Need a plan for an SC mod? Details inside

[glamcem]

Originally Posted by DJCarbine

Not trying to be an ass, I am genuinely interested in these experiences as is anyone else who has or is thinking about buying (especially OP). Any background info?

@Wonderbar (from Driveway) might wanna chime in as I remember he recently had his second unit failed on him and had a terrible customer service experience ..

Originally Posted by Drakelee117

What kind of horror stories? I intend to keep all the exhaust system but that has nothing to do with cooling right? I am considering the oil cooler like they suggested.

See above . I don't understand why it costs more than the Rotrex kit since it doesn't make near the power of them and had to receive few updates after the release (obviously it wasn't tested enough before the production phase)..to each his own

I would definitely change the whole system to eliminate back pressure and unwanted heat in the heads due to it..ask me how I know

[Wonderbar]

My situation is fairly unique.

My standard unit had oil seal failure at 15,000-17,000 miles; which reading online seems to be a regular occurrence across the board for all variations of the v3. I can write this off as regular maintenance, even turbo need a rebuild regularly when you beat on them how I have.

My upgraded v2 unit had oil seal failure at the back of the shaft at about 100 miles. Vortech is actually jumping through their butts to get it fixed on their dime and back to me. They've paid shipping round trip and covered the repair under warranty. I don't know exactly why the unit failed, but vortech has stepped up to fix the issue with little complaining after I called them out on their FB page.

I honestly think the major issue that's been had by many isn't that the product is bad, just that a couple people in direct communications to us customers, (example:Mariano in tech support) are giving their brand a bad name. That was my biggest issue so far.

Every system has it's quirks, and aside from my customer service experience, I've enjoyed my kit this far. I'll evaluate the capabilities of the v2 to see if it'll meet my new goals for the power on the car when I get the unit back and tested.

[King Tut]

Son I am disappoint. This many posts and nobody told the n00b the two most important supporting mods: a wideband and a boost gauge. The most important thing to do when you go forced induction is to make sure you have a way to monitor that everything is working properly. That means your AFR is correct and you are hitting your boost targets.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Son I am disappoint. This many posts and nobody told the n00b the two most important supporting mods: a wideband and a boost gauge. The most important thing to do when you go forced induction is to make sure you have a way to monitor that everything is working properly. That means your AFR is correct and you are hitting your boost targets.

AEM failsafe! Or P3Cars Vent gauge. I prefer the failsafe though.

[tahdizzle]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Son I am disappoint. This many posts and nobody told the n00b the two most important supporting mods: a wideband and a boost gauge. The most important thing to do when you go forced induction is to make sure you have a way to monitor that everything is working properly. That means your AFR is correct and you are hitting your boost targets.

I don't think you need a wideband and a boost gauge for a CARB tuned JRSC.

His goal right now is ~260 whp.

Did you buy gap insurance?

Gap insurance is a good idea. Defnitely when you get in an accident and the insurance company wants to give you 18g for your car that you owe 24 on.

I purchased gap insurance, but many people say you don't "need" it.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

I don't think you need a wideband and a boost gauge for a CARB tuned JRSC.

His goal right now is ~260 whp.

Did you buy gap insurance?

Gap insurance is a good idea. Defnitely when you get in an accident and the insurance company wants to give you 18g for your car that you owe 24 on.

I purchased gap insurance, but many people say you don't "need" it.

For SC's, I think the P3Cars Vent Gauge is helpful. Boost is so consistent on an SC. It's a completely different story on turbo.

If anything, I want to see oil temp, pressure, and boost just for the hell of it.

[tahdizzle]

As far as seeing all of those measurements. I personally would get an android head unit with an HKS OB-Link.

Just because I'd rather spend the $$$ to not have random guages in my car.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

I don't think you need a wideband and a boost gauge for a CARB tuned JRSC.

His goal right now is ~260 whp.

Did you buy gap insurance?

Gap insurance is a good idea. Defnitely when you get in an accident and the insurance company wants to give you 18g for your car that you owe 24 on.

I purchased gap insurance, but many people say you don't "need" it.

Set it and forget it right. Good luck with that. Gap insurance? What is that? All forced induction owners should own their cars outright amirite? If you need more coverage then call your Insurance company and ask for additional coverage.

[tahdizzle]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Set it and forget it right. Good luck with that. Gap insurance? What is that? All forced induction owners should own their cars outright amirite? If you need more coverage then call your Insurance company and ask for additional coverage.

I explained what gap insurance was in my post.....

And you are wrong. Plenty of "FI Owners" do not own their cars.

Right, set it and forget it, while performing proper maintenance. A CARB Tune is not supposed to be tampered with, and with the linear power delivery of a supercharger you shouln't see any boost spikes. If you do have boost spikes, then you won't need a boost guage to know there is something wrong with your car.

Turbo-charger maintenance and supercharger maintenance are two different animals.

While I would say it would be wise to get a boost gauge and wideband for a turbo, to run a CARB tuned supercharger (Which is all he needs to meet his goal) all of that stuff is not necissary and probably because you want to be the cool guy in the parking lot.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

I explained what gap insurance was in my post.....

And you are wrong. Plenty of "FI Owners" do not own their cars.

Well that joke flew right over your head. How will you know you have a boost leak at one of the many couplers on a Vortech setup without a boost gauge?

[tahdizzle]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Well that joke flew right over your head. How will you know you have a boost leak at one of the many couplers on a Vortech setup without a boost gauge?

Are you literally asking "How can you tell you do not have a sealed system w/o a boost guauge?"?

Umm, you can hear it?

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

Are you literally asking "How can you tell you do not have a sealed system w/o a boost guauge?"?

Umm, you can hear it?

You have impressive ears if you can hear a 1 psi boost leak from an intercooler coupler while driving in the car while doing a full boost pull. You definitely don't need a boost gauge.

[tahdizzle]

Like most people, you know your car and you hear things that are not normal that other people do not hear.

This is pretty common.

[DJCarbine]

Originally Posted by glamcem

@Wonderbar (from Driveway) might wanna chime in as I remember he recently had his second unit failed on him and had a terrible customer service experience ..



See above . I don't understand why it costs more than the Rotrex kit since it doesn't make near the power of them and had to receive few updates after the release (obviously it wasn't tested enough before the production phase)..to each his own

I would definitely change the whole system to eliminate back pressure and unwanted heat in the heads due to it..ask me how I know

Is that a stock exhaust manifold blown apart? DANGER TO MANIFOLD !!1!111

I knew about the V3 issue some people have had with tracking, did not know about the warranty drama. Seems like its getting taken care of so there is that... I know he had a vortech rebuild thread going but didn't revisit it, I may have to beat him to the punch as I plan on doing a teardown/rebuild over the winter for fun and to see the condition of the bearings.