Hello, FT86 forums. This is my first post as I've been lurking for a pretty long time now. I've been researching a lot about FI and have decided that I want to upgrade my FRS with a supercharger. I've had my FRS for two years now and I love the handling & responsiveness of the car, but I dislike how it lacks in power.
This is my daily driver car and I don't plan on taking it to any tracks frequently or anything. The first half of my commute consists of driving through winding back roads and then the second half is driving on the freeway. As for my driving habits, I usually like hitting 4-5K RPMs when driving out of city when I take off, very infrequently 6-7K RPMs
After reading the stickied FI threads and the DYNO comparisons, I've narrowed the choices down to four superchargers (which are CARB legal;
since I live in California this is a must):
Jackson Racing Supercharger: JRSC seems reliable, but I know I won't always be hitting the higher RPMs all the time, so I don't know how worthwhile this will be.
- centrifugal, so the real boost will only be at higher RPMs
- easy to install
- very clean track record; of all the post I have read, it seems like most people who have purchased a JRSC have not had many problems with them
- generally agreed that this is the "ugliest" supercharger
Vortech Supercharger: I would prefer Vortech over JRSC but it costs much more than the JRSC (I'd need to purchase the CARB-legal tune) so I do not know if it would be worth the premium cost.
- like the Jackson Racing supercharger, has a boost at higher RPMs
- better low-RPM power than the JRSC and eventually passes the JRSC in terms of HP boost around 7000 RPM
Innovate / Sprintex Supercharger: Innovate could have been a nice choice, but I'm not sure where I would be able to find a vendor. I also don't know how negatively it could affect my gas mileage. The Sprintex would not work because it is not CARB-approved.
- early boost at low RPMs
- Innovate is now discontinued and is sold under Sprintex, but without the CARB approval
- also appears to be quite popular
- may negatively affect city MPG since boost comes at low RPMs
Phantom Electric Supercharger: The Phantom ESC looks the least risky because it is cheap, but I know the least about it because I find that there is much less information about them than the other superchargers. If there are owners of this ESC then please fill me in on the details!
- non-parasitic boost
- easy to install and "beginner" friendly due to its less mechanically-complicated design and low price
- acts slightly different than the other FI choices?
I have not looked into the
Edelbrock Supercharger as much because I do not know if or when it would be receiving a CARB approval anytime soon.
Which supercharger would be the best choice for me? I'd like people who know more about these superchargers to chime in about their boost characteristics, gas mileage, reliability, etc.
Also, somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about any of the information above!
EDIT: I'm starting to lean towards an Edelbrock Supercharger, based on what I'm getting in responses and what I've read about it. Only concern would be the lack of CARB approval (which it will receive soon hopefully).