FA20Club tuned Vortech kit 93 octane
 

My experience with the Vortech STG 1. It's on 93 octane and no other mods.

I've had some highs and lows through out this experience. As you read this tid bit I want you to know that I am overall happy with my decision. I think it was money well spent and after having the car for 10 months, she finally drives how she looks.

Little bit of a back story. I'm in the navy and currently transitioning between commands. I got 3 weeks of vacation so I decided to go to IN to visit friends and family. Mainly because I'm set to deploy in July. I had Vortech ship my kit there, where I cold install it over the course of a few days.

INSTALL

I get the kit and as I open it up I'm in awe. It was packed so well, I probably could have chucked the box and it would have been ok.

Install went ok. It took 13 hours and the instructions are pretty straight forward. The average Joe could figure it out but here are a few tips

- As per the instructions, you start taking the intake off along with other things in the engine bay and then move onto removing the bumper and installing the piping and intercooler. In order to get the bumper off you have to remove 3 phillips head clips on the inside of the fender. Take these off before doing anything. Start the car, turn the wheel, take them off, turn the wheel the other way and remove the other side. If you dont do this step first, you cant start your car and turning the wheel sucks if its not started.
- Be prepared to drop a few bolts. A magnet on a stick really helps.
- I left the car on the ground as I installed everything and my back was paying for it the next 3 days.
- I had to remove the dip stick holder in order to move the tensioner far enough to slip the belt on.
- When drilling into your bumper brace (or whatever its called) use the smallest bit you have then continuously use the next size up to drill the hole bigger and bigger until you get the right size.
- When connecting the air box to the SC, take the coupler off the air box and attach it to the SC first

FA20Club @FA20Club.com

I bought this kit from @Pure Automotive through another tuner. I received the kit on a Friday and after many texts, calls, and emails, I was informed I had to go on said tuners website and submit a ticket to request a base map. That happened on a Monday also the same day I installed my kit. 4 days go by and I still dont have a tune. I was on vacation visiting friends and family. I didn't have time for my car to be down and had to cancel plans with a few friends. So I contact FA20Club to see if I could purchase a tune off him. 2 hours after the initial contact I have a tune. Keep in mind I didnt pm him until 10pm on Thursday night. Over the next few days he provided me with several updates (some with multiple updates on the same day) and was quick to respond to any questions or requests I had. The other tuner has a record (with me) of about a 5 day respond time. While waiting on my tune, I asked said tuner where it was and his response...."if you put in the request, it'll get done. please please please don't email me unless your car is on fire".

FA20Club has great customer service and is pleasant to work with. I fucked up the first few logs I did and he patiently worked with me until I got it right. Granted I had to spend a little extra money to go through another tuner, but I don't regret it one bit. For any tuning needs, I highly recommend him.

VORTECH

I can't say enough about how great of a company Vortech is. I've had a couple of issues along the way and every time I called, they are happy to help. The biggest issue I had was with my inter-cooler. Where you mount the side brackets, there are 2 holes on each side of it. Well the top hole on each side had some shit in it that was about the consistency of hardened epoxy. Needless to say it wasnt coming out nor was the bolt going in. When I called, dude immediately went to check the ones they had in stock and made sure it wasn't a continuous issue. After I was able to send some pics they shipped a new one out to me free of charge. Hats off to you guys.

DRIVING

The car is a whole new animal. We all have seen the videos but to be in the drivers seat is something else. The kit doesn't kick in until 4k but when she does, amazing things happen. The engine feels stronger and more powerful. 0-100 is more fun and you get there a lot faster. And a lot of times by accident from the shear fun of driving it. The kit was described to me as "you feel superior on the road but it isn't over powering" and that's exactly how it is.

PROS (minus the obvious power gains)
- Driving is a blast
- It's much easier to pass a car when your on the highway and in 6th gear
- Gas mileage stayed the same
- When driving from IN to VA and through the moutains, I had the cruise control set to 79. As I drove up 5-7% grades, it never once bogged down. It maintained a steady 3500 rpms as I drove up the mountains.
- When cruising around 65 you can drop it into 3rd, smash the gas, and have instant power. I mean she really comes alive.

CONS

- From the extra weight up front, the steering is now a little heavier
- When the engine is not in positive boost and your cruising, there is a constant "air leaking" sound coming from the bypass valve. Its not too bad but if your listening for it, you can hear it.
- When you're blow 3k, you cant stomp the gas and expect power. It pulls better then N/A, but doesnt have that "get up and go" unless you downshift and stomp the gas.
- It deletes the sound tube (sounds stupid but I loved it)

GAS MILEAGE

On the back from my trip I averaged 31 mpg (highway). Before I left I was able to get 1 tank of hard driving on the back roads with a little bit of highway thrown in there and I got 26 mpg. Since I'm back home and will be in a more "realistic" driving scenario, I'll update this section later on.

I thought Vortech, being a supercharger, will have more linear power even in the low RPM range, which is what I'm looking for for my car. This post has given me second thoughts about it.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the great honest and unbiased review. Sucks about the slow response from your first tuner.

hm, that's sounds familiar to some other people's complaints i have seen on the forum, wander if it's the same tuner.

interesting, so low rpm kick should not play a significant role in decision making between vortech and a turbo kit. thank for the info.

your videos were the ones I was referring to.

NICE!!! set up !!and i agree @FA20Club.com best customer service!!

Glad you were able to work out the tuning!

Your thinking of a "roots" type, or "twin screw" type. These will have instant response in the low end. Your are right about the Vortech being linear since its a centrifigul type. It will build more boost as the RPMs climb.

In for results of this!

Me too

Thanks for your help as well.

Brady @Pure Automotive is an awesome vender. Every time I asked something or needed information and got a voicemail or sent him a text, he answered almost immediately. He knew the issues I had and after thing was said and done, he checked up on me to make sure everything was fine. Thanks man.

Brady @ Pure is awesome! He helped me out on my build too!!

Congrats on your purchase and hope you enjoy it fully.

Thanks for the HONEST review!!

So if I want linear power for all range, which kit should I get?

Define linear power. Do you want you torque curve to be flat, or you want to to be progressing all the way through redline in a straight line?

A Flat torque curve gives you a lot of torque at low rpms then stays up there high. A linear climbing curve starts low but increases all the way to redline. So which one you mean?

Happy to help. Glad to hear everything got worked out in the end and you are enjoying it! :thumbsup: