Review: Edelbrock Supercharger Kit
 

Hey Guys! I recently had the opportunity to install my Edelbrock kit on my 2013 Subaru BRZ. Below are my initial impressions of the kit from installation to first drive, and will update this thread with my findings as I continue to drive the kit.

Installation Time: 7 Hours

Installation Difficulty: ****

Installation Items:
- Edelbrock Kit
- Koyo Radiator w/ Perrin Hoses
- Perrin Water Pump & Alternator Pulleys

Previously Installed Engine Items:
- ACE Type B / 350 Header
- Fluidampr Crank Pulley

Unboxing:
This kit arrived via freight secured to a pallet. Everything was tightly packed, and no damage present on any components. The kit included a binder containing detailed, color instructions as well as a checklist of all parts in the kit.

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Engine Preparation:
The detailed instructions provided every detail needed to prepare your engine for installation of the supercharger. Everything went smoothly on disassembly, aside from the nest I found under my intake manifold around my knock sensor. Turns out something decided to call it home by packing my engine with insulation and feathers, who knows how long that was in there!

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Koyo Radiator Installation:
The Koyo radiator is slightly thicker, and was expected to create fitment issues with the Low Temp Radiator that is included with the supercharger kit. Surprisingly, I was able to run the Koyo radiator without any modification by simply flipping the rubber isolators in the upper radiator brackets upside down. With a little finesse, the brackets slide right in, and everything lined up well. The welds on the LTR do touch the bumper beam, but I don't forsee any issues.

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Supercharger Installation:
Again, instructions to the rescue, everything went smoothly, and fit perfectly. This kit took everything into consideration and was 100% bolt in. Brackets were provided for anything requiring relocation so no issues with fitting anything that was non factory or relocated somewhere non factory.

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Initial Impressions:
This kit has a great powerband, and the power delivery is very linear. This will be the perfect setup for someone who autocrosses, and wants a predictable setup. Based on the capabilities in the TVS blower, I think there is still a lot to be had in terms of horsepower with a custom calibration. But so far it seems to hold its own. My roomate runs a Vortech kit on his BRZ, and the Edelbrock kit pulls about a car length on him even on the CARB tune. I did notice some tip-in knock with the CARB tune, however my IAM still eventually timmed to 1.0 (factory set to 0.7) so everything must be happy!

Sounds:
From in the cabin, there is no supercharger whine from the TVS, even over my quiet Borla factory axleback. However, it sounds like I can hear the bypass valve ever so slightly under heavy driving.

Maintenance:
The belt for this kit is $10 on Amazon, making it a very cheap replacement should any issues arise! The belt is also easily accessible, and can be changed without removing anything from the car. Everything is easily accessible with the exception of the clutch slave cylinder bleeder. But it is still doable.

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10/25/2015:

Here are some videos from this weekend at Tail of the Dragon

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfvidoUx940"]Dragon Run 3 Oct 2015 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9ObGLXtOE"]Dragon Run 2 Oct 2015 - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks for the pictures and the review!

Great pics and review. Looking forward to future updates.

Also... MOO! lol

Moo.

My eyes went to that on every photo lol

Mine too lol

lol. That is my buddies watermark. His last name is Cao...so yeah...


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Thank you for posting this. I am really interested in this kit and need something that will require little maintenance and be reliable for a daily driver. Let us know how your experience progresses

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Are you going to get some dyno results?

Yes. I'm going to schedule some Dyno time soon. Still looking to get some videos too.


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I love the SC whine, too bad that you aren't able to hear it :(

Yea, I wish she had some whine, but if that's the price I pay for efficiency, I'm ok with that!

Also,

First fill up shows 23mpg average which is about 4mpg loss over when I was NA.


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Hey Jordan,

I actually have some whine in the higher rpms. Its very faint and low pitched. My previous car (MINI Cooper S) had a high pitched whine in comparison. I think I can hear something maybe since I have the stock exhaust system still.

-Aaron


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I may be in the minority but i can do without the whine. Sleeper 86 :party0030:

Review: Edelbrock Supercharger Kit
 

I think minis have Eaton blowers, twin screw make noise like that, if you want that whine there are kits for our cars that do that :)


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This kit uses an Eaton TVS twin screw...


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Whoops you're totally right, I had it wrong about the minis, thinking they were twin screw Eatons. Sorry

Edit: but also the TVS is not a twin screw, it's a roots type.


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i have an r53 mini, it is an Eaton roots type supercharger.

Thanks for this. I decided that this is the kit for me about 30 seconds after reading about it online... Of course I'd love to hear more from you as you drive the car and have fun with it.

I'm hoping this is due to constantly enjoying the new power. A 4 mpg loss when driving normally would kind of suck.

Of course! It's much more difficult to drive it modestly with an extra 70ish whp on tap.


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Fantastic pictures in your review. Let us know how you feel in a few thousand miles after you've had more seat time with it installed.

Thank you, it always help to have a photographer friend hanging out during install time!

I will keep this thread up to date with my impressions. I've got a lot of events left towards the end of the year, so it'll have plenty of time to shine.


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Any track days planned?

Yes sir.

On the agenda is a VIR Grand Course in November, a couple Autocross in Oct/Nov, and a trip to Tail of the Dragon next weekend.


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Could you elaborate on the difficulty level? Is that four stars or an obscenity? Great writeup nonetheless!!!

lol the difficulty level is something I do on all my review posts. It's basically a star rating out of a total of 5 stars.

Thanks for the kind words.


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Awesome, looking forward to it! I think part of the hesitation for some (myself included) is the reliability of the kit during extended use ie heat soak, etc during a hot trackday.

Would you mind doing some data logging during your events and posting them on here?

Would be nice to see if you could drive 'normally' for say 1 tank of gas and compare? No doubt the SC reduces consumption, but edelbrock themselves reckon it shouldn't by too bad at normal speeds and acceleration

Happy to do so.


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I will have that data after this weeks tank. I put a new clutch in Monday at the start of a new tank so I have been driving modest for this entire tank.


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Update: I ran a full tank through the clutch break in consisting of normal driving. My average was 25.5mpg which is about 1-2mpg loss over what I saw NA.

Nice. I don't think that's too bad a loss - especially considering the performance gain and grin factor!

Videos coming soon! A friend let me borrow a Sony 4K to get some good video with. Any specific things you guys would like to see? Camera mounting spot, type of driving, etc?

Talk about aesthetically pleasing. The show car crowd will definitely like this one. nice and clean.

Track day! Dyno! Trackday dyno?!

Lol, joking aside, I recall people asking about the whine, so maybe some interior shots with a good mic? I'm actually more interested in the day to day type of stuff, so maybe some low-rev city driving and freeway cruising?

For performance stuff, like track days or spirited drives, I'm mostly interested in data: IAT's, oil temps, fuel trims, etc. Feel free to overlay those of your video :D

Do you have any suggestions for good overlay software/apps? I have not done it previously, so I'm open to suggestions and giving it a try on my trip to the dragon this weekend.

co drive? :) can use my re71r.

-garrett

Unfortunately, no, the closest I've done was using the torque app track recorder (android).

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...prowl.recorder