TRD supercharger

Parts only warranty would come into play if YOU or a non Toyota shop installed your TRD SC kit.

If the Toyota dealer installs your TRD SC kit, no matter where you bought the TRD SC kit, provided it's brand new, you will still have the full factory warranty.

 

Had my SC installed for less than $400 I think. The dealer said they would charge me the accessory install hourly rate which is cheaper than the regular hourly rate. The SC is an accessory. Tell dealer to get F themselves with an egg beater. For you info dealer said they get alot of Canadian snow birds that buy the SC in Phoenix and drive back home with it and avoid paying some stupid fee or tax. Boost on. I love my SC, I put a CAI on it and plan to do the fuel pump upgrade soon.

 

Called another local dealer, regular hourly rate...$6xx. So yea, this close(r) dealer was trying to hose me.

 

Definitely look around at other dealers to see what they will charge for labor. At the same time, find out how many superchargers they have done and how many years of experience their tech has that does the installs. Try to get the best mechanic for the install that you can. If one dealer quotes a little higher than another but has a more experienced mechanic then I would personally go with experience over saving a little bit of money.

 

Great point. I specifically asked them if they've done them before and they said that they usually get them in spurts. They only have their MVT's do it.

 

As of right now, my '02 tacoma has 190k miles with the trd s/c on for all but 1500. I would recommend it to anybody that can afford it as it has been the highest performance, lowest maintenance, bolt on (so to speak) modification I have ever had on any vehicle.

The whole deal with the issue of running lean is most often an issue of location. At elevations above sea level, less oxygen means less fuel required for the right mixture and so on, stuff most of you already know. Basically what I'm trying to say is that for the 3.4, running lean isn't an issue for people at any sort of altitude. I did notice that we have a lot of guys on here from Texas though and in that case the 7th injector would certainly be a good decision for the lower elevations. With that, running lean should never be an issue.

 

Sorta

Being at higher elevation reduces boost. Some at sea level will get 8psi no problem. Maybe a touch more. Some one at elevations higher wont.

Case and point my dads 08 has a TRD SC plus the URD smaller wheel. Till only makes 6psi due to lack of it in general up here.

 

I like the idea of adding HP, but how expensive is it? And does it decrease fuel economy?

 

You can find 1st gen chargers from anywhere from 500-2000. Mpgs go down 1-2 or more depending on how much you keep your foot outa it

 

2nd gens come with intercooling and even better, factory fuel and timing mod support. The only better thing is having the motor and ECU built for boost from the factory itself. 1st gens had a hit more miss 'do you ping or not' situation going on. And even if you don't audibly ping, there can be inaudible yet damaging things going on. With that said I'm still pro installing S/Cs on the 1st gen, just with the caveat one should invest in a proven fuel and timing mod system. Higher altitude is less prone to issue as the boost is less dense. 6psi at sea level is much denser than 6psi at 20,000ft.

Both I think plugger nails, pound for pound, dollar for dollar they are by far the best power mod out there. Lots of other platforms do not have as much factory head room (good engines), support and/or affordability for boost like this. I've had Honda CAIs more of a PITA to install than the 1st gen S/C

 

You still have the full factory warranty regardless of who installs it. In any case I think anyone who is contemplating buying this look in to a turbo first, this thing robs MPGs and is only good at adding HP if you are over 3k rpms.

 

My SC improved my trucks mileage if I keep my foot out of it. Highway driving. The power is provided instantly thus why it applies to a truck so well, towing power at low end rpms. Turbo chargers have to spool up and are higher rpm applications.

the best advice I have seen so far is asking how many SC your dealer shop has installed. The experience is worth paying extra.

It is the most hp bang for the buck you can bolt on. It works as advertised and I love mine. Full warranty if installed by Toyota based on what warranty you have left.

 

I had my trd supercharger installed last week on a 13' Tacoma DCRB.

Overall impression = SOO much better. This is my third tacoma, and first time I've opted for the charger. The truck should come like this from factory. The tacoma can easily hang with the Ram 1500 and Ecoboost F150's now.

The midrange power allows for easily passing people. I'm pretty sure the ECU reflash also lets the tranny downshift faster to put you in the sweet spot of the rpm when you floor it.

Looking forward to intake/header/exhaust/smaller pulley in the near future.

 

Boost makes me smile.

Life without boost is such a slow bore.

 

This is an inaccurate statement about turbos. If that were the case, then why do semi's and diesels run them regularly? Turbos can be for low, mid, high, or all of the above. Just depends on which setup you choose.

 

I can't sway 100% for sure why OEs choose turbo over S/C, but I would imagine A LOT of factors can play into it- cost, bean counters, MPGs (CAFE), top end power numbers (marketing) etc etc.

Having both a turbo car, and an S/C'ed truck, I agree with wormfood. I love that my truck's throttle has an instant "V8" switch built into it and has gobs of instant low end torque when asked for it, vs. the lag my turbo car has. I think with towing, maybe turbo is not much of an overall dissadvantage because everything should be in slow-mo, you shouldn't be using "instant" except in emergancies. But my truck hauls mostly air and is a DD, its great to not have lag.

Turbo is really fun, and I get a nice warm fuzzy knowing its using recycled energy, is compressiong air effeciently, and has so many cool upgrades via EMS (boost control, 2step, anti-lag etc), but if I were to go back to the drawing board on my car with competitive autox/roadcourse goals in mind, either the spool needs some major tweaking ($$$ for manifold, new turbo, hardware, EMS tweaks etc) or I'd go to an S/C or N/A power curve. Under 3.5K RPM my 3.0 inline 6 drags ass.

 

If you have an electronic boost controller, adjust it so that the boost comes on sooner. And or change the turbine housing.

You could always install the anti-lag "rocket" on there.... That will definitely make it respond like an roots.

 

I know there are various tricks to making spool come on sooner (the controller maybe just a few hundred RPM sooner), but for the track I would need to invest $$ in not just the hardware, but the time and possible $$ calibrating it, if even possible with my particular platform of doing it to the granularity I require.

I saw a TT Supra strait suck at one of the last autox's I went to, and the driver wasn't a newb. The power curve, how the throttle reacts etc, all matters a lot to me, not just the rush of fast spool and top end power. Who I admire most in the industry right now are those who can be called master calibrators. The guys that get hired to make a rally car's power band "right", not "higher", or hired to make PNP standalones integrate with OE parts etc.

Don't get me wrong, I like my turbo on the car, I drove a turbo diesel chevy dually for a few days and like it, but neither can come close to when I see a yellow light at a stop light and in the two latter I would have to start breaking, vs my truck jumps the second I throttle it. And with the IS300, IMO my N/A buddy would spank my at autox right now. I'd autox for giggles and amusement, but not with ambitions that my turbo setup made it faster in that application. If anything, its slower.

OEs have a lot at their finger tips as far as calibration, I would imagine an Ecoboost F150 has nearly the same reactivity and linear feel in power as my S/C setup, so of course I'm not saying its impossible for one to act like the other, but then again Ford put some major engineering time and even new patents into making that engine perform the way it does.

This is all just my opinion, my preference, not what others should feel, not some preference all should have.

 

Would experience on Tundras qualify? I checked with my local dealer and they indicated they had installed a couple of SC on Tundras, but not on Tacomas.

 

You don't count