[Beedub]

ok illl throw some more ESS pro's and con's into the mix, ive gone through the various stages now and i think ill be one of the few thats had each stage for a year +, the car willl be 550 spec shortly :-)

one thing that i note about the g-power is i think they used a blower thats is absolutely in the meat of of its efficency range, so @ the boost its producing is perfect, so it makes great power, great Tq (as those asa units do anyway) BUT.... their is no room for boost upgrades with the small asa unit supplied... AITs would skyrocket.. i also like the use of a MAF in those kits.... the tune may be more adjustable.. i note from Iron AFRs are in the 12s... not very much safety margin thier by any stretch of the imagination... the s54 likes it alittle lean upto and makes great power doing so...

now VT1... great kit, but heatsoaks very quickly... i should have never brought this kit imo.... after a long day at the track it felt back to n/a again..... The ess hardware is just perfection however. The huge blower is just not even waking up out of bed at this boost level....

vt2-500, now were talking.... huge intercooler, it really is massive, huge intercooler pipework, again lovely large intake mani, really smart positioning of the BOV/BPV, and the golden opportunity of being able to use meth/water injection, the large pipe run makes it an ideal application for charge cooling not as a fuel ;-) my kit makes a solid 8psi As documented, ess this is ok and they vortech unit should make 7psi @ 7000rpm.... so i guess this makes sense??? Again the blower is still not making enough boost imo to really wake the motor up, it NEEDS 10psi... im convinced... Hence the move to 550 spec which is 9/10lbs.. interestingly this next 1/2lbs Adds MORE tq that all the other stages together.... see what i mean... Efficiency range.
i Love the quality of the ESS stuff and the way it just works, ive had my car supercharged for around 3 years now.... not once has my car been down due to a supercharger issue ( apart from a tuner issue who damaged my unit) its just as reliable as before, i can cut 1/2nd very easily. The tune, is just wonderful, it actually drives BETTER than it ever did stock, theirs no F/I feel, it feels like someone's swapped out to a v8 for you...
Cooling?? power is now much more consistent, even after all day track sessions, oil temps are kept in check by a large setrab oil cooler, its a very nice piece of the ess puzzle, engine oil temps are very tightly controlled and i love throwing death at it to see how it performs. When its really cold the 500 just feels insane, huge Tq and a huge jump in power, so i can see why the meth/water option makes so much difference.

The not so good

When you drive the car hard gas mileage is scary... it has a serious drinking issue, the blower is very very delicate, a simple pulley change done wrong made my spew its guts out all over my super clean enginebay :-(.
The intercooler pipework is hard fucking work, it needs regular tweaking and it makes the engine bay very cramped its very thick in its size, looks very cool snaking around the engine bay but its gets in the way ALOT when your working on shit. Ive personally found the ess kit needs so much tweaking to get everything perfect, its taken my along time to work out what bits touch here, what bits need to be moved ect ect...

The s54 must must must have a Catch can.... its breathes heavily and i was pretty shocked to see my very low mile car throwing lots of vapour around, a catch can really nailed that issue, blow-by causes us to loose valuable octane points, increases chance of Det and just generally makes a mess......

the #VF hardware is imo second to none, lovely stuff, i look forward to getting more info on their kits... the 570 kits would be imo the one to have as again we have that large v3 unit... the Vortech unit is quiet, reliable and easily serviceable and capable of 700hp+

so in summary which one i buy in hindsight?? Defo the g-power. if i couldnt afford the higher of the ess / VF kits, the g-power is the by far the best option IMO!! The hardware looks perfect, the tune seems good and the price is right, the added pipework of the ess kits makes them the more expensive option.

i look forward to presenting more info about my continued journey with ESS, they are a GREAT company, and have supported me from DAY one. pls excuse my poor spelling, its shit i know :-) The 550 spec adds a new FPR, New larger intercooler, new injectors / pulley and a tune... it costs around 1400GBP.