but the s2000's motor is pretty stout stock. All forged internals with a fairly beefy head. I think all you would need different from the stock kits from say inline pro for 550 horse power is the following. (found this on an s2000 thread.)
The turbo kits is $3995
Greddy E-manage $379
inlinePRO 3mm Turbo Headgasket $295
675cc, 780cc, 880cc, 1000cc Injectors $295
Fuel Rail Adaptor Kit $45
Injector Clip Set $45
inlinePRO Billet Oil Filter Relocation Kit $195
3-Bar Map Sensor with Connector & Billet Adaptor Plate $95

In the end I'm sure you can get way more power out of a Z if you have the money. But We're not building drag cars right? I would hope not. As both cars looks much better pounding porsches into the pavement, right? LOL

Yeah that porsche owner was trying to say "well I was on street tires, and you're car is on racing tires...", to the owner of the S. Even so, when you are keeping up with a .5 million dollar car with a 35k one it says something haha.

 

Not really, buddy of mine was making like 430hp on pump and 544hp on C16 in his S2k. Thats all on stock engine. He didn't really spend that much at all. Now he's building and going for 800hp. Wish I would have had my car done to run him when he was making 544hp. I like the Z cause we can make crazy hp and not worry about our rear ends snapping.

 

The rears are good, its the axles that are the weak spot.

 

Yea, he's snapped axels a few times. Another good friend of mine has went through, 2 diffs, 2 axels, and a tranny in his. Funny thing is he hardly drags it. He does road course.

 

What high maintenance ? Changing the oil and spark plugs?? Why would he need a new hood? My car has alot of power and I am still using the stock hood. If the car is done right in the first place.....and you treat the car well.....all you have to do is add gas and go.

 

ive driven an s2k recently, and while i love the s2k's tranny, i still opt for the z over an s2k anyday. the low end torque makes it a much more "rounded" car imho. true, though after a suspension upgrade, the z is a completely diferent animal, but i will disagree with the comment on the sways. the factory z sways are some of the largest in production (35mm) and are very sturdy. and tak, m3's are not torquey at all, especially in the higher rpm range

 

You would need a hood if you went with the Stillen roots blower. I was simply trying to throw in the added cost if he were to find the Stillen option attractive, the overall cost seems to be of concern.

Again, and I don't care what kit you're running, people will have good and bad experiences with their setups. When I mean high maintenance, I'm saying people running turbo setups need to monitor things like the tune, tighten bolts regularly, check for leaks (yes, they might open up where there was a good seal). To some, not myself, that kind of attentive maintenance is a lot. I would hope people running big numbers on their Z's wouldn't be ignorant enough to say turbos aren't high maintenance. I may be some kind of noob on here but I've spent to many years helping out those who have found out the hard way and too many years in design to not factor in the risks. I'm not saying turbos are anywhere near high maintenance as a drag car where you'll dig into the engine every season or less. Please do not get defensive about my comments, there's no need. Everyone will have an opinion on something like this.

I never had a problem with my Turbo Scion tC, yes I drove a scion…. It was a daily driver, built, and ran an AEM standalone that worked with the drive by wire. The car was bulletproof and started everyday no problems ever. By no means was it a sports car or a race car, just having fun with something I never wanted to put away for the winters ect. Then I could compare it to a friend that ran a greddy turbo kit and blew two head gaskets, cracked manifold welds, and last blew his motor because his internal wastegate on the turbo seized up. This actually was a commen problem for that kit on the scion according to those on the forums. Just saying do your research and after all that…. I'll still say turbo is the way to go if you want my bias opinion.

 

I agree that the Z is a more well rounded car that appeals to a larger crowd than the S. Both cars serve their purpose. I would take the S if you have another daily driver but I would take the Z if it was your one and only. The S is more of a weekend warrior.

As far as the Turbo/Supercharger arguement goes, it really depend on what you want the car to do. A turbo is capable of more power any day. The supercharger is more maintenance free. The S2000's motor pairs up with supercharger more reliably and doesn't experience overheating problems as often.

The S2000's rear diff is weak. If you clutch drop you will break it sooner or later. If you take the time to build the car though I think you would be hard pressed to find a better chassis to build on, especially in convertible.

Stock I think the two cars are a great match in races and it would depend on the drivers/course. Drag races... The Z would win. most of the time.

 

Wait a minute mike, you're still on STOCK HOOD.....I was told by my tuner that I had to change my hood if I wanted over 350rwhp, it was a must.

 

Tom, Tim and Chris were telling me about your setup when specing mine out when I was down by SP talking about a winter build. Probably going for the same build sometime in the near future.

Supercharger, turbo, 350z, or S2k.... Got to go with what you want right