Going Supercharged - Need Input!
 

I have decided that I want to go in the supercharged direction with my BRZ.

I'm caught between using the Innovate kit, or the Jackson Racing kit. I've read through a bunch of the owners threads, reviews, vids etc... but I'm hoping to find some additional insight to point me in the right direction.

Ultimately, I want a kit that is well put together, has as few issues as one should expect and some pretty decent durability.

Has anyone had any great, or awful experience with either of these kits?

Yes

Tl; dr but get a turbo instead

Oh boy

If your set on getting a supercharger, go with the Rotex powered kits. The Innovate units just don't quite do it in the power department.

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/p...harger-frs.php

You may have difficulty finding an Innovate kit... but yes, that supercharger whine is fun for making some V8 guy do a double take!

Jesus! I wonder why the stock is so low?!

I was actually going to send you guys a message directly since you deal the JR kit. Would it be possible to get some firsthand honest feedback on their kit so far? That's the one that I'm leaning toward most.

We've actually sold a lot of Innovate kits as well; feel free to ask anything and everything you want about the Jackson Racing kit, although the owner's thread may be better as you'll get feedback from other owners as well.

Messaged!

I'm in no way an expert but I have been playing with the idea of a SC so I read all of the owners threads of all the major superchargers in the forced induction section (some of them are like 50+ pages!) The two that stood out to me in terms of best performance and reliability are the Rotrex kits from Jackson and Kraftwerks (it seems they have sorted out most of the problems now.)

I think turbo maybe a better bang for you buck if you mechanically inclined . both kinds of FI will give you issues but I think turbos, with their heat mgt and boost spikes, will ruin a dd without good car knowledge. Now on topic. I am partial to the innovative for a few reasons. One, area under the curve which is that low end power. If you look at the dyno you will see what appears to be more usuable power. Peak HP like in the Jackson is rad and all but that's at like 5 - 7 k. Most sc rob you of some low end power. Second reason is the innovative stg 1 does not produce a ton of power which makes me feel that their will be fewer supporting mods and upkeep than others. I guess I am just a worry head. I guess I am just worried about the Lt effects of demanding g greater power output from an engine. I am not comfortable working on cars and don't want to freak out every time my car acts funny

If those are the two options, then I would go with the Jackson Racing.

I'm also in the same boat, JR is still at the top of my list. I've read it's low end torque is surprisingly good.

I've been studying the Innovate intercooled Stage 2 kit for a while and like the hump of low end torque, since that's where my car spends 90%+ of its life. I do 2-4 track days per year around the Denver area and don't want to run into heat management issues, which is my only real concern with the Innovate kit. I've heard rumors they're working on new/updated stuff, but since I can't buy anytime soon I'm just watching to see what develops.

This is what I tell most people.

Lets say that you have an automatic, just so that shifting is taken out of the equation. If you're in "D", and the Automatic is letting you stay in that 2-4k RPM range, then you're not asking for very much power to begin with. If you ask for enough power, the Automatic will downshift you into a lower gear anyways. If you go WOT at 3k RPM, the auto will downshift you to a gear where you're at 5-6k RPM.

Low RPMs for cruising, high RPMs for big power. Win-win, IMO.


That being said, the Innovate intercooled is awesome for MT owners when you want to be lazy and not downshift., but even on the freeway, going 3k RPM, it's only a ~10hp difference at that point in the powerband.