PERRIN's Vortech Supercharger Build Thread....

[PERRIN_Jeff]

This is going to be a running thread setup to show off the new Vortech Supercharger Kit for the BRZ and FR-S. We were one of the lucky few to get our hands on this kit to do some final fit and finish testing and of course dynoing!

Most people first caught wind of the Vortech kit after seeing this add they released a while back. But a couple months prior to this we had already been in talks with Vortech about this up and coming kit. For us this was very exciting as there are so many great things about a Supercharger kit over a turbo kit.



So Why No Turbo?

We are known for making turbo kits for the WRX's and STI's and you better believe that we thought about a kit for the BRZ/FR-S platform. In early planning stages there were a lot of things that we had to consider. Performance of the turbo, placement of the turbo, thermal related issues, installation, tuning, boost control, safety, proper oil drain, a huge parts list, actual customer demand and cost. Everything about a turbo kit is easy except two major issues, cost and thermal related issues. The thermal related issues are things like melted engine components from headers and downpipes routing next to items that wouldn't take the heat. This would require a properly built thermal blanket for the headers and downpipe which is a huge expense. Cost is a huge factor for us as this is what would scare people away. If properly built with all things considered, we could be pushing to the $7000 range which is a huge amount to swallow, then add custom tuning and installation, you could easily push to $8000 plus range. The price and the actual number of customers that might buy this over the next couple years is what really steered us away.

The other thing is this car is a drivers car. Adding a turbo like power band could ruin the way the car acts. Currently the power band is rather flat and a smooth increasing HP curve to 7000-ish. Adding a turbo and the HIT from the onset of boost is going to change a lot of things about how the car drives and acts under power in a corner. What would be perfect is a power curve like stock but with 30-50 HP across the whole range. That provides the same basic characteristics as it has now, but with the power the car should have come with. This isn't an AWD car that can absorb some of that hit in the onset of boost from a turbo through the additional traction it has. This is a RWD with limited traction, so power modulation and smoothness of power is key to keeping this car a "drivers". The way to get this smooth powerband is with a supercharger!

Superchargers provide a very linear power band because of the boost curves they provide. This is a very desirable kind of power band for an application like this and Vortech has the answer we feel most customers will be looking for.

Its' Here Finally!

Today our package from Vortech showed up!



First thing I did was take all the parts out of the box and lay them all out to see what we got!





This grouping of parts may look overwhelming but it really isn't. Boost tubes, FMIC, couples, supercharger, brackets, intakes and some hose clamps. Its all rather very simple in its basic form. After spending time with the manual, this looks like its about a 2-3 hour install time, which is very fast!



The heart of the kit is the Supercharger and main mounting bracket. This bracket is very beefy and integrates to the front of the engine using some stand offs and brackets.





This is my favorite part of the kit. The intake system is very well thought out and very OEM looking. To the normal onlooker, they could pop the hood and not even notice that there is a supercharger installed.



The airbox is roto-formed (a method of forming plastic) which makes for a very clean outside and super smooth inside. Other really cool thing is the small trap door for the accessing the filter. A couple of 1/4 turn fasteners are used to open the hatch and get to the filter. This makes for a very clean setup!



Like all good supercharger kits a blow off valve is included. I am sure many people will replace this with something bigger and badder, but this size is perfect for 5-15psi that this kit could make.



Huge Brain fart!! So I pulled my car in at lunch to start the last few steps. I had full intentions to drive it home and around 4:30 I started back up with the install. Sounds normal until I was reminded that there was nothing going in and out of the shop for the next 5 days!! I completely forgot dock's driveway repaired and my car is literally stuck in the shop! The brain fart is that I had been there all day listening to them tear it up, and it didn't click unil about 6pm when someone asked "How are you getting home"!

I guess the good thing is, it forces me to put it on dyno since I can't get it out of the shop!



After a couple of days dynoing and working through some bugs It was time to get some road tuning in.
Our pad still wasn't ok to drive on and I couldn't wait another day so we squeezed it out of the shops double doors.
After measuring very carefully we had .500" of clearance to make it work.....



After we removed one door and having 2 people guide me, it only took one shot!



So how does it drive? I am really glad i didn't' wait longer as there is some major tuning needed for the drivability stuff. I only did a couple of full throttle pulls to 5000 and it was for sure faster, but since my wideband wasn't installed I didn't want to push it. Over the day or two, I should have it all worked out and ready to dyno again next week.


Dyno Proving Time


This dyno graph was one of the first few runs we made using the blow through boost tubes I made (more on this later). This is a really quick tune done to test out a few things about how the engine reacts to boost. This graph shows the basic Wheel HP to expect from the kit when its all done. There is some smoothness and a bit more low end power to be gain, but overall this is very good! The fueling on this run was super rich in spots, lean in others and timing was no where near optimized. *Just wait until this is tuned! *This is running 5psi at 6500 RPM for reference.



Here is the boost curve for this as well. You can see that the boost at redline is a nice 7psi.




Lets Talk About the Kit

System Features

• Gear-driven V-3 H67BC centrifugal supercharger, designed specifically for the FA20 Boxer engine.
• The V-3 features an internal oil reservoir. No connection between the oil pan and the compressor gear case is required; no oil line. Includes a remote fluid drain hose (attached to supercharger) that allows for simple fluid changes without removing the supercharger from the vehicle.
• Technologically advanced, high-efficiency, 5-Axis machined billet impeller and high-diffusion housing developed in our SAE-J1723-compliant supercharger test cell.
• Stylized airbox and filter housing design allows for additional flow, while retaining the factory cold air ram intake. Quick release fasteners allow for simple access to filter for change/cleaning.
• Integrated air/air charge cooler configuration features all aluminum tube ducting and an oversized cooler core to provide maximum cooling with minimum pressure loss.
• Discharge duct connections utilize heat resistant silicon sleeves and premium quality stainless steel clamps.
• CNC machined billet mounting bracketry with black anodized finish for attractive and functional "factory-type" appearance and rigidity.
• Complete bolt-on system including all necessary belts, pulleys and reusable high-flow air filter.
• There are going to be two part numbers offered. One is a complete kit and the other is a tuner kit. The complete kit consists of everything you need including fuel system modifications and an ECU re-calibration/reflash device. The tuner kit includes everything except the fueling and tuning device. These kits will require a custom dyno tune for your car.

PN DESCRIPTION PRICE
4TF218-014L 2013 FR-S/BRZ Complete System with V-3 H67BC Supercharger and Air/Air Interooler, Black Finish, Includes fuel system upgrades and ECU reflash device and Calibration (Ship Date TBA) $TBA

4TF218-114L 2013 FR-S/BRZ Tuner Kit with V-3 H67BC Supercharger and Air/Air Charge Cooler, Black Finish. Tuner Kits do not include fuel management or tuning. (Ship Date December 2012) $4295

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This is what most people have been waiting for!!
New Thread HERE!!



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[xcelir8brz]

Yeah! Counting on this!

[youcantseeme24]

great pics

[whitefrs]

please post installation pics

[LazyZed]

Very nice write up so far. Keep the info coming!

[HATED1]

please keep the info coming! thanks!

[Got3n]

Omg, I need clean pants now!!!!!!

[JohnATL]

This looks promising. Give me 250-275 WHP with this, your tune and your exhaust and I'll give you more of my money.

[RYU]

Doesn't a centrifugal SC build boost similar a turbo? It's not necessarily like a twin screw/roots where it's almost instant boost IIRC. I've never owned a car with a centrifugal so would like to hear opinions here. I've only owned a turbo and a twin screw SC, not a centrifugal SC.

Thanks

[JoeBoxer]

Looks good, it's going to come down to this or Innovate for me. Cost will be the key factor between the two as i'm sure "peak" power numbers will be similar.

[armythug]

This kit looks really good. Nice quality.

[JPxM0Dz]

Looks great!

[Opposed]

I agree. A lot of great local tuners have laughed at me for even thinking about a supercharger for this platform. But honestly, for a guy who drives this every day, in every kind of weather you could think of, I still think this is the best option. Sure, I would love that extra mid range punch of say the AVO kit, but all of the extra oil stuff still kind of turns me off. And when I think long term (5-10) years, this is stuff that potentially could break/leak. I know guys with Vortechs on their S2000's that have put over 150k miles on them, and have never had an issue. I feel like with my old S, this will still give the car the same characteristics as stock form, but more "enhanced". I would just like to feel that linear pull to redline, like the power just keeps climbing. Im extremely excited to watch this. Also, (and I could be wrong) I feel that a linear power delivery could be more reliable, on the engine and drivetrain, as it gradually makes power, and smoothly rather than a huge torque jump that a turbo provides if that makes sense.

[MmmHamSandwich]

I don't have very good lung capacity so y'all better hurry up!

[mechaghost]

Please do. Nom Nom Nom

[FreshFRS]

Originally Posted by JoeBoxer

Looks good, it's going to come down to this or Innovate for me. Cost will be the key factor between the two as i'm sure "peak" power numbers will be similar.

peak power should be roughly the same? maybe. innovates kit might be a little lower in the top end but will have more area under the curve due to the way PD superchargers provide power.

[RedRocket]

Thanks perrin for this thread... I really wasn't considering this system, but knowing that Perrin is doing one kind of puts my mind at ease..

Being able to buy a TUNE from a company that has the supercharger seems like WIN to me..

Honestly I've got about 6months befor I'm willing to put one in... I want to just make sure nothing insane is going to happen before i start tweaking too much..

I've learned in the past that patience pays dividens..

The parts looks rather easy to follow... the install can't be TOO overwhelming for a novice...

[sw20kosh]

I wonder how much these Vortech kits are going to be. We have turbo kits (with all the parts and complexity) going for $4800 +. Might we assume this kit would be in the 3000-4000 range?

Also any word on CA legality? Vortech is really big on this.

[2forme]

I'm telling ya. I got my F/I money saved up and ready to go. But between this and AVO's kit.... it's going to be hard to decide....

[ATL BRZ]

[Gixxersixxerman]

In to watch what happens

[Opposed]

Originally Posted by 2forme

I'm telling ya. I got my F/I money saved up and ready to go. But between this and AVO's kit.... it's going to be hard to decide....

I know! I feel what your saying. Its starting to become a problem. Im loosing sleep over it, and now the wife is tired of hearing about how hard it is to decide on what kind of power delivery/reliability I want from a force inducted kit...lol