ESS VT2-500 Supercharger Kit Installed! Impressions, pictures, video.

[iPhoneEngineer]

So the video came out pretty well, though I almost lost my audio recorder--unlike on the drive down, the suction cup came loose from the underside of the hood and the recorder was just laying in the area behind the EGR air pump, lol! I'm fortunate it didn't fall onto the headers instead, and will have to be significantly more careful in mounting it because the underside of the hood isn't perfectly smooth like I'm used to putting suction cup mounts on.

This run still has quite a bit of wind noise, since even the underhood recorder picks up a lot of that, but also brings in the S54 beautifully both at lower speeds (including idle) and high load. I spent some time editing it and blended the audio from the GoPro and underhood, but "noise reduction" processing wrecks the purity of the S54 sound in addition to wiping out the wind, so it is not processed. I am including a couple short clips of city driving for the sound benefit. There's also a clip that captures the damn BPV whistle I've been complaining about :-P. Currently, the massive 1080p video / 96kHz audio file is processing and will then be uploaded to YouTube at 720p / 48kHz (the file is too large for them to accept in 1080p); I think it will take another hour or two. I will continue my quest to bring us the cleanest sounding VT2-500 videos yet published…I have some ideas for what to try next, though the under-hood mounting particularly on the intake side will be the difficult part.


AV fun aside, I have a problem: after changing my oil and letting it drain 100%, then adding 6 bottles of 10W-60, the car is ejecting oil from the filler cap (completely closed) after any run with reasonably high-RPM operation. I remember Beedub mentioned that the correct way to check the oil for the VT2-500's system is to perform the dip almost immediately after the engine shuts down, because oil from the cooler will start rushing back into the pan. I did that, and got a great reading right at (not at all above) the full line. Rechecking a minute or so later, it got up to the bulb.

I assume it is in fact over-full and therefore I'm going to rush shipment of an oil siphon, but what is the correct checking procedure for this setup?

[gcochard]

For the s54, the recommended reading is halfway between the lines. Not sure if the oil cooler changes things.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by iPhoneEngineer

So the video came out pretty well, though I almost lost my audio recorder--unlike on the drive down, the suction cup came loose from the underside of the hood and the recorder was just laying in the area behind the EGR air pump, lol! I'm fortunate it didn't fall onto the headers instead, and will have to be significantly more careful in mounting it because the underside of the hood isn't perfectly smooth like I'm used to putting suction cup mounts on.

This run still has quite a bit of wind noise, since even the underhood recorder picks up a lot of that, but also brings in the S54 beautifully both at lower speeds (including idle) and high load. I spent some time editing it and blended the audio from the GoPro and underhood, but "noise reduction" processing wrecks the purity of the S54 sound in addition to wiping out the wind, so it is not processed. I am including a couple short clips of city driving for the sound benefit. There's also a clip that captures the damn BPV whistle I've been complaining about :-P. Currently, the massive 1080p video / 96kHz audio file is processing and will then be uploaded to YouTube at 720p / 48kHz (the file is too large for them to accept in 1080p); I think it will take another hour or two. I will continue my quest to bring us the cleanest sounding VT2-500 videos yet published…I have some ideas for what to try next, though the under-hood mounting particularly on the intake side will be the difficult part.


AV fun aside, I have a problem: after changing my oil and letting it drain 100%, then adding 6 bottles of 10W-60, the car is ejecting oil from the filler cap (completely closed) after any run with reasonably high-RPM operation. I remember Beedub mentioned that the correct way to check the oil for the VT2-500's system is to perform the dip almost immediately after the engine shuts down, because oil from the cooler will start rushing back into the pan. I did that, and got a great reading right at (not at all above) the full line. Rechecking a minute or so later, it got up to the bulb.

I assume it is in fact over-full and therefore I'm going to rush shipment of an oil siphon, but what is the correct checking procedure for this setup?

i have been advised to run the car to complete Normal running temp, then leave the car idling, then check the oil with the car running....... this will give you the best reading.......

because the oil cooler is mounted upside down the oil drains back giving mad high readings, so i now do all oil level checks with the car idleing @ normal operating temp..... Dont forget some of the oil caps were known for spewing oil everhwere, the e92 m3 suffered a similar issue, you may just have a faulty cap.

if i were to check my level now with a cold car thats been standing in the garage like it has id get a reading way to high, ABOVE the red plasitc thing at the bottom, if i was to run to the car up and check @ idle it would be just under the high mark, i get no oil being expelled from my car at all.

cant wait to see your videos........

[iPhoneEngineer]

It's taken hours, and YouTube says it is STILL processing the video and will get better quality later, but it's up!

EDIT: Note that this road is a very tactical drive where I almost never follow the optimal line because I can either take a corner faster by avoiding road imperfections, or sacrifice speed to avoid unnecessary wear on the car. I've made about 250 round trips so far!

[Beedub]

iphone, thats an insane drive to your house!!!! Fuck ever needing to go the the track!!!
i WISH i could ship my car over and drive to your house!!! Awesome!! Car seems to run well, its very difficult to tell but i can defiantly see areas where your power if low for sure, obviously due to your leak, for example, when you let rip from the stop signs i would fully expect to hear the tyres screaming away, your BPV doesnt seem to make the quick but very audile Puufffsshhhttt that mine makes, i really hope that ess and you can finally work out whats wrong with the Kit.....

on another note, Great video, great car, i can see lots of camber unless thats an illusion, and the drive to your house is MAD!!!

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by Beedub

iphone, thats an insane drive to your house!!!! Fuck ever needing to go the the track!!!
i WISH i could ship my car over and drive to your house!!! Awesome!! Car seems to run well, its very difficult to tell but i can defiantly see areas where your power if low for sure, obviously due to your leak, for example, when you let rip from the stop signs i would fully expect to hear the tyres screaming away, your BPV doesnt seem to make the quick but very audile Puufffsshhhttt that mine makes, i really hope that ess and you can finally work out whats wrong with the Kit.....

on another note, Great video, great car, i can see lots of camber unless thats an illusion, and the drive to your house is MAD!!!

:-D Some parts of the road are as smooth as a track and have very interesting camber, though most of it has at least isolated road imperfections that must be avoided even at the expense of the driving line. There are also areas where I don't put down full power due to undulations in the surface that can cause shocks through the driveline as traction varies.

No doubt the car still doesn't produce full power at the top-end, but nowhere in the video is a WOT run in 1st gear, so having traction for all of 2nd gear is not surprising given the leveling off over 6k...

Unfortunately ESS has pretty much dropped off the grid for me and is providing no useful assistance. They did not pay my invoice (I will remind them a third time, with additional items added, once I determine that the T-bolt clamps were necessary to eliminate leaks from the kit), and have no specific suggestions aside from bringing the car to Arizona, which is quite impractical for me at this time. Around the turn of the year, I may be moving to Southern California and an AZ trip would be more practical.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by iPhoneEngineer

:-D Some parts of the road are as smooth as a track and have very interesting camber, though most of it has at least isolated road imperfections that must be avoided even at the expense of the driving line. There are also areas where I don't put down full power due to undulations in the surface that can cause shocks through the driveline as traction varies.

No doubt the car still doesn't produce full power at the top-end, but nowhere in the video is a WOT run in 1st gear, so having traction for all of 2nd gear is not surprising given the leveling off over 6k...

Unfortunately ESS has pretty much dropped off the grid for me and is providing no useful assistance. They did not pay my invoice (I will remind them a third time, with additional items added, once I determine that the T-bolt clamps were necessary to eliminate leaks from the kit), and have no specific suggestions aside from bringing the car to Arizona, which is quite impractical for me at this time. Around the turn of the year, I may be moving to Southern California and an AZ trip would be more practical.

ess NEED to pay your invoice...... seriously keep on them, they are good people....at this point without seeing your car i think they are just clueless and have been let down by their dealers.... they should imo train dealers to ALL install the kits in a universal way... it seems every shop has their own techniques.....

[ZStig]

whats new here?

[iPhoneEngineer]

1) ESS paid the invoice after another reminder; they just lost track of it.
2) Mirror gauges are scheduled to be wired up November 19th and Performance Technic. I studied some install instructions for M3, and don't want to embark on it myself--wouldn't be able to finish it alone anyway, since a new bung has to be welded for the wideband. Beedub: where is your wideband probe located in the exhaust system?
3) Drove the car to Lake Tahoe with my girlfriend this weekend, for my 23rd birthday . Lots of snow & plenty of fun slipping and sliding (in a controlled manner, of course). I now see why you guys store your car for the winter...incredibly harsh, filthy conditions on the main roads. Hosed down the car as soon as we cleared the snow, and now it's freshly waxed.

[ZStig]

boosting 8psi yet?

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

boosting 8psi yet?

No, absolutely not. No reason to believe it is higher than 6-7PSI even with the faster pulley.

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by iPhoneEngineer

1) ESS paid the invoice after another reminder; they just lost track of it.
2) Mirror gauges are scheduled to be wired up November 19th and Performance Technic. I studied some install instructions for M3, and don't want to embark on it myself--wouldn't be able to finish it alone anyway, since a new bung has to be welded for the wideband. Beedub: where is your wideband probe located in the exhaust system?
3) Drove the car to Lake Tahoe with my girlfriend this weekend, for my 23rd birthday . Lots of snow & plenty of fun slipping and sliding (in a controlled manner, of course). I now see why you guys store your car for the winter...incredibly harsh, filthy conditions on the main roads. Hosed down the car as soon as we cleared the snow, and now it's freshly waxed.

i had mine placed in the straight section of the headers just before it connects to the s pipe section, mine is placed in the top of that pipe, i also routed the wire in a really cool way within the stock sheathing for the other 02 sensors BUT the plug is connected to a spare whole on the gearbox casing, if i ever need to replace that sensor it'll take all of 30 mins!

mine car goes away long before the snow...... i dont drive mine in the rain..... sad i know!!! But shes a keeper!!

[mfanatic325]

Didn't get to watch the vid until just now

[iPhoneEngineer]

Well, I'm back--sort of. It turns out I'm indeed moving to Southern California (largely because of health problems my grandma and mother are confronting, and I want to be around to help them with). After a week trip down there, I have a new place secured. I'll miss some of the back roads I've come to know and love, but at the same time, will be able to take much better care of my car (easier to keep clean, less rigorous daily stress). In fact, since I will be working from home, it won't even be driven daily.

Today, I got the AFR and Boost gauges hooked up--looks pretty badass in the mirror! Very high tech, clean look. I'm wishing I put the AFR at the right instead of the left, because it does change enough during normal driving to be slightly distracting, but I'm confident I will adjust to it (already did after an hour of driving).

I don't yet have a video of runs with the new gauges, but from just a couple and the help of my girlfriend, it looks like boost is able to hit 7PSI--though it could be the spike at the end of the rev range, I'm not sure. Unusually, I saw as low as 11.3 AFR when above 7,000RPM. Doing several runs with the camera running should be more consistent and clarify the exact numbers.

Unfortunately, on the way home from Performance Technic, I noticed a new problem. When coming to rest at a stoplight, as soon as I let out the clutch, I noticed the car running quite noticeably rough--almost like one cylinder was not firing! This did not immediately go away when I revved the engine to 1,500RPM or so; very concerning. I was waiting only 20-30 seconds, and then once I started driving, there was absolutely no problem...including when idling after pulling over very shortly later to check under the hood. I did notice some vibration of the S/C, which doesn't seem good, but it seems pretty secure when pushing on it and I heard it is supposed to have some play.

The radar detector proved too complicated to have installed today. The guys at PTech helped me figure out good places to mount everything /except/ the radar/lidar receiver itself, which is a disappointingly massive unit. The intercooler really limits options as to where it can be mounted without obstructions like the kidney grille.

[mfanatic325]

I'm saddened that you're leaving NorCal..
But happy at the same time, because you get to be around your loved ones
Good luck with your endeavors Scott! I'm sure you'll excel in any environment thrown at you whiz kid

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by mfanatic325

I'm saddened that you're leaving NorCal..
But happy at the same time, because you get to be around your loved ones

Heh, me too . I have come to love many things about NorCal, including the people, nature, and technology industry. Though, due to family and old friends, I still kind of feel like it will be "going home" to return to SoCal.

I expect it will be a relatively temporary move, 1-2 years. The next time I need to make a career move, my best options by a huge margin will be up here. Returning to Apple someday is a strong possibility, too, and they would never permit full-time remote work (on any interesting project, anyway). Nonetheless, I think even that amount of time down south will be hugely influential for me and my family.

Back to the topic--I will have a more luxurious garage, and be immersed in the far more car-centric culture of SoCal. Up here I get more dirty looks from drivers in Priuses than thumbs up from other sports car drivers :-P.

I will have to ask Performance Technic if they fixed any possible intake tract leaks, since I did mention the problem and they had a tech looking over it during some of the wiring work for the mirror gauges. The car pulled like a rocket today, harder than I'd ever felt. I swear I even heard the dash make a creak noise during one of the 2nd-gear pulls; I could practically feel the chassis twist with torque. Definitely closer to spinning the gears at the top of 2nd, though power still starts to fall off above 6-7,000RPM. Anyway, there is still a leak, if my girlfriend's 7PSI observation is correct. Videos to come later this week, hopefully...

[dorifto88]

Best wishes to you and your family, I hope things get better soon.

[ZStig]

+1


by the way, did you install a couple of T-bolt clamps?

[iPhoneEngineer]

Originally Posted by Roffle Waffle

+1


by the way, did you install a couple of T-bolt clamps?

Yes--both sides of the 45º coupler that goes into the manifold, and the S/C outlet itself. I tried valiantly for the bottom side of the coupler coming from the S/C outlet, but my smallest T-Bolt at the time would not clamp down tight enough, and I had to remove it and replaced it with two of the original worm gear type

I certainly want to replace the rest of them, too, just to be as certain as possible that there is no leak potential. Realistically though, I won't get a chance to do this until late December at the earliest.

[iPhoneEngineer]

Question for the other guys with a Vortech blower: does your S/C sound louder/rattly when engaging the clutch in first gear? That is, even louder than at idle. I usually engage with the motor around 1,000RPM, and my S/C makes quite a lot of noise in the (relatively brief) process. I can probably get a recording of this if it doesn't sound familiar.

I'm not completely satisfied my S/C is as tightly bolted down as it should be, as I have noticed a concerning vibration that sometimes develops after 5,000RPM and increases with engine speed. It's frustrating that this vibration is not always present, and when present, may be of varying intensity. When I first noticed it a while ago, I thought it was probably the A/C compressor as I had it on, though to me it would be insane if the car doesn't disconnect the compressor when going WOT (even my 1988 Supra did this, but I don't know for sure whether our cars do or not).

[ZStig]

my clutch/flywheel has been rattling sometimes when engaging/disengaging but that was even before the blower. Maybe thats what you're hearing.

specifically, I THINK the flywheel is making a short rattling sound when I'm in 1st gear about to park, and I press the clutch pedal in to come to a stop

[Beedub]

hi iphone, really sorry i havent chimed in here for a while, im glad you back posting!!! right... lets go back alittle and do some catching up....