I was chatting the other day with a guy who has installed NOs on his 5.7L Hemi Dodge Ram P/U and had nothing but good things to say.
He gave me a few tips - for anyone interested - on "bottling" a 5.7L.
First, he said to go with a ZEX wet kit. He said everything you'd need is in the kit (except having the bottle filled - appx. $65.00). Then he said you'd need to "cool" the spark plugs two steps to prevent detonation, which could seriously damage the pistons.
He also said that once the kit was in (it only operates at WOT), you should use the SuperChip FlashPaq to set the fuel for 87 octane.
He runs his with a 125hp shot, and it hasn't caused him any problems at all.
He was running the 1/4 mi in 14.71 @ 92.34 mph BEFORE the NOs kit,
and 13.43 @ 100.01 mph AFTER the installation.
You can see his truck & details here .

For about 10% of the cost of a supercharger, he's got a comparable hp gain.

 

Interesting, I will more than likely mod my Challenger and this may be an option I would consider. Its good to hear from someone who has used this option and had good results. Also with the supporting adjustments to keep it as safe as you can with Nitrous.

 

The Zex kits are used a lot on Horsepower TV on the Power Block and they like them as well.

For me I will go with some sort of forced induction even though it costs more. I feel it is safer and I do not
have to mess with filling up a bottle all of the time.

 

Intercooled Supercharger, end of conversation for me.

 

Yep, forced induction and big displacement is where it is at.

 

Welllll.... you know, Hemis and superchargers do go hand in hand. Big cubed hemi with a supercharger whine.

 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with mine yet.
While the NOs systems are a very cost effective way to add considerable horsepower, I'm not sure it's what I really want to do.
I've had turbocharged cars in the past, but never supercharged or bottled cars.
I'm leaning toward adding a supercharger.

 

there are up sides and down sides to every power adder, nitrous included. ive seen guys who have run bottled cars for years, who have perfectly tuned cars, and mid pass, something "goes wrong" with the nitrous setup....understand that while nitrous is cheap and super effective, it can also be VERY destructive should something go wrong.

ive dealt with a zex wet kit, and had excellent results. the problem is that many people dont have the smarts to wire everything up properly, and if your TPS switch isnt functioning properly and you run lean, it can do alot of damage in a hurry.

also, any forced induction setup, be it nitrous, turbo, or supercharger, increases the wear on an engine, especially one intended for NA use.

 

That's the problem for me.
While I can usually comprehend and apply anything I get my hands on in short order, not everything is spelled out and without experience with a "system" (be it supercharger, turbocharger or nitrous), lessons can be very costly since they're usually "reactive" as opposed to "proactive".
This brings up (personally) considerations as to which Hemi is most moddable. The 5.7 has a lower compression ratio, so (I would think) would be less susceptible to engine damage with forced induction than the higher SRT 6.1. Then again, with the SRT, you're starting with 85 more HP right off the showroom floor.
Decisions, decisions, decisions......

 

If Mopar performance does disappear, we will be depending on many 3rd party suppliers to provide what they see as the optimal and reliable performance power adder.