well, "off topic" depends on how you look at things - my comment was not about the kit - it was about things peripherally related to the kit
given that increasing power is inversely exponentially related to the cost involved, such comparisons are moot, and off topic - it will cost more than the kit to get the same power as the kit - it's not just the numbers though
also, i wanted to keep this conversation relative to the kit and its development, and not dive headlong into conversations about "what ifs" and such - of course we all know that we want to get our money's worth out of whatever it is, and so i get your point, but this is the problem with using peak numbers for comparisons
at this point, based entirely on what i've seen so far, and i could easily be missing something not disclosed yet, i'm guessing the kit will be about $2.5k-$3k (the blower is $1400, fan another $200, rising rate regulator is $180, and brackets, pulleys, and such probably about $400-$500)
yes, we can get 90% of the way normally aspirated to the "perfect" number of 300hp with the kit as it stands, for a bit over half what that kit is likely to cost - it's that last 10% that costs though - it's the same kind of thing as getting from 265 to 280 - that costs 5 times what it did to get from 240 to 265 - it would be another 5 times that expenditure to get from 280 to 300 - that's the nature of the beast - that's why this is so exciting
but as i said, this is all pretty much off topic - the big story is that this is supposed to be a simple bolt-on kit, with big power gains and no loss of features or reliability - this is very new news and nobody to date has gotten near this
if we can stay focused on what this kit is and does, i think we stand a much better chance of it getting to where we want than if we pick apart what is going on before it is done
i am treading a fine line myself, wanting to know more about the kit, without picking it apart - i also have very specific thoughts about what i have seen so far - i am having a hard time "waiting to see" - this is a discussion forum, and such conversations are at the heart of its purpose - however, i do not want to bash or discourage a new product, before it even complete
this one is still a good way off from being finished - there are components missing, and some that can obviously be improved on - i think we can wait a while to see what he comes up with before saying "that isn't worth it"
but regardless of how well it works, my fear in the end though is that we will run right back into what i did when considering the marketing - a couple of years ago i proposed the idea of a street legal 50 state smog legal kit that made 270 at the wheels for under $5k - after a year of working on it, i got a whopping 6 people that were serious - the reality is that there just aren't that many people with the cash for this - i throw money at this car like there is no tomorrow, and i am having a hard time spending this large of a lump on power i may never use - it still pulls at me, but i just don't know yet - i have a stack of things to consider about this
so, i totally understand the hesitance to dive further into development for an unknown market, and i commend and applaud carl for even trying - i hope he keeps going, and nails down all the things that would make it a no brainer for us