n Southern ealitornia, there’s a well known syndicated radio-talk- show host by the name of “Motorman” Leon Kaplan. And for the last 20-plus years, the Motorman has been helping to solve

the “motor” problems of his vast listener audience, Although most of the call-ins want to chat about a hard-starting Toyota or fuel-guzzling SUV, Leon’s heart and soul is in high performance, whether it’s a car, plane, motorcycle or boat. And every chance he gets, he

seizes upon the opportunity to expound on the virtues of horsepower. ..lots of horsepower. According to Leon, you can never really have too much HP, which is something all the readers of this magazine can relate to.

Leon’s mantra never changes when asked about how to most cost effectively improve the performance of any motorized vehicle. “Put a supercharger on it,” says Leon, “it’s the best investment you can make if you’re really serious about getting maximum performance.”

With that good advice well in mind, HOT BOAT recently decided to put it to the test...a ProCharger marine supercharger system, that is, and see if you’re really getting as much for your buck as good ol’ Motorman says you are.

Although those giant, sticking-up-out-of -your- engine-hatch-like-a-miniature-Sears-Tower roots-type blowers are incredibly impressive to look at, they’re definitely not the most practical type of supercharging system for relatively stock engines and your average family performance-minded boater. Unless you’re willing to

do some serious internal upgrades to your engine, you’re probably much better off from a reliability standpoint to consider a complete bolt-on kit with moderate boost levels such as ProCharger offers rather than pur sue a more radical approach which

might cause you much frustration in the future.

We selected the ProCharger system because it’s affordable (a $4,996 suggested retail price), and a complete kit, relatively easy to install, requires little or nc engine modifications, and has been engineered to bolt on a stock engine. It’s really a no-brainer—the perfect answer for the boater Nho wants to significantly elevate the perfor-