ImagineAuto supercharger
 

Anyone installed an ImagineAuto supercharger kit on an S? How does it work? Any issues?
Thanks

There were a few recent threads on this. Do a search ('Search" button in the horizontal blue bar at the top) and I'm sure you'll find a lot of info on it.

Josh (JP-In-St.louis) is on this board (he is based out of Seattle now), and was our prototype 3.2L kit. His car and one of our 2.5L kits will be in the February issue of European Car Magazine.

how much does a kit like this cost? HP wise would it be better than a 3.4 conversion in a '99 w 60,000 miles?

I think the kit is 7k, plus 1500 for installation. A 3.4 swap will set you back a lot more.

The other side of the argument is that forced induction is hard on your engine and at 60k, it might not be the best move, but IA swears that its a low compression (4.5 psi boost?) and won't damage the engine. Lots of back and forth opinions on this forum about that to read if you like...

Best option, buy a new 3.8 engine and drop it in your 99, thatd only be like 30 grand, or a lot more, who knows but someones whos done it.

Per a rich car collecting buddy of mine, fuel/ignition management is the key to preventing detonation and extra wear on the engine. From reading about IA and some of the monster turbo mods they've made, I would imagine they have a good handle on that aspect. And superchargers are not as hard on engines as turbos. Frankly, for the money, I think it's very attractive. Josh said his car is a completely different animal since the installation and he can't say enough good things about IA.

Can you explain this statement please? :confused:

My understanding is that turbos generate much more heat than superchargers. I may be incorrect...maybe the Doc or someone else more knowlegdable would like to weigh in here?

Actually Super chargers generate more heat but this one is built more like a turbo so the heat is very slim. The advantage of the SC is you get more power down low where it counts. This I believe is the best of both worlds. It is easy to maintain and performs great.

A turbo properly sized for the application will be more efficient at compressing the intake charge than either a centrifugal supercharger or a roots-type supercharger. So it will generate less heat.

Turbos do retain more heat in the engine compartment but this can be mostly solved with heatshielding.

We have dropped the price of the 2.5L kit to 5900, and the S to 6500 as we have been able to save some costs by purchasing parts in bulk. The installation is correct.

We installed a 2.5L kit on a 97 with 77k miles on it, and it currently has over 100k miles and still going strong!

A 3.4L kit done properly will run you over 15k, and will make less power.

Hi,

The issue between Super/Turbo was that the Supers usually have an independent Oil supply, while the Turbo generally shares the engines Oil supply.

If you simply shut the car down, the Oil flow around the turbine bearing stops and the Oil in the Bearing Housing will superheat and turn to Coke. This Coke, a form of Carbon which when cracked from Oil produces a granular form which is pretty hard can be pretty destructive. These coke crystals will then flow through the engine causing excess wear (think sand flowing through the engine).

Many turbo cars were equipped with cool down circuits, which continued to run the car at idle a few minutes to remove the Heat from the Bearing Housing until it was below the critical threshold where Coke formation took place. Or, owners allowed the car to cool down by allowing it to idle several minutes before shutting it off.

But, with Synthetic Oil, Coking is largely eliminated because of the Oil's greater stability at high temps. This prevents a breakdown into Coke. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

That is only true of some superchargers. Vortec Superchargers use oil from the engine via a feed and drain line. We use procharger units, which are self contained oiling systems so we don't have this problem.

2.7
 

PoscheDoc, When will you have a supercharger kit for the 2.7?

We actually have no timeframe for a 2.7L kit at this time. Maybe down the road once the 2.5L and 3.2L kits really take off (ie, getting additional dealers and qualified installers setup), then we will go after that kit. Once I can get some experienced wrenches in here, it will free up a little more time for those R&D projects.

We thought we had a 987 coming for a prototype supercharger kit, which was suppose to be here already, but the car hasn't shown up yet.

Can't wait for that.

I better begin saving.

2.7
 

Will the 986 setup differ from the 987? I have a 986.