i agree that the 3800 is hands down the superior engine design, but the supercharger system is its weak point. The tbird's was definately a lot better thought out and lends itself well to modding. I have had an idea for a while that will combine the strong points of both and put it into a platform that negates the disadvantages of a fwd setup. I've ran this idea past a lot of people in the past half year, but see what you guys think.
I have a 3800sc from a 97 gtp with 80,000 mi. on it sitting around waiting for a car. It's going to be the basis for my budget project from hell! I want to put some extreme boost on it, but I dont want to cough up the dough for an aftermarket ic. (they're way overpriced for the 3800). As for the supercharger, i plan to buy an m90 off a tbird, which go for $150-120 all day long on sccoa.com. I'm not just throwing away the stock sc though. I will mount the ford m90 on top of the stock sc with a custom bracket/plate. It will turn off of the outside belt (for you ford guys, the l67 has 2 serpentine belts). I will run piping from it to a front mount air to air ic (probably a large aftermarket one; a guy i know who owns a performance shop offered me a huge spearco for $250). I will then pipe the pressurized, cooled air into the inlet of the stock m90 running a stock pulley. It shouldn't pressurize it so much more as to cause Knock Retard. I would run as much boost as possible off the initial (ford) sc so it could be intercooled. In other words, i am going to have a sequential twin supercharger system, and i believe i can accomplish it with less money than an aftermarket air to water ic for the 3800 would cost (around $1200).
I want to put the engine in a pontiac fiero with a manual tranny. The 86-88 v-6 fieros came with a pretty stout getrag 5 speed that can hold a lot of torque when equipped with an aftermarket disk and pressure plate. I would have a very light, powerful car that is well balanced with the engine weight over the rear wheels. The rwd setup would be free of the torque steer and weight transfer problems of a fwd. Now the really cool part... For daily driving, i would be able to disengage the ford sc with the flip of a switch (like they disengage when the car's in park or neutral) and run on stock boost from the stock sc and run on pump gas. That would solve one of the inherent problems of superchargers -- the relative difficulty of changing boost. assuming i ever get it to work, it would solve the weaknesses of the 3800, of fwd, and of superchargers themselves. You cant ask for much more than that! I realize this will take a lot of custom fab and time, but it will be worth it if for no other reason than to have a totally unique setup. I've ran the idea past several people i know and several other forums, but tell me what u think. I havent found any theoretical problems with the sequential sc idea, but then again ive never seen it done before.
