chaos_being
06-20-2008, 12:07 PM
Hey everyone-
I have an automatic, 2006 tC that I want to boost. I've wanted the supercharger since pretty much day one, and now my finances can merit such a purchase.
I've been doing a lot of reading up on it, and of course I have found the stories of people who have had problems with it. I'm aware of those that have had seal, bearing, and bracket/install issues. However, what I haven't found are a lot of (detailed) feedback from people that have not had issues with it- I know they have to be out there, it's just that most people won't say anything about a product unless they have problems with it. Either way though, I want to hear from people that have had the supercharger for a while! I'm hoping to hear feedback from those with good experiences, but I want to hear the bad too. I'm already fairly comfortable with the idea of buying one, but I want to be sure before I lay the money down.
Lastly, a few more details about my car. It currently has ~58,000 miles on it (my old job made me drive a lot.) I only put about 10-12k a year on it now. This means that I will be out of my powertrain warranty by the time I supercharge it, so I'll only have the 1 yr/12,000 mile part warranty from TRD. I was initially concerned about the amount of milage on my engine, but all of the opionions I've recieved basically stated that "it's a Toyota engine, that isn't a lot of miles at all." My engine has been filled with 5-30 Mobil 1 from the 1st oil change, changed every 3-5k, and is only lightly modded (CAI and cat-back.) I'm pretty confident that it is in good shape for F/I.
I know here is where a lot of people will say "dude, just get a turbo," because of the fact that I'm going to be out of my powertrain warranty. Believe me, I thought about it, but in the end I still decided to go the supercharged route for these reasons:
1) Price. For around $2500 installed, I can get a complete F/I kit, injectors, tune (the reflash,) the while nine yards. That is a killer deal compared to at least $3500 for a turbo kit alone (ie, the Dezod auto kit,) and then I still have to pay for installation and tuning.
2) Power goals. I'm not looking to make my car a rubber-shredding race car or dyno queen. This is my daily driver. Sure, it would be fun to have a crazy turbo car, but I'm mostly just looking for a little more fun and oomph in my daily driving. I think the supercharger should do that just fine. Also, I have to take my tranny into account- it won't do me much good to make a ton of power and then blow out my transmission! I think conservative is going to be the name of the game for me.
3) Maintenance. It just seems that a turbo is going to require more maintenance and tweaking than the supercharger will, so long as I keep the supercharger stock.
Speaking of that, that will be my plan- to keep the supercharger stock, at least until it's part warranty is expired. Only then do I think I'd consider a few basic mods to it, so long as it has held up well. The only thing I would probably consider as mods off the bat would be an updated BPV and a oil catch can (basically, things that would make it work better with stock boost.) A pulley update may happen later, but honestly I've heard of too many people having bearing/seal problems from using it. I would probably get it rebuilt with new, better bearings & seals before I'd want to mess with that.
Also, I plan on getting some gauges installed- probably boost, wideband, and oil pressure, so I can keep an eye on how everything is working, and hopefully notice if anything started to go wrong before major damage was done.
Lastly, the bracket- it is true that even the 06 kits have the redesigned brackets, right?
The bottom line is that I want to increase the performance of my car, and keep it as close to the reliability and low-maintenace of my car as it is now (N/A.) I also want to keep this car for several more years. I'm hoping that keeping the charger stock, and being really meticulous with my maintenance will let me achive this :)
Thoughts?
I have an automatic, 2006 tC that I want to boost. I've wanted the supercharger since pretty much day one, and now my finances can merit such a purchase.
I've been doing a lot of reading up on it, and of course I have found the stories of people who have had problems with it. I'm aware of those that have had seal, bearing, and bracket/install issues. However, what I haven't found are a lot of (detailed) feedback from people that have not had issues with it- I know they have to be out there, it's just that most people won't say anything about a product unless they have problems with it. Either way though, I want to hear from people that have had the supercharger for a while! I'm hoping to hear feedback from those with good experiences, but I want to hear the bad too. I'm already fairly comfortable with the idea of buying one, but I want to be sure before I lay the money down.
Lastly, a few more details about my car. It currently has ~58,000 miles on it (my old job made me drive a lot.) I only put about 10-12k a year on it now. This means that I will be out of my powertrain warranty by the time I supercharge it, so I'll only have the 1 yr/12,000 mile part warranty from TRD. I was initially concerned about the amount of milage on my engine, but all of the opionions I've recieved basically stated that "it's a Toyota engine, that isn't a lot of miles at all." My engine has been filled with 5-30 Mobil 1 from the 1st oil change, changed every 3-5k, and is only lightly modded (CAI and cat-back.) I'm pretty confident that it is in good shape for F/I.
I know here is where a lot of people will say "dude, just get a turbo," because of the fact that I'm going to be out of my powertrain warranty. Believe me, I thought about it, but in the end I still decided to go the supercharged route for these reasons:
1) Price. For around $2500 installed, I can get a complete F/I kit, injectors, tune (the reflash,) the while nine yards. That is a killer deal compared to at least $3500 for a turbo kit alone (ie, the Dezod auto kit,) and then I still have to pay for installation and tuning.
2) Power goals. I'm not looking to make my car a rubber-shredding race car or dyno queen. This is my daily driver. Sure, it would be fun to have a crazy turbo car, but I'm mostly just looking for a little more fun and oomph in my daily driving. I think the supercharger should do that just fine. Also, I have to take my tranny into account- it won't do me much good to make a ton of power and then blow out my transmission! I think conservative is going to be the name of the game for me.
3) Maintenance. It just seems that a turbo is going to require more maintenance and tweaking than the supercharger will, so long as I keep the supercharger stock.
Speaking of that, that will be my plan- to keep the supercharger stock, at least until it's part warranty is expired. Only then do I think I'd consider a few basic mods to it, so long as it has held up well. The only thing I would probably consider as mods off the bat would be an updated BPV and a oil catch can (basically, things that would make it work better with stock boost.) A pulley update may happen later, but honestly I've heard of too many people having bearing/seal problems from using it. I would probably get it rebuilt with new, better bearings & seals before I'd want to mess with that.
Also, I plan on getting some gauges installed- probably boost, wideband, and oil pressure, so I can keep an eye on how everything is working, and hopefully notice if anything started to go wrong before major damage was done.
Lastly, the bracket- it is true that even the 06 kits have the redesigned brackets, right?
The bottom line is that I want to increase the performance of my car, and keep it as close to the reliability and low-maintenace of my car as it is now (N/A.) I also want to keep this car for several more years. I'm hoping that keeping the charger stock, and being really meticulous with my maintenance will let me achive this :)
Thoughts?