hey everyone... this question goes out to everyone who has done the supercharger on their rigs: does everyone think its worth it? or is it alot of money, parts and work for the increase in power?. let me know your likes and dislikes. im stil debating if Im going to look further into this big mod. thanks guys.


pat

 

Here's a thread I started on cost/benefit of the s/c: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/those-considering-s-c-here-some-thoughts-71987/

You should search before you get flamed. I did a lot of reading on this and even talked to URD about what's required/recommended. Bottom line is you can get up to a 300 whp truck from a base of less than 180 whp w/ all the mods out there. It's gonna cost a ton as noted in the thread above. If you've got the cash and the skills to fix things that may go wrong, go for it. Otherwise, this can be an expensive proposition that can lead to future issues if you can't fix things yourself. My two cents...

 

yeah i read that post alittle while ago but it kinda digresses to addtional mods you need for the super charger... i was just trying to figure out if everyone really likes the setup and if they could, would they do it again, or is it just alot of hype.

 

I can tell you I've PM'd Noliwan, Montypower and a few others and they all feel the s/c is worth the dollars. You can ask Midiwall, FilthyRich and even Bamachem had one. Trust me when I say that I've researched this up the wazoo. I even have two close friends that have this on their Taco brand-new from the dealer when they drove the trucks off the lot w/ no mods and no issues. I'm just worried that slapping one on a 6-year old truck w/ 100k miles w/ no mechanical skills would be not worth it.

 

I love mine.
It cost $$ though.
If you ONLY add the s/c you are not getting full use out of it and it is worthless IMO.

A mod has to be functional, practical and usable.
THe s/c is all three once it is dialed it/ tuned properly.

Expect to spend another several thousand after the the s/c.
Exhaust, tuning tools, fuel mods and actual tuning are where the $$$ are.

I love my s/c However, if I could do it allover again, I would have spent the $$$ on gears.
I say that now, but everytime I drive my truck, I smile and wonder why I want to sell it.

It is up to you.
What do you want? How do you use your truck?

 

I would love to have one but I enjoy not having to use premium and the SC would encourage me to speed and I just got rid of my car that used premium and got me into trouble.

 

 

I just took off my S/C after having it on for 6 years.
It was a blast and I loved the extra power, but I don't really miss it now.

Well, unless I'm heading to the mountains or trying to pass someone.

Someday in the future I'll get it rebuilt and add all the URD mods.
For now tho I'm going to spend my $$ on armor.

 

Did you have the s/c on from day one? How did you know it wasn't working and needed to be taken off?

I get what you're saying about the power as I use to punch the gas quite a bit when I first got the truck only to waste more gas and not really get that much further. I've added a sound system and seem to drive slower now and eat less gas. The only reason I would want a s/c is for the extra power on the freeway to pass or going uphill as you stated.

 

At the time, I got the s/c b/c I wasn't going larger than 285s and I would not have to regrar due to the extra power.
It does help that I have 4.30 gears

 

I got the S/C after I had about 30k miles on my 4Runner.
Then after like 20k more miles the dealer had a recall or something and replaced the supercharger with a new one (still grey 1st gen tho).
I then had that S/C on for another 67k miles, but it was recently starting to rattle really loud, almost like I had a diesel engine, lol.
(I found out part of this loud noise was the s/c pulley bearing making noise too when i removed it).


I never ran any fuel mods and prob got lucky because the vehicle has always been at 5000-6500 feet, which equates to less boost, so less problems as far as I've read.

It is not all hype tho. It really does add a ton of power

 

Click on the MODS and PICS links in my signature----
No hype here

And yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat----

 

Wow... how'd I miss this thread when it started!

It's simply been the SINGLE BEST MOD I've done on my truck to date. It makes it a shear blast to drive, and a boatload of fun to make the dude next to you go "WHAT THE???".

Like has been said above though, it will cost you MUCH MORE than the base price of the S/C to do it right. And, the ramifications of not doing it "right" run anywhere from "huh, what're people so excited about?" to "oh crap! whaddaya mean I need a complete rebuild???!".


Do it - but do it right or go home.

 

Hello everyone, This is Tom Cham from Hong Kong. I just fitted the TRD s/c'r & deck plate mod in my Toyota Prado w/3.4L 5vzfe engine (same as 4Runner). I have been watching this forum for a while & I have to thank you for the knowledge that many of you shared here. This is a wonderful site!!!

My Prado is getting a lot more power after s/c'd The fuel in Hong Kong is Octane 98 only. I have installed wide band lamdba sensor/AFR meter, boost gauge & knock sensor in the car. So far there is no pinging nor knocking at any rpm/boost range. I guess the high quality fuel here eliminated the chance of engine knock. The maximum boost I saw is about 6.5-7PSI. After studying the intensive discussions here regarding s/c'r, smaller pulley, higher boost, fuel upgrade kit, Gadget's/URD website ...I decided to order the 2.2" pulley & URD fuel upgrade kit. My goal is to get a bit more power from the standard s/c'r & not going extreme. Does anyone here has a good mapping for the URD PCU in this config? (my car has O2 sensor)

Now I fully understand that the stock ECU is running close loop at part throttle & the AFR is alway 14.5-14.7:1. Once the throttle is wide opened running full boost (6.5psi) the AFR is around 13:1. I am sure the engine will have more grunt if the AFR with low boost under part throttle can be adjusted.

 

Hi Tom - welcome to Yotatech! Got any horsepower numbers on your setup?

 

Hello 4 Runner Fever, I hvn't run the car on Dyno yet (it's quite costly to do it here in Hong Kong) Will use my G-TechPro to measure the approx hp this weekend. From what I feel, the car has at least 30% more power than before.

I got the TRD header as well but unfortunately it does not fit my Toyota Prado. The original exhaust manifold in my car runs below the transmission while the TRD header is designed to run above the transmission. I'll have a local exhaust manifold factory to alter the TRD header to fit into my car next month.

The Octance 98 fuel here helps to prevent engine pinging or knocking so I am toying for the idea of 2.2" s/c'r pulley & fuel upgrade kit. What kind of horsepower number you guys can acheive with the 2.2" pulley?

 

I just put a used ver. 2 (EBay, little old lady, only on Sunday) on my '02 LTD 4x a few weeks ago. With only 800 miles experience I am very impressed! The performance is what the truck should have had from the factory. It's a joy to drive again, I can actually use the cruise control without all that downshifting that it used to do. The throttle movement that is required to pass and merge is a fraction of what was. It now runs along at 80 with only the slightest pedal demand. So far I've had no indications of AFR problems. My older OBDii to PC link doesn't like the Toy interface so I don't know what I really have.
I did mine with budget in mind. I added:
New Walbro 190 .................................$90
NAPA 170º thermostat ........................$11
NGK 3764 plugs ..................................$35
Supra 312cc 23250-70080 used injectors $60
New injector seals and rings ..................$15
Fresh s/c oil .(mr goodwrench)................$8

Regrets?? I should have done it years ago.

Quirks. It sounds like a cross between R/C car and the mail truck. Kinda' the same pitch as an old Dodge starter.

I did buy a used SplitSec TMC just in case. It's still sitting on the bench.

MPG has actually increased a little. (~17) I think that is a result of not having to use 100% throttle to get it to respond.

After all the cautionary tales of those who paved the way for this mod, I reserve the right to amend or extend my remarks until after I've managed to tap some hard data.

As for the actual wrench twisting, it was a piece of cake. My 17 year old daughter did 90% of the work.

Lessons learned: lube the o-rings, Lube the 0-rings, LUBE THE O-RINGS!

 

Hello Tom! How's tomorrow?


Okay, technically since you have an O2 sensor up front, then you should be ordering the kit with the ESC1. The map that they will load into the PCU should be fine for the 2.2 pulley; and then the ESC1 should be setup to come on at 1psi... I think Gadget sets up the ESC1 as well, so it all should just be plug & play.

If you like the power that you have now, then once you get done swapping in the new injectors & fuel pump, then wiring up the PCU and ESC1, the difference will be much like what you felt moving from N/A to S/C in the first place.

It won't really be double the HP you have now, but it'll sure feel like it.



Correct, which is the point of the ESC1. The ESC1 won't change the top end, it'll just waken up everything else while in boost.

A couple of random points...

- That 13:1 is a bit lean. With the S/C, you really wanna be looking to hit 12:1. The injectors, fuel pump and PCU will get you there.

- When this is all said and done, I would expect you'll be sitting around 240hp at the wheels (about 100 over stock). To get past that, the headers will help once you get them on; and then start looking for a methanol misting system.

From your reading here, I'm sure you've found Dave (TRDOLDMAN) who's sitting beyond 300hp at the wheels with only bolt-on gear.



btw, you may wanna look at this thread. It started with me talking about a theory, but we're now off into the world of the ESC1.

 

I have about 50k on with my S/C and love it. My caution is that it's more of a journey than a bolt on and forget it modification. If you can't work on your own truck or don't want to work on it, this is not the modification for you! Also, it takes time and money to complete the job. If you have an AT, then add in an ATF cooler and valve body modification. Then you need to add in the URD kit to get the most out of it. I have the larger TRD pulley until I can scrape the extra dollars together for the URD kit.

Premium gas in my area is $.20 a gallon over 87 octane, which translate to about $3.00 a week for the extra power. I have seen an increase in my gas milage with the S/C (when I keep my foot out of it), so for me, it's about a wash.

If you like to tinker, go for it!

For me, its been worth it!

 

wow... there are no less than 3 active threads on the S/C.

head's up folks, there's similar information being shared in all of them....

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77119
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71987
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77040