I'm both. I'm turbo and supercharger guy. Both have there pros and cons. I was about to get the ZPI turbo but I picked the supercharger, now I want more power out it. I want to push it little harder but not kill it.

 

You know, after hearing my friend Rich's car, I like the way it sounded tood. He has H/I/E to go with it. I didn't think it was that noticeable, but you can hear it for sure. I thought it sounded pretty cool. Couldn't trade in the HKS SSQ sound for it, but it still was more than what I had expected.


I thought they still sounded Stock, until I heard it in person.

 

I'm sure there are supercharger kits out there that will void the warranty but will give you more horsepower. Anytime you put F/I on a car, your causing greater stress on the engine. Toyota wanted to give it a extra kick yet make it so it was very hard to blow up your engine right after you put it in. So from toyota's standpoint, it's like this.

1. lower horsepower, keep waranty, sell it at the dealer level, sell more units.
2. more horsepower, void it, and more than likely sell less.

Because you can upgrade the pulley etc, it's not a bad deal. You have to remeber not everyone is going to want a 300 hp car. Even though i'm sure it seems like alot of people are upgrading their pulleys. I would say it's more like 3 or 4 our of 10 that are doing it untill the warranty is gone.

So the bottom line is sales. There are plenty of aftermarket companies that are willing to sell you a S/C or turbo that will void your warranty. So toyota had to one up them in order to get a share of the market.

At least that's what i think.

 

TRD is the only supercharger available for the tC.


As for the sound, oh yea. With a full exhaust and an intake, this thing screams like a demon. With my current exhaust, it can still sound a little icky when the car hasn't warmed up, but once it is...all bets are off.

Sure, you don't get that sexy vent-to-atmo psssh, but this sound is just as good, if not better. Especially when you're gunning it and you get the diverter valve moaning at you at 6krpm. Wish I had a video camera, but it wouldn't do it justice :p


And what completely boggles my mind and I've never understood it....is when I stand outside the car and have someone else rev it up, it sounds so much better than if I'm driving it.

 

As mattvs said, TRD is the ONLY S/C made for the tC. The rest of the market is turbo's.

 

Yeah, I don't have that problem. HKS sounds good wether your in the car, or out of it watching it fly by...

 

Oh no doubt. I think it's just me. But like when I was moving into my apartment, I was driving the budget rent-a-truck and had a buddy drive my car. It's like a different kind of cool watching my car on the road. Perspectives and all that.

 

I totally know where you are coming from. Maybe you should drive with your windows down all the time...lol.

 

Oh, I do :D

 

Think outside the box "small changes in crank pulley size, going larger of course.. makes a much larger difference" People change out the pulleys on the sc because they are simple and cost effective.

 

Really...... very interesting as I will be in the high 13's by september and will have spent under or right at $3500 total for the sc and related mods! Already at 14.3 pretty consistant with only $400 in mods! So that makes my total out of pocket $3300 right now. I am happy with that. Just cannot wait to hit the 13's.

 

^^^ is traction the main thing holding you out of the 13's? Not trying to over-emphasize a 1/4 mile time, just figured with the stuff you've already done to your car ( plus knowing how traction is a wee bit of a problem with even our 'stock' sc ), i thought a solid hook up should be worth a few more tenths?
just wondering out loud.

 

From a dead stop, traction is everything. Spin your tires against a car that hooks up, then you will be eating dust while playing catch up. Quaife has the LSD for a lil over $1200 or you can go with the PG for a cheap route.

 

just my .02 (and i've posted this or agreed to this twice on this forum) is that you can always get internals and raise the redline to get some bigger whp numbers. It not exactly an "accesory" to the s/c but it is a supporting mod.

 

What are the best Injectors for the S/C if you want to upgrade them?

 

ZPI plug n play 550cc, but 410cc should hold you until about 10-11 psi

 

Traction is definately the biggest issue wih the supercharger. I can't get traction anytime I go full throttle. I still have the stock tires so it definately doesn't help. I went supercahrged for 2 reasons. I wanted my car to be faster and reliable aswell as make it cost effective. I have spent between 3200 and 3300 on my supercharger and accessories and I have never had any issues. Just came home from a 600 mile trip with no issues. When I priced out getting a zpi stage one kit with everything I considered necessary to make it "reliable" I was between 5000 and 6000. That may seem high to some of you but I want to be able to drive my car and not have to worry about if I can take a trip in it without ending up on the side of the road.

 

I plan to be in the 13 range within the next 30 days. Yes traction is a MASSIVE issue. So is wheel hop, wheel hop so bad it opens the radio door when I had it and so bad it would pop out of first gear. I have solved those issues

 

Im still boost leaking. Faze gauge may be wrong, but the butt dyno tells me there is definately not the same power band that there once was. It used to pull the tires off the rims, now its just so-so. 5 PSI with a 9 PSI pulley. Got a tight gatorback belt and no pressure leas that I can hear of. Have TurboXS RBV-25 that has 4 out of the 6 shims installed and appears to be sealing. Going to try reversing the BPV thena gain try w/ it venting atmosphere. No luck there, find an autometer gauge and see what it says. Hopefuly, I can grab my Greddy Ultimate w/ MAP sensor on my way back fom Alaska.

My question to ya'll out there is what inches of merc are ya running at idle/normal driving conditions and what is your average/max boost levels? Let me know if you have aftermarket header and s-pipe.

idle 22 Hg
cruise 19-20Hg avg.
boost avg 3PSI
boost max 5.7PSI

No IC factory setup w/ exception of CAI and Turbo XS RBV-25.

 

idle, I only go below 20 vacume if I downshift hard. At idle I would say its around 17-18. When I get on it immediatly it always jumps to 2psi then climbs to right up between 9.5 and 10PSI.

To those talking about the sound. I love the sound when you are driving and you have barriers or a wall beside you, you can hear the whine of the supercharger. BUT, I hate the clicking and clacking at idle. It sounds like the car is falling apart. I feel dumb at lights because it seams so loud to me. But everyone says its normal.