Need a plan for an SC mod? Details inside
 

So I've been doing some research, and I decided that I am getting an SC mod at the end of this year. Here are my goals and I could really use some suggestions.
Budget:under 6K in total, tax, shipping, installing etc.

Now: Stock 2015 limited BRZ, 6MT
Goal 260 WHP, the more the merrier as long as it's under the budget and reliable.
I am thinking about a supercharger kits probably vortech, performance wheels and tires for now. I don't know much about the clutch or pulleys, but if it meets my need, why not?
No suspension or exhaust unless it's absolutely necessary. I am concerned about the legal issues with emission and noise. Also I like the way the suspension feels right now, I don't want a super modified street racer.

To sum up, four basic principles, reliable, legal, under the budget and not too flamboyant. I am sure which brands to choose except for the SC, so anything would be helpful.

So far I'm having a great time with the vortech kit. No problems whatsoever yet. I'm making 270whp with the stock pulley and fuel system. I do have full exhaust mods though, so 260whp with the stock exhaust system would be doable for sure.
If you are doing the install, you could make budget.

Area under the curve.

For $6K USD, you're either a) going to do the install yourself or b) find a used kit.

Good luck though. Don't be discouraged, and the best recommendation is, although you budget $6K, have $8K ready.

4600 for a shipped SC, and @ 80 an hour for an 8 hour job is still under 6k.

Even at 170 an hour you are still under 6k

From installs and experiences first-hand and that I've read in the past, I've become a bit of a pessimistic estimator. :iono: You're right though, it's definitely possible to come in at the 6K mark.

If its not his main source of transportation, then a self install would be the way to go anyway. in my opinion.

Realistically if you do your own work, you can have a full Kraftwerks kit for a hair under $4000 and that does include an oil cooler.

If you want to do it right though:

Oil Cooler
Catch Cans
Radiator

Those 3 are what I think should be required for any FI build regardless of what you use the car for in that order. ~$1100 for those parts. I'm talking about dual catch cans as well in that price.

Tuning is the other part that has to be taken care of which involves a license, cable if you want your own, and tuning time. All that together is probably about 800-900 depending on who you use.

If you can manage to squeeze all that in and do things yourself outside of the tuning, you will be around your 6k budget. The install itself will almost be $1000 if you have someone do it, but SC's are cake to install compared to turbos.

I think the radiator really depends on location, of all the FI guys around here (many of whom track their cars) only one has an aftermarket radiator. No one has any problems with overheating.

It's very low priority as the stock cooling system is actually really decent. I see 103 degree temps every summer, so I just budgeted it in.

I think the aftermarket fans are actually more beneficial in situations like traffic. I'll probably invest in the FBM fan shroud for my Mishimoto radiator.

@Dezoris also tested aftermarket radiator cooling on the track and the most noticeable difference was the rate at which the temps recovered, which was faster, not necessarily cooler running.

ive been doing my research like you, deciding what to go with and i can tell you with (i think) confidence that unless youre installing on your own, you wont meet a budget of under $6000.... ive got 2 local shops im looking at (one on this forum) to get my stuff done, but regardless of who i go with, i think im looking at 7-8.5k because of installation :O

im just not tech savvy/brave enough to attempt on my own...and unless youve got an excellent friend/dad i wouldnt try either. no point in blowing up your first car cuz you accidently put wire b on a or something ...

tl;dr, i really like phantom and jackracing numbers. personally as a daily driver with no intent of tracking every single weekend, i found them more then suitable and easily managed, at least what ive read. but let me know what u go with! i like hearing as many testimonies as possible!

Vortech is a much more difficult install as it requires some shaving down near the A/C compressor. I've read through the manual and that kind of turned me away from the kit. It still is a great kit though.

The Rotrex kits though are super super easy to install. With basic mechanical skill and tools, you can have this installed yourself. The most important part for Rotrex is priming the charger and ensuring no oil leaks. Once you've covered your grounds on that, smooth sailings. :thumbsup:

I have no idea how you even figure 8k for a supercharger and installation. Unless they are charging you 3k for installation. If that is the case then you fail as a consumer.

Definitely go with one of the Rotrex kits. Vortech is pretty poor under the curve, it's like using a really laggy turbo.

If you have any desire in the future of tracking or getting the car close to redline frequently, go with the oil-fed V2 Vortech.

Oil cooler - good to have. A must have if you plan to track. But if you choose the V3 kit, no oil cooler necessary (has it's own oil and can easily be maintained). Just don't push WOT or track (HPDE, spirited drives included) on the V3.

Radiator - good to have. Stock is good up to a point.

Catch can/AOS - just make sure you cover the PCV side first.

But I have to agree, 6K may be stretching it unless you install yourself and/or prepared to live with the consequences of a tight(er) budget and a nice hp goal. Choking an FI with stock headers/exhaust system can work but getting 260hp, I'd let the pro tuners chime in. Luckily with sc, you can stick to the 2.5" exhaust, just something more free flowing than an OEM system.

youre right, i shouldvve mentioned other things i wanted to add onto the car :thumbsup:

my apologies, not descriptive enough. and i would most certainly be a sucker of a consumer :thumbdown:

The OP really just needs the JRSC, Oil Cooler and installation. Can definitely be had for 6k.

Dezoris and I use the same aftermarket radiator (KoyoRad) and we both track our cars.. I am pretty sure it's beneficial for track use, especially for those who wants to go with an water-oil type coil cooler such as OEM piece or add an heat exchanger route since the size of the radiator will also help.. but other than that oil cooler (stacked type) should be more beneficial when it comes to oil temps..

For street, I wouldn't really bother with a stack unit and simply get an OEM unit because..well it's OEM but for track use and FL, stacked type is a no brainer

I would stay away from the Vortech SC after hearing the horror stories and customer service experience.. and if you want to stay completely legal you should also keep all the cats in the exhaust system which might be an issue in FL heat ( I used to live in FL and I know what's involved to fight with heat) ..

maybe you should read more about the Kraftwerks and Jackson Racing kits in the owners forums,

Well put!

I like having all the support parts in place for that piece of mind knowing you're maximizing your cooling solution and taking a protective approach to an FI build, whether you drive it to work and back, or you take it to the track. Radiator, Fans, and Oil Cooler are smaller investments that protect a much larger investment. To me, that's worth every penny.

I should've mentioned though, since the cold weather is not an issue in TX and FL , you guys may not need an OEM oil cooler (for the warming purposes) or a thermostatic unit, and directly get the stacked plate (air to oil type) oil cooler..

the ideal setup in my mind is the combination of the OEM oil cooler and an adapter that goes on that to accommodate a air-oil type cooler..that would be best of both worlds

In texas, definitely central texas, there are days where I have had my car encased in an Inch of Ice.

It gets cold in Texas. Maybe not Sub 0 temperatures, but it gets cold in Texas.

Rarely. I think we can still make it without thermostatic for Austin and SA/Houston. Now the DF/W folks, I would consider going thermostatic as they actually see periods of much colder temps. Most days we're 40+ in January/February.

I'll just be very cautious and give the car more warmup time on the cold days to prevent issues.

It's a risk in Houston. Just last winter we had freezing temperatures that lasted several days, and we also woke up to 1+ inch layers of ice on our cars.

im so sorry but, is this bad for FI cars? i live on the east coast and if we get 1-3 inches of snow, its like it didnt even snow over here.

is temperature play that big a role in damaging/taking care of FI??
im pretty sure there are gonna be days i wake up with 4-6(ive seen 12+) inches of snow on my car depending on how mother nature is feeling...

Check with @moto_mike. He has a helluva deal on the KW kit installed and out the door. Long drive but you would come way under budget.

Not trying to be an ass, I am genuinely interested in these experiences as is anyone else who has or is thinking about buying (especially OP). Any background info?

What kind of horror stories? I intend to keep all the exhaust system but that has nothing to do with cooling right? I am considering the oil cooler like they suggested.

@Wonderbar (from Driveway) might wanna chime in as I remember he recently had his second unit failed on him and had a terrible customer service experience ..

See above . I don't understand why it costs more than the Rotrex kit since it doesn't make near the power of them and had to receive few updates after the release (obviously it wasn't tested enough before the production phase)..to each his own

I would definitely change the whole system to eliminate back pressure and unwanted heat in the heads due to it..ask me how I know ;)

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...9&d=1405440859

My situation is fairly unique.

My standard unit had oil seal failure at 15,000-17,000 miles; which reading online seems to be a regular occurrence across the board for all variations of the v3. I can write this off as regular maintenance, even turbo need a rebuild regularly when you beat on them how I have.

My upgraded v2 unit had oil seal failure at the back of the shaft at about 100 miles. Vortech is actually jumping through their butts to get it fixed on their dime and back to me. They've paid shipping round trip and covered the repair under warranty. I don't know exactly why the unit failed, but vortech has stepped up to fix the issue with little complaining after I called them out on their FB page.

I honestly think the major issue that's been had by many isn't that the product is bad, just that a couple people in direct communications to us customers, (example:Mariano in tech support) are giving their brand a bad name. That was my biggest issue so far.

Every system has it's quirks, and aside from my customer service experience, I've enjoyed my kit this far. I'll evaluate the capabilities of the v2 to see if it'll meet my new goals for the power on the car when I get the unit back and tested.

Son I am disappoint. This many posts and nobody told the n00b the two most important supporting mods: a wideband and a boost gauge. The most important thing to do when you go forced induction is to make sure you have a way to monitor that everything is working properly. That means your AFR is correct and you are hitting your boost targets.

AEM failsafe! Or P3Cars Vent gauge. I prefer the failsafe though.

I don't think you need a wideband and a boost gauge for a CARB tuned JRSC.

His goal right now is ~260 whp.

Did you buy gap insurance?

Gap insurance is a good idea. Defnitely when you get in an accident and the insurance company wants to give you 18g for your car that you owe 24 on.

I purchased gap insurance, but many people say you don't "need" it.

For SC's, I think the P3Cars Vent Gauge is helpful. Boost is so consistent on an SC. It's a completely different story on turbo.

If anything, I want to see oil temp, pressure, and boost just for the hell of it.

As far as seeing all of those measurements. I personally would get an android head unit with an HKS OB-Link.

Just because I'd rather spend the $$$ to not have random guages in my car.

Set it and forget it right. Good luck with that. Gap insurance? What is that? All forced induction owners should own their cars outright amirite? If you need more coverage then call your Insurance company and ask for additional coverage.

I explained what gap insurance was in my post.....

And you are wrong. Plenty of "FI Owners" do not own their cars.

Right, set it and forget it, while performing proper maintenance. A CARB Tune is not supposed to be tampered with, and with the linear power delivery of a supercharger you shouln't see any boost spikes. If you do have boost spikes, then you won't need a boost guage to know there is something wrong with your car.

Turbo-charger maintenance and supercharger maintenance are two different animals.

While I would say it would be wise to get a boost gauge and wideband for a turbo, to run a CARB tuned supercharger (Which is all he needs to meet his goal) all of that stuff is not necissary and probably because you want to be the cool guy in the parking lot.

Well that joke flew right over your head. How will you know you have a boost leak at one of the many couplers on a Vortech setup without a boost gauge?

Are you literally asking "How can you tell you do not have a sealed system w/o a boost guauge?"?

Umm, you can hear it?

You have impressive ears if you can hear a 1 psi boost leak from an intercooler coupler while driving in the car while doing a full boost pull. You definitely don't need a boost gauge.