Would you go back to n/a?
 

This is a question that has been dancing around in my head the last week or so. I have a 2015 frs with a kraftwerks kit on it. The car runs nicely and makes good power. But I just suffered a catalytic converter failure. I know it's not the end of the world but I feel I may have sacrificed the part I loved about the car , being fun and simple.

This brings me to my question. I almost want to return it back to stock. I just feel I miss when I could just hop in the car and drive it. It always seems now that I'm looking for something wrong, checking belts, fluids, and all the stuff you don't need to do on a daily basis with a stock car.

Have you or would you be ok with a low powered car after you tasted what it was like with forced induction?

Thats part of the game. The kit is already installed. I would just a get a decent catless header and enjoy the car. SC's preserve the car's NA feel but you just make more power everywhere just about.

You're 100% correct. And I get the whole build it better thing. The car has been sitting a week for me to decide what I'm doing with it. And the only reason I'm so confused is because the car was so damn good before the charger. As well as after.

If you look around most people have had good luck with SC's. As a person who is looking at potentially adding FI, I think you will regret ripping it out so soon after a very minor setback. With just a bit more power, it really does transform the car and the way it drives. What other problems have you had? Also think of the $$$ loss in selling a used kit, the cost to remove it(if you had it installed)

No other "problems" but tuning the car has been a pita, and the belt rattle with the kraftwerks is annoying. I got a great deal on the charger and really won't lose much money.

If tuning is a problem your using the wrong tuner. Also belt rattling? Have you called Kraftworks?

Forget their customer service (kraftwerks)lol. I've been using mike from moto-east. All is well just time consuming. The car made 280 whp with a small blower and no other mods. It runs great!

Look at the last page on the kraftwerks owners page for more info

Are you trying to pass emissions ?

Nope. No testing or anything in florida

I'm more worried about what's next? Will I be able to drive the car from fl to nc without problems? Is the car still reliable?

It's all in my head. I've built many cars and have had issues and I'm aware on over coming them.

There's no way I would go back to NA as I bought the car with SC in mind and it makes a good car sooooo much more fun imo :burnrubber:

Hey be glad it's not a turbo haha. I have all kinds of fun (problems) but to me that's just part of the game. Oil leaks, tuning issues, fueling, I just swapped transmissions for the third time on Friday :p. But yet I like working on my car and it's still enjoyable, that's why I keep doing it.

I was actually thinking about this, and I decided that if I were to start unloading parts, the only aftermarket part I would keep would be my supercharger. After getting used to the extra power, I worry the car would just feel dull back at 160whp.

Just go on a local FRS/BRZ facebook group and buy someone's stock header or frontpipe for cheap, then get back to enjoying your car. Don't let a single problem make you regret building the car you want. Alternatively you could sell the kit, count your losses, and treat this as a lesson. Your choice.

No, the boost is too fun. 40K+ on my Innovate kit and 76K+ on the car, with very little issues.

Already did it. 385whp on E85 on the KW SC to ??? on E85 NA. Just tracked at Buttonwillow yesterday. Any less fun? Not really. The peace of mind is definitely nice. Btw, I'm also using Mike at Moto-East as my FlexFuel tuner, as well as his kit.

Changes your perspective when you realize how little time you spend WOT on track :D

FI is not for everyone, and like you mentioned catalytic converter failure is common, thanks to the restrictive cats on the OEM header.. but those are fairly easy to fix, I think no need to be obsessive about the car especially if the car doesn't see any track days.. I have been having fun with it at the track and I would still go with KW in a heartbeat since the car is really boring in NA form because the torque dip sucks.. if I had an S2000 motor in this car I probably would stay NA for a long time though..

Looking forward to the rest of this year for sure! Getting a six pack is one of my to do items for this week. :thumbup:

Since going supercharged, I've seen the car in a different light in which if go back to NA, it would make it really less enjoyable for me. I tracked the car NA, and track it supercharged now, and the fun factor really is the same NA or supercharged. But boost is like a drug, once you try it, it just would not be the same. The extra upkeep with going aftermarket FI is something you just accept because the car wasn't made that way, and doing that is part of the game. Some people like checking and working on their cars, and some just want to drive it and forget about the upkeep, I belong to the latter and working on my car is part of the journey and I enjoy it.

I've yet to have heard of a cat failure on any of the Jackson Racing CARB cars...

I guess I can take it either way. I also do a have 300whp turbo civic. And that is where a lot of my time goes. I use my frs to drive to work and still have fun.

I wouldn't be able to stand my car daily driving if I went back to N/A. We can barely crack 170WHP N/A with our gas and altitude here and the lack of torque daily driving stock really made it very boring for me.

I couldn't do it. The lack of torque blows. But this car is my toy car, not my daily driver so modifying it and living with the rattles and loose screws and fluid checking before I go cruise the lake roads is just part of the game.

That said, I would never modify my daily driver, because a daily should be hassle free for the most part.

Yea good point. This doesn't have to be my daily driver as I also own a 2008 honda fit. Which is used for daily duty. But my wife likes to drive that. And I like to drive my frs because it's not a mini van (honda fit)

No fucking way!

I can only imagine this is the reason we see some many (still running) FI cars go demod or up for sale. End of the day the headache of the game isn't worth it to some compared to just buying a better car and beating on it.

I don't think I could demod and still be happy afterall that is why I added power. Should I have to go back to stock I'd imagine it would last a mater of weeks before I'd have the car up for sale and be moving on.

It can be very tiring. I think Dezoris said it best. It's fun but, the chicken shit little problems will make it an unenjoyable experience for some.

If anyone is planning on going back to NA... you can donate FI kits here :D

My wife will tell you I spend more time with my car than her. I wouldn't have it any other way

Best post in this thread. Its what keeps me NA at this time

Did I love the car before going FI (Innovate stage 2, E85)? Yes.

Do I love the car now? Yes.

Would I want to go back because it takes a bit more attention? No.

What would I change? The lightweight flywheel. I love the quick revs, but the gear rattle and tendency to stall out if I'm not careful gets annoying.

Negative ghostrider. No way I could ever go back to stock. I want to go the other way and keep adding performance mods.

Not at laguna!!!!!!! Dat WOT life.

Thanks OP. This is a great post. Im jealous of all of you that have gone FI but unfortunately I do not know enough to continuously check the car for issues and more over fixing any if there are. I think based on the feedback here and others, the best thing for me, would be to keep it NA and enjoy it for what it is. Still jealous of you all and love all the information and videos.

I'm going back NA, may not be permanent but the idea of a UEL header and a 4.56 final drive sound awesome. I really bought the car because it was NA I just got distracted by boost.

oh it will happen, eventually :)
I don't think, it has to anything with different placement of the same supercharger, you guys were able to melt stock cats in a completely stock car so..

to the OP, read below:

I wanted to share two videos so that you can see the effects of the Supercharger, Coilovers and other mods..Later, I was able to improve my lap time by another second which you can see in my Youtube page..

In the first video you'll see how the stock car lacks the power when compared to a GT3 and in the second video how I can keep up with the same GT3 even after I took off a few seconds behind him(coincidentally same car and driver, in the same group, right in front of me), of course I am not implying a FI BRZ with supporting mods is faster than a GT3 (possibly a driver error) but it's a good way to see the effects of the mods, since same cars and drivers, in a relatively controlled environment :)


First Video (only mods, wheels and NT01 tires)- Track Time : 2:02.96

[ame="http://youtu.be/lvz-aYHuF44"]http://youtu.be/lvz-aYHuF44[/ame]

Second video (Kraftwerks Supercharger, tune, full exhaust, Coilovers, aggressive alignment ..etc)- Track Time: 1:58.79

[ame="http://youtu.be/Fa1UWvB-Lrg"]http://youtu.be/Fa1UWvB-Lrg[/ame]

I believe the reason cats fail has more to do with the tune than whether it is boosted or not.

@Derka

If you really want to ditch the SC, keep in mind that removing your F.I. doesn't mean you have to go back fully to stock. You could go back to N.A. and run a catless header + e85 + tune. That'll get you 200 WHP with no torque dip. The car feels fun and balanced that way too.

Thanks for all the awesome responses! At the moment I'm going to stick it out and see where it goes. Lots of different and eye opening perspectives in this post!

I would think the same if I didn't see them failing in stock cars,
for the record I didn't have cat failure in my car but I've noticed a crack on the OEM header which is close to the cats on the header, and figured the very restrictive OEM cats might be the root cause..

I think due to restrictive emission rules/regulations many new engines nowadays some with additional cats ..GM and LS motors for instance, they used to come with 2 cats on the H pipe and now there are additional cats on the exhaust manifold and some guy had cat failure which also caused a catastrophic motor failure.. (Engine sucked in the cat pieces)... additional back pressure and higher EGTs...same can be said for the newer MX-5 engines.. cats on the test pipe (down pipe), however, doesn't cause this since it doesn't sit close enough to the heads..