Ranfurly

Hi

I'm getting keen and am thinking about whether to seriously consider commiting some $$ to a supercharger kit. I'm expected to have to bring the kit in from the US so would appreciate info on US supplied kits. So..

A few questions for anyone prepared to provide info to me.
How risky is it putting a supercharger on to the car - will I see a big hole in the block?

How far do you need to go - does it become an endless series up hardware upgrades, or can you truely buy a kit install and not need to do anything else ( bar general madness of wanting to do more etc).

The last biggie - any recommendations as to proven kits - ease of installation, price, quality etc?

As always info and thoughts greatly appreciated.

John Speake

We need to know model and year.....of your car.

Hilton

The most (only?) complete kit is the Murf one from Tim Murphy by all accounts. Everything from hardware to ecu chips for the stage III.

If I were looking into a Supercharger kit his would be the one I'd go for. I know a couple of the UK guys have used it too, so it can fit on RHD cars too like your 90 S4.

Ranfurly

Hi

I've got a 1990 S4 RHD about 135,000 km's

stuartph

A murf kit and i have one fitted on my RHD GT with no fitting problems

auzivision

By far the most common kit on the market for a reason because it’s simply designed, easy to install, readily available, and proven to work:

http://www.murf928.com/

Ducman82

check out carls kits aswell
http://www.928superchargers.com/

DonT

I highly recommend the Tim Murphy supercharger kit.

I installed a Murf SC kit with/intercooler (stage 2) in March 2004,
and have had zero problems.

NO vested interest, just a VERY satisified customer ! ! !

ptuomov

Centrifugal kit on otherwise stock car is the most cost effective horsepower. Among those kits, I'd pick the one which is most mature. I believe that's Murf928.

To get great low end on a built motor with hotter cams etc, Lysholm aka twin screw is the best option. This is a bigger project and it's hard to get a kit. Some people have been on thje waiting list for a long time.

I believe that the most power can be generated with a turbo system. That's a more expensive project, though.

Something I haven't seen with 928's yet is a combination of Lysholm supercharger being fed by a turbo. That system allows one to use very large turbines. Getting that to work well and up to its potential would be probably about $50k.

SeanR

Another fan of the Murph kit. It's the only one I'd consider.

AO

I've had the pleasure of installing both the Murf Stage III Kit and the 928 Speciailists twinscrew kit. Both are priced about the same. And while peak RWHP is higher on the Murf Kit, the twin screw kit produces higher initial torque. The Murf kit is definitly a wilder ride as the boost keeps building and building until you let off. Whereas the twinscrew is a more constant level of boost across the power band.

The Murf kit installation is less invasive, but is less aesthetic IMO. The Murf kit, however has the option of starting off with a stage I kit and then upgrading to a stage III. The Murf kit has somewhere around 60+ units sold. The 928 specialists kit has 4-5.

One thing to keep in mind is that regardless of what kit you go with, the car really needs to be in tiptop condition before either kit is installed.

In regards to the twin turbo option, I personally would not call it a kit. I beleive only two installs exists, both done by the developer. I don't think he's sent out a single setup to be installed by the car's owner. I may be wrong, but have not heard of such an install to date. It does make more RWHP, but there is limited support.

One other vendor not mentioned to date is 928 Motorsports. Carl has developed a lower boost kit that uses the Raptor supercharger. Persoanlly I don't like the design of this SCer with its air-cooled bearings, but there are a few satisfied customers.

So, if it were me wanting to install a SCer kit on my car half-way around the world, I'd probably go with the Murf kit mostly because of the sheer number of kits that have been installed. Good luck with your choice.

dprantl

Also, if it is tuned properly (and Murf kits come with chips, so that is a given), the 32-valve engine can easily and reliably handle 500 crank HP. Just crossed 231k miles on mine.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

Imo000

You can always save on shipping and build your own!

AO

BTW, this is Imre's idea of a twin turbo...

ptuomov

What are you basing your information about limited support on? I think you are making up stuff. Have you bought something from John Kuhn and not received support? Perhaps I misunderstood what you wrote there.

Definition of a "kit" is that parts are built on jigs and not in the car. By that definition, John's kit is a kit. In particular, the hardest to fabricate hot side parts are built on a jig and I believe that he's sold a number of those hot-side part sets to people.

The twin turbo kit is more involved and more expensive than the supercharger kits. For someone who's built cars before, the installation is feasible. I wouldn't try it as my first project. This is based on having one of those turbo kits and talking to people who have superchargers installed (i.e., not made up stuff).

Some indication of the effort is that John charged me I think $1500 for the installation of the basic system.

Some indication of the total cost is that the extra 100hp that a turbo kit gets over a supercharger kit on an otherwise stock motor about doubles the cost in round numbers. Because of this, it's clear that most people who want to hot rod their cars should probably get a supercharger kit.