I know this has been discussed to death and yes I have searched and have found a lot of what I was looking for. I still wanted to get some fresh opinions on reliabilty and wear tear on drivetrain parts at certain power levels.
I am considering supercharging my S though it won't happen until next year if I did. I would love to take it to LHT and let them do their thing but I'm a bit apprehensive about having 400whp. That seems like it would really be rough on drivetrain components but REALLY fun! Could I just have them tune it for about 350whp? I figure that would be enough to make a dramatic difference and be a bit easier on the transmission and diff. I'm also a bit concerned about long term reliability. I'm not one to do hard launches or burnouts and the car will be only street driven. Who here has had a supercharger for a good while and how has it treated you? At what power level do you really start stressing components? Obviously its a trade off as you increase power but where is the sweet spot?

Thanks

Jon

 

I saw LHT and stopped there. Do NOT put a KW kit on your car.....If you have LHT install a supercharger get the SOS kit that I believe they also offer or will atleast install.

Dear god do not get the KW kit...

 

Ok. I have heard that SOS is better. I’ll go that route. Thanks.

 

LHT quoted me roughly $9,000 to supercharge my '06 a couple of years ago. That included a new clutch, fuel pump, FlashPro tune, etc. FOB Tampa so I'd need to get the car there or drive down and spend a few days.

I may have the quote at home. I'm over in the NC mountains for the next few days with our camper. The Honda is tucked safely in the garage at home but she would have enjoyed the switchback climb to Grandfather Mountain (5300' ASL).

-- Chuck

 

Are you still considering supercharging?

 

I stopped once I got the price quote! I figured that was half the value of my car and the car's value might decrease. I get in enough trouble with my lowered VTEC.

I've seen used superchargers for well under that price, of course, but that doesn't include the probable required clutch and fuel pump. There are also considerations for the non-fuel return cars like my '06. @st.ryder64 installed a used supercharger a couple years ago in his garage. I watched part of the installation and it's simple enough but I think he left the clutch alone. Used unit has some teething with the oil lines as I recall. Dave will see this and probably respond.

I'll try to verify the quote to ensure I didn't pad it with shipping costs to and from Tampa.

-- Chuck

 

I saw other threads saying KW isn't reliable. Even with the LHT mods to it, it's still no good?

 

Yeah Chuck, I’m kind of on the fence too. It would be so fun with all the extra power but this is a car I plan to keep for a really long time so I don’t want to create my own reliability problems either. Sometimes I’m sure I’ll do it and other times I get cold feet. It would suck to spend $9000 just to have less reliability down the line.
when driving in the mountains I rarely feel the need for more power as I’m just linking the curves together but when I want to pass or when at a stop light I would love another 100 plus hp.

 

Your power goals are reasonable and conservative. This makes you an outlier in the forced induction community for this platform.

For some reason, it seems only those looking for every possible hp they can squeeze out supercharge (or turbo) this car.

So most of the time if someone asks a question like yours, they are advised to prepare for adding a lot more power later. As if everyone will end up at the same point, craving more power at all cost.

If you really only want 300-350 whp, which would still make the car a monster on the street, its a lot simpler than loftier goals.

You won't need to mod the fuel system, other than larger injectors (a fuel pump upgrade too of you are looking for tbe higher end of above range). Your tuning requirements are simpler. You can do a remote road tune rather than a dyno tune.

You can also get a smaller blower. Example, instead of the Rotrex C38 options with kw, you could do a C30 range blower. TTS still has a kit for that series. Also rhe SOS stage 1 would fit your goals.

The downside of smaller blower is usable power starts later in the rpm range. If you want as much down low as a larger blower gives, but not as much up top as these have potential for, TTS also has restrictors they can add to the C38 range.

This works fantastically for that goal, but would be considered sacralidge to USA based FI community. The feeling seems to be if more power can easily and cheaply be had, you'd be stupid not to take it.

It sounds like you just want more athletic S, not bulked up powerlifter on steroids S. Your goal is attainable, even if its not a common path around here.

 

My Vortech install has never been reliable. We have never been able to get the tuning right, and then there's the constant oil leak because the fitting isn't the same thread as what's on the car. Finally, last month the drive pulley decided to depart from its mounting on the harmonic balancer. Turns out, that uses six very small screws, which apparently shear off. Someone needs to come up with a dual belt single pulley for this mod, IMO.