I was originally going to save up my money until I could go with a full blown turbo kit and attempt to push approximately 350 whp. While I was at work today, I realized that going from about 135-140 whp to 350 whp in the time span of a couple of weeks would probably not be a good idea considering driving experience. The quickest car I would have driven up until that point would be about 160 whp, not to mention the fact that a turbo setup would be a little harder than a supercharger considering my mechanical experience.

I've decided that I want to go with an M62 Supercharger setup, and slowly increase the power via pulley sizes. I know that I will probably eventually want around 350 whp which I know is probably a little past the M62's limits, but at that point I figure I can just swap out the supercharger for a turbo setup, and here's where my questions begin.

I've got an Ecotec, and I know that the GM reflash locks out further tuning on Ecotec engines. Could I swap another stock chip into my car from a junkyard when I decide to go from Supercharger > Turbo, or would that cause some serious problems? I think I know the answer already, but my fingers are crossed.

Secondly, I know that at around 250 whp, I'm going to want to get the following for strength:

Eagle Rods
Wiseco Forged Pistons 8.9:1 Comp. with a .020 overbore
SPEC Stage 3 Solid Disc Clutch

And Patriot Stage II Heads with Cams for better flow. Is there anything from this list that I'm missing, or does it seem good to go?

In addition, for the time being I just want to add a little bit of speed at a time that will help support my eventual boost aspirations.

So far I've got an Intake... yes, that's it. It's an RKSport, and I figure with the M62, I can still use part of it. My next mods would include the following:

B&M Short Throw
Fidanza Aluminum Flywheel
Engine/Tranny Mounts
3" Exhaust (comes later when it'll actually help)

Are there any other power adders that I'm forgetting that would be helpful and still usable once I get a Supercharger / Turbo? I know with the Supercharger I'll probably end up grabbing a header, and that once the Turbo goes on it'll probably go on eBay.

As far as suspension/handling goes, I'm going back to a stock suspension setup for a little while before I go with Sportlines/Koni Yellows. I'll probably go with a Wilwood Big Brake kit and the Neon rear disc swap. If there's anything of this nature that I might not be aware of yet that I can also do, please let me know. Thanks guys.

why would you lower the compression? Leave it at 10:1 but forged is good

I was lowering the compression for the eventual 350 whp, and because I want it to be streetable/run pump gas. Can I keep the CR at 10:1 on pump gas with that much boost?

well if your gonna supercharge it your better off sticking with stock compression.

If your going for 350 whp you can go wither way depending on what your gonna use it for, me personally, I have 10:1 forged pistons laying in the spare bedroom waiting.

If you drop your compression with the supercharger, it won't be able to make up for it. A turbo can...the m62, nope. Why buy a supercharger if you know you're going to eventually swap it for a turbo. Start piecing together your turbo parts and keep the boost pressure relatively low. You don't break anything, and it'll be just as strong as the m62. If you're going to do the patriot head and other serious airflow mods (cams and such), don't get the reflash. The injectors it comes with are already stretched, and that would only make them go static.

You COULD go HPTuners if you're going to stay under 15 psi or so. That's where people say they really start to lose tuning resolution. Megasquirt would be your next best bet, I think.

Or, if you know you're going to eventually turbocharge, look into nitrous. It's relatively cheap, you can get a wet kit and be fine as far as fuel goes. You're looking at $700 for all you'd need instead of $3,000 for the supercharger kit.

if you want 350hp, go turbo and drop compression

I'm not sure why you are so quick to rule out a turbo kit, especially the hahn kit. You aren't going to bolt it on and instantly be at 350hp anyways. Look at the stage 2 kit run it off the WG and you'll be at about 220ish WHP. Getting the M62 to 250WHP is going to be some work, to 300HP a hell of a lot of work and money, and I say forget it for 350WHP.

So eventually you want to get to 350 and be turbo anyways so do it, start with a turbo at 220ish and work your way up to 350 or beyond slowly increasing boost as you would with a smaller pulley.

I've had the HAHN Stage 2 kit dynoed about 210HP before I fixed some leaking issues, M62 dynoed around 217WHP, and the HAHN Stage 5 kit w 20G dynoed at 284WHP (all on the same stock motor). I don't miss or regret selling the SC to this day, I only regret buying it.

It's a waste of time and effort to convert to the SC and then down the road convert to a turbo. As you can see I'm f'n happier being turboed.

Alright guys, thanks for all the input. One of the main reasons I wanted to go with a supercharger setup instead of the turbo is because as I've made it apparent recently, I'm not that mechanically inclined, and from what I've read/seen, a supercharger is much easier to set up. As far as the turbo goes, I was going to go with a t3/t4 hybrid, so I should be able to push 350 whp decently easily with it... or so I assume.

I found both HAHN kits to be easier to install than the GMPP SC, but they all are a kit so to speak. Piecing something together would be a little more difficult, but not impossible especially if you can already do the SC install. Yeah you would be able to push 350 easily, but that doesn't mean you have to. Work your way up the power ladder just like the SC, increase the boost a little at a time while you get used to it and have supporting mods.

Yeah, you have a point. I could pretty much turbo my car now and just tune it for low boost... First I gotta fix my suspension though... ;( Thanks guys.