Gauging Interest: Race Only Supercharger Kit?

[dmdicks]

Hey Everyone,

I've been tossing an idea back and forth with John, Alpine owner. He's got upwards of 30 older generation M62 Superchargers laying around. So I thought why not put one of these bad boys on the I4 Supercharger Manifold and sell a higher boost race only kit. Combined with a Unichip the M62 shoud be able to slap down some serious power.
The reason it would be race only is because the older M62 supercharger does not have an internal bypass valve like the newer MP series. What this means is that even while your sitting there idling or cruising the supercharger will be generating boost. Which means fuel economy will suffer at the expense of more power.
We're thinking about going two routes with this setup. One would offer upgrades to existing supercharger kit owners that are looking for at least 200whp out of their setup. Another would be to offer complete turn-key kits.

What do you al think? Is there enough interest for John and I to pursue this endeavor? If there is enough interest would anyone be willing to put some sort of deposit down on them right away?

[tharptroy]

i dont think there are a whole lot of guys who use their cars for race only. any way to modify these to work with a bypass valve?

[KeWLKaT]

Yeah, but just how much boost is generated on idle?

[silversharkXD2]

no offense...
I posted some nice stuff about you guys, but if you persue this, i might change my mind...j/k
seriously, iron out your current issues before you try this idea. if he has had them for a while, a little longer wont matter. I understand trying to cash in on stock, but maybe just add it as a small item on the web site. kinda like a "hey, if you are into racing only, we have options for you!".
I wouldn't focus on it.
focus on perfecting the unichip with MAF setups and upgrading your current kits. And making sure they have the proper items included. I don't think another thread about how the belt was to wide and "just cut it" would be helpful to all the progress you seem to be making.
The best rule of thumb for business is "STAY FOCUSED!"

keep up the good work, then branch out. but a small link to racing options on your website would be acceptable. Maybe offer good pricing to those that want to R&D.

either that or figure out how to shut them down at idle. and turn out that bad *** twin charge kit first!!!

[Keyan]

I think you guys should design an I4 supercharger manifold with coolant lines for an water-to-air cooler.

[KeWLKaT]

Yep, I agree, that would be something really nice!

[Cypher]

almost tempting enough to make me wanna keep my xd... almost.

[KeWLKaT]

almost tempting enough to make me wanna keep my xd... almost.

DO IT! :cool:

[dmdicks]

I'll be putting the M62 setup on my car, so I'll let you all know how it works out in a twincharged setup. As far as Unichip programming issues we traced that down to a faulty serial port on one of John's laptops. It would randomly put weird values in the maps for some reason. Very weird, but John got a brand new laptop that is solely dedicated to Unichip tuning and we haven't had that problem in a while. If you, or if you know of someone who is having Unichip problems please have them send it back for a free reflash.

[steven]

Just wondering how much would it cost say you do do it and how much would you be asking to put down? I don't have the money now because I'm in school but I am interested in boosting my car and swaping out my auto for a stick.

[dmdicks]

We were thinking of maybe 300-500 down to reserve you a M62. From there if you already have a supercharger kit you could just buy the upgrade, or if you don't then you can pay for the whole M62 kit.

[PSUsouthpaw]

What kind of a price range are we looking at for the m62 kit?

[dj4monie]

I believe they should focus not only on a larger supercharger, but also internally intercooled system.

A new generation M62 with an A/W intercooler, like the Powerworks Kit for the Ford Focus.

The Zetec kit punches over 200hp with basic add-ons like header and exhaust.

The SVT kits are much closer to 250-270hp.

That kit runs at 12psi I believe which is about double the JRSC kit for the Focus which is comparable to the Alpine kit for the Elantra.

To increase supercharger sales and profit, yet give the customer a true option to turbocharging and allowing OE quality and 50 state legality. I say invest in improving the overall supercharger package.

There's no reason you shouldn't be able to bolt-on a intercooled supercharger kit and get 200+hp, excellent off-idle torque and 50 state emissions legal.

[dmdicks]

We are thinking of making a Air to Water cooled manifold but its not high on our priority list right now.

[seguin22]

An Air to water intercooler, maybe a decomp plate and upwards to 14-16psi out of that m62 and you have one fast torquey car right off the line. The Cobalts SS/SC run the MP62 and they are capable of some pretty high boost levels and those cars are very impressive when modified.