I'm not after ball tearing quarter miles or dyno bragging rights. However, I am interested in taking my first steps into supercharging. These are what are important to me:

(1) Similar fuel economy to NA when driving sedately
(2) Minimal engine changes - ie same injectors, no intercooler
(3) ADR Approval
(4) A $5k spend
(5) Quiet
(6) Comes with custom tune - can be loaded into empty spot in my Flash Tuner box by a local tuner. (It's an early CAPA resold SCT flash tuner - the original box)

So Centrifugal meets most of those requirements, if not all. The Powerdyne that CAPA used to have may have been ideal for me since I'm not interested in high flow rates. But they don't seem to sell it any more. Does anyone else do the little Powerdryne kits these days? Why did they stop selling it - did it have problems? CAPA look to be shifting NOS on eBay and a Powerdyne is up there for $4k - no refunds.

Positive displacement, nice - but > $10k! Yella Terra, Herrod, and the amazing options that BPT have. I love the very idea of the valley mount, and the stealth of the Yella Terra is awe inspiring. But hmm, $10k. Ouch.

The CAPA Vortech V2 seems like it's just about right so it's on my radar.

But are there other options?

I see that Raptor may be working on a Boss 5.4 4V solution right now, and they may provide just about everything I'm after, except perhaps the ADR bit. And given that I expect to be perhaps 4 to 12 months away from a purchase I can handle the wait. Is ADR a problem? I don't want to void insurance as it's a daily driver.

One last question.

With a separate belt on a centrifugal, can I disengage the belt for much of the time, flash back to an NA tune, and continue driving? Will it pull sufficient air through the centrifugal to run OK? Would this cause a problem in the long run?

Comments, suggestions, answers to questions all welcome.


Lukeyson

V2SQ still has some audible gear noise at idle.
maybe youtube some vids to see what you think?
they are alot quieter then the straight cut geared V1s, but there is still some noise.

fuel economy comes down to the tune.
any tune that they send you won't be custom, i would highly recommend getting your tuner to tune it on their dyno to get the best results for power, drivability and economy.
speaking generally though, in my experience they don't harm fuel economy on the highway, i don't do alot of 'around town' driving, but i'd imagine it would come down to the right foot.
before my car was blown (ED XR8), i cruised back from canberra to melb with a mate who has a blown EL XR8.
we both filled up at the same servo in canberra, swapped the lead on the way home a few times, and when we did a topup at the BP on the hume we both filled up with exactly 60L...

Lukeyson, I have a powerdyne on my AU I6. Fuel economy is definately similar or better than standard when driven sedately. Some of this may come down to the custom tune (which as per steadyED's comments is very beneficial), but I regularly get 10.5-11L/100kms around town, when driven sedately. Better on the highway.

Regarding powerdynes, the standard ones have a history of breaking internal belts (they're rubber). I've had mine upgraded by Tim from Raptor...the parts are quite cheap ie. $150ish for belt and bearings. The belt he supplies is much stiffer/stonger, so as a result its also louder (a bit too loud for my liking). It sounds like the youtube clips of his raptor chargers. This belt has done 60 000k's no problems, whereas the last one did 15000k's before failing. So 'quiet' and reliable may not go together at this stage. Having said that the noise is not over the top....just a bit annoying. Alot of people like it though.

Regarding disengaging the supercharger belt and returning to a standard one, I've had to do this a few times... and for extended periods....3 months at one stage. There were no problems, I just drove gently. Fuel economy was noticeably worse.

....Actually, are you talking about the supercharger internal belt? If you disengage this, yes air will still be drawn through and you'll be able to drive (with no boost, like when my internal belt broke). There would be no value in doing this though?

Hope that's helpful.

Joe

if your after something similar to the powerdyne?.
you can get a raptor kit for around the price your willing to spend..
and they are complete kits with brackets,pipework,bov,idler pulleys,injectors and a pre programed tune ect.. but im not sure if they have completed the kit for the ba v8 yet???
but as above they do make some noise..

and you can remove the serpentine belt and fit the std belt up and the car will drive like std.
i drove mine without the supercharger working and the car drove like it did n/a..

as for adr approved??
no aftermarket superchargers are adr approved.. although you can get a engineer certificate..

mine is a 6 cyl and my fuel economy it very similar to std(cruising),
before i was getting 8ltrs per 100km on the freeway and now gets 9-9.5 ltrs per 100.
and city was 12ltrs 100 and now 14ltrs 100..

Lukeyson i get better economy on the highway with the Raptor Supercharger.
It's a great bit of kit i'm running a 14lb pulley and have had no problems and it's been on for 2 years.

[quote="TROYMAN"]as for adr approved??
no aftermarket superchargers are adr approved.. although you can get a engineer certificate..

The Yella Terra Whipple kit is ADR approved on a BA XR8, thats what thier prototype car was , it all sits under factory covers too

Cheers
Mike