GEO

trdsparks hit it on the spot, but I thought I would share my experience beause I think I am the only person who has gone from a turbo to a supercharger and not reverse. For the record I started out with a ZPI stage 0, then went to stage 0 with intercooler, then ended at a full stage 1. Turbo's are good, a lot of fun, and also you can drop serious money to get it done right. In all I spent probably $5-6K for the turbo. After all that why do I have an SC now? Simple, I was always in lag, always staring at the gauges. And how do you lie about speeding when you have guages on the the dash. i also lost my tune when I moved from Denver to AZ so I went back toa stage 0 before the SC. One other thing was people just wanted to keep racing me.

Now for the SC. I have the newest and revised SC for the 2005. If you ever kept track of them they {toyota} stopped selling them for about a month or so. When they restarted selling them they were cheaper and better. I paid $3K for SC and install by dealer. The SC now comes with the new bracket and I believe they changed the bearing to fix the leak problems. I luv the SC and the instant boost. Could they have done more psi? sure but I think it is enough for most people to have fun. Am I racing people? No, its still a TC, however I am happy with it. I have driven 3,500 miles in the hot AZ weather with 0 problems. I'm not looking at gauges all the time, I am also not worried that if it breaks down I will have a big expense. To each is his own. Both Turbos and Super charges have there benefits and downsides but it is ultimately up to the driver. Personaly they should offer a stage 2 kit similar to the cobalt. Will I keep the car for ever? Who knows as I want a faster, more luxurious car, that I can beat the crap out of. Thats the devil in my head screaming... STI, SRT6, EVo.....
Hope this helps.

jiggadomino

wow great posts
I've recently learned in thermal dynamics that regular petrol engines are not very efficient in terms of work and energy. Adding a turbo or supercharger adds to the efficiency and all, but there are also downsides such as maitenance and engine life.
Face it not all of us are going to keep our cars until were old and dead. You're probably going to get a evo, sti, bmw, benz, porsche when you get more money later on. But i'm just generalizing that most tc owners are around 18-23....

Get the boost if you want, but know some of the risks involved

whorok305

Sweet thread... Anyways, this comment is probably the same comment everyone has stated already but here is mine. When I first bought my 07 tc all that was on my mind was turbo, turbo, turbo. Now I have close to 10000 miles on it and now I'm not even thinkin' of turbocharging it. First because it just costs too much money to get turbo'd from the get go, I mean ur gonna drop at least 6k to get it right. Now I'm all set on gettin the supercharger. Yeah it only puts you at 200, but if the motor goes or whatever the case may be, its covered by warranty( if its not modded). ill pay 4k tops to get the supercharger, and use the rest of the money for something else like a trd clutch and lsd. I'm the type to have a balanced car than a 300 hp fwd tc. Not only that if I ever decide to trade it in, ill most likely have better value for the car if everything had been serviced by the dealer. Yo if u got the money to blow like that for a turbo by all means go for it but from my perspective I don't think 6-7 grand is not worth it for a tc. I just too hard for my money to put it in a money pit. Especially when there are so many new cars coming out that are just too sweet.

Crimsontc

Hello, I recognize this has been discussed at length but I see trdsparks appears to be an empoyee or representative for a dealership, correct?

I must say from the getgo I have been very interested in obtaining a s/c for my tC. Bearing in mind this car is brand new (2 weeks old now), I'm conserned over the things I've heard here. I recently spoke with my scion sales rep from Fred Haas (Spring, TX) and he strongly advised me against the s/c, saying maybe 1 in 10 have not returned with problems. He reitteratated the issues with the braket and the oil loss due to a faulty bearing or gasket the s/c. I have no intention of modifying the s/c, but I still question its reliability. the only other mods to the car i have **in planning** are an exhaust, and engine dress up items such as silicone hoses to match car color. This is no race car, and it is my daily driver hence the choice of a s/c over turbo.

My questions are what do you know of these issues, and have steps been taken to improve the latest s/c models? Is there not law mandating that aftermarket parts must be proven to be the cause of the problem before the warranty is nullified?
If these problems are so rampant has there been a recall? Anyone have any statistics of successfull s/c's over those with problems( I recognize we tend to only hear from people with problems)?

Maybe I'm a little paranoid but the thought of a siezed engine due to an s/c oil leak, scares me. Especially when people "say" they've been screwed into buying a new block because of a dealer denying warranty due to them not checking oil at every gas station (that must be listed somewhere in fine print, no?).

Sorry for the long post, but what do ya think?

GEO

I have heard a lot of problems with the old SC but I have heard none with the newest release. I also have the new one which all the old problems have been addressed. I have put 3,000 miles on it and have not had any problems. I have only read of a hand full of people who have destroyed their engines which has been their own fault. They changed pullies, and intake. One guy also put a e manage with a bad tune, while another down shifted and hit 8k RPMS. Overall you are going to get a mixed message but if you do get one installed at a dealer make sure they have done a few. Some of the biggest problems have been that they had no experience.

trdsparks

Hi Crimsontc, yes trdsparks is a dealership located in Myrtle Beach, SC but the earlier posts in this and in other threads were from a previous employee.

But as far as installing a TRD S/C on your tC it is covered under your vehicles warranty as long as it is installed by a dealership. The only way that you can void the warranty is if you modify the S/C or engine to get more power, ie: Pulley, intercooler, headers, intake. The bracket and oil leaks were a noted problem from the first production runs and the S/C's were even stopped for about a month or so while they made the appropriate changes. Now every S/C comes with the new bracket and seals.

You are allowed to put anything you want on your car without voiding the warranty as long as the part is actually made for your vehicle and the vehicles warranty does not already specifically state in writing that the certain part you are installing would void the warranty. You can look up the magnusson moss act for further info on this.

Even if you installed the S/C yourself which I would not recommend its covered for 12 months. Usually when things like this are said from the sales reps its either because they don't know or because their service department doesn't want the responsibility of not doing the job right. Our dealership charges only $500 for the install and on the new 08's we have the lifetime warranty (not sure if this is available everywhere) so if I was to go out and get a brand new tC and purchase and have the dealer install the S/C it would be covered for the remainder of the cars warranty (which is lifetime!) :D