Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB - View Single Post - Full throttle Electric Supercharger Build Thread

robwbright · 06-03-2014, 02:00 PM

Just FYI, here's what I sent Car and Driver. Maybe it was overkill, but since I felt they'd need some convincing, I gave them plenty of info:

-------------------

"Hello Editors of this fine magazine!

I just received the July 2014 issue with the "30 Cars under 30k" story. I was pleased to see my beloved BRZ in another of your "best of" lists.

However, while your list of proposed mods includes some fine, quality products, there's a recently released mod that you probably are not aware of... IMO, bang for the buck, it's a whole lot better choice than the JDL headers and Greddy cat back - and the cost is almost identical. Ten days ago, I installed this mod in less than three hours and, frankly, it's incredible for the price (about $1800 to $2000 depending on the set up).

It's the Phantom Full Throttle Electric Supercharger (ESC)

Before you shut me off with "It's already been proven that electric superchargers don't work...", please note that this is NOT ANYTHING like the $100 electric superchargers on ebay.

The ESC makes around 5 psi of boost at low rpm tapering to around 1 psi at 7000 rpm. Depending on the particular battery pack you choose, there are dyno proven gains of +70 ft/lb of torque at 4000+/- rpm and peak HP is up from about 170 at the rear wheels to 220+ at the rear wheels (see attached dyno chart).

It the real world, I've seen my 40-60 time drop from 2.92 seconds stock to 2.42 seconds with the ESC. I've been unable to improve the 0-60 time more than a couple tenths because of excessive wheelspin on the stock tires - basically, I haven't figured out the best way to launch, yet. One fellow with the system is claiming a 0-60 of 5.8 seconds. Another has a drag strip time slip with a 14.02 quarter.

The kit uses a switch under the throttle pedal to turn on only at WOT and supplies about 45+/- seconds of continuous boost (meaning it's really hard to run out of boost in street use). It recharges at an 8:1 rate when you're not at WOT (and an auxiliary charger will be released soon to cut the recharge rate to 4:1). Gas mileage when cruising and ESC is not engaged is improved by 3-5 mpg - last night I drove 25 miles on 4 lane road at an average speed of around 62 mph with no stops. A pic of my average mileage is attached (40.3 mpg). Of course, my overall average mileage has dropped substantially because I can't stop going WOT.

Incidentally, the kit has been or is being tested on the following cars: Miata, Jetta, VW MK IV 2.0, Chevy Silverado 4.3, VW MK IV VR6, BMW 318i E36 and Lotus Elise - all with significant gains - particularly in the lower rpm range. Kinks have been worked out and the gains are extending further into the high rpm range.

Main site:

http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/

BRZ/FRS kit:

http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/...ubaru-brz.html

Other dynos:

http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/dyno-results.html

And below is a link to a 260+ page development thread on one of the BRZ/FRS forums - that's how I found out about it. 1st page posts are info and updates. Then the thread is in chronological order... and you see a LOT of skepticism early in the thread (indeed, I, too, was initially skeptical). The dynos and the 25 people currently using the system resolve all skepticism:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39719

Here's the owner's thread with a list of the forum members who currently have the ESC installed:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66862

And finally, I've attached the Miata dyno, which is on the Miata forum, here:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread...537959&page=12

I think this product is something you guys should consider testing...

The tune I am using is included free with the Open Flash Tablet, which is a great product and costs $500 here:

http://openflashtablet.com/products/OFT/index.html

Finally, another poster on the forum pointed this out about your proposed mods:

--------------------------------------

"Nope, Car and Driver should make the follow switches.

Open Flash Header instead of JDL. Save $500.
ESC in place of intake, shifter, and catback.
Open Flash Tablet instead of ECUTek flash.

That will save about $2k which gets you great sound, no torque dip, and quality parts, and a system designed to work well together. The savings is enough to buy the ESC and dual dump battery pack."

--------------------------------------

I concur with him... You'd have an FRS that cost about $28,000... and it would have around 220+/- rear wheel hp and around 200 ft/lb of torque at 4000 rpm.

Check it out!"

06-03-2014, 02:00 PM	#5907
robwbright Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Drives: '13 BRZ Limited WRB Phantom ESC 1.5 Location: Middleport, OH Posts: 720 Thanks: 277 Thanked 243 Times in 165 Posts Mentioned: 7 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Just FYI, here's what I sent Car and Driver. Maybe it was overkill, but since I felt they'd need some convincing, I gave them plenty of info: ------------------- "Hello Editors of this fine magazine! I just received the July 2014 issue with the "30 Cars under 30k" story. I was pleased to see my beloved BRZ in another of your "best of" lists. However, while your list of proposed mods includes some fine, quality products, there's a recently released mod that you probably are not aware of... IMO, bang for the buck, it's a whole lot better choice than the JDL headers and Greddy cat back - and the cost is almost identical. Ten days ago, I installed this mod in less than three hours and, frankly, it's incredible for the price (about $1800 to $2000 depending on the set up). It's the Phantom Full Throttle Electric Supercharger (ESC) Before you shut me off with "It's already been proven that electric superchargers don't work...", please note that this is NOT ANYTHING like the $100 electric superchargers on ebay. The ESC makes around 5 psi of boost at low rpm tapering to around 1 psi at 7000 rpm. Depending on the particular battery pack you choose, there are dyno proven gains of +70 ft/lb of torque at 4000+/- rpm and peak HP is up from about 170 at the rear wheels to 220+ at the rear wheels (see attached dyno chart). It the real world, I've seen my 40-60 time drop from 2.92 seconds stock to 2.42 seconds with the ESC. I've been unable to improve the 0-60 time more than a couple tenths because of excessive wheelspin on the stock tires - basically, I haven't figured out the best way to launch, yet. One fellow with the system is claiming a 0-60 of 5.8 seconds. Another has a drag strip time slip with a 14.02 quarter. The kit uses a switch under the throttle pedal to turn on only at WOT and supplies about 45+/- seconds of continuous boost (meaning it's really hard to run out of boost in street use). It recharges at an 8:1 rate when you're not at WOT (and an auxiliary charger will be released soon to cut the recharge rate to 4:1). Gas mileage when cruising and ESC is not engaged is improved by 3-5 mpg - last night I drove 25 miles on 4 lane road at an average speed of around 62 mph with no stops. A pic of my average mileage is attached (40.3 mpg). Of course, my overall average mileage has dropped substantially because I can't stop going WOT. Incidentally, the kit has been or is being tested on the following cars: Miata, Jetta, VW MK IV 2.0, Chevy Silverado 4.3, VW MK IV VR6, BMW 318i E36 and Lotus Elise - all with significant gains - particularly in the lower rpm range. Kinks have been worked out and the gains are extending further into the high rpm range. Main site: http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/ BRZ/FRS kit: http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/...ubaru-brz.html Other dynos: http://www.phantomsuperchargers.com/dyno-results.html And below is a link to a 260+ page development thread on one of the BRZ/FRS forums - that's how I found out about it. 1st page posts are info and updates. Then the thread is in chronological order... and you see a LOT of skepticism early in the thread (indeed, I, too, was initially skeptical). The dynos and the 25 people currently using the system resolve all skepticism: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39719 Here's the owner's thread with a list of the forum members who currently have the ESC installed: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66862 And finally, I've attached the Miata dyno, which is on the Miata forum, here: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread...537959&page=12 I think this product is something you guys should consider testing... The tune I am using is included free with the Open Flash Tablet, which is a great product and costs $500 here: http://openflashtablet.com/products/OFT/index.html Finally, another poster on the forum pointed this out about your proposed mods: -------------------------------------- "Nope, Car and Driver should make the follow switches. Open Flash Header instead of JDL. Save $500. ESC in place of intake, shifter, and catback. Open Flash Tablet instead of ECUTek flash. That will save about $2k which gets you great sound, no torque dip, and quality parts, and a system designed to work well together. The savings is enough to buy the ESC and dual dump battery pack." -------------------------------------- I concur with him... You'd have an FRS that cost about $28,000... and it would have around 220+/- rear wheel hp and around 200 ft/lb of torque at 4000 rpm. Check it out!" __________________ '13 BRZ Ltd MT WRB Phantom ESC 1.5 2012 Honda Accord Coupe 2006 Saab 9-3 2.0t 1997 Honda Accord Coupe 1995 Honda Prelude VTEC