We did a bad thing today. We fixed the bad ball joint on the ZC powered CRX today, changed the oil, switched to summer tires and washed the car. The bad thing was the test drive...it was fun. We remembered why we didn't have the heart to sell the car before.

My wife took it out for a spin and came back and said we can't sell it. Immediately she reminded me of Plan B (Plan A was to sell it) which was to put a Jackson Racing Supercharger on it and keep it for fun street and lapping day use.

I am interested in first hand comments from people with or first hand knowledge of the JR SCs, especially installation comments. I am not really interested in "get a turbo" comments though for several reasons: 1) I am looking for an easy install and something pretty reliable and hands off as this is not our racecar and I don't want another big project. 2) This is primarily a street car (good manners, A/C, etc.) and I have more interest in low and mid range torque than the high end numbers. 3) I can get an good deal on one that I can't touch a turbo system for. 4) I have done some supercharger vs. turbo research before and the supercharger seems to have the answers that I am looking for.

Any thoughts or comments? Our lapping day at Putnam is right on a month away so I'd better get crackin' if we are going to have it running for that.


Modified by CRX Lee at 2:26 AM 3/1/2004

 

I had a JRSC on my Si and loved it.

Installation is very simple for someone who's done a lot of basic car stuff. It'd be even easier with the tiny blower on the d-series kits, since the hardest part IMO was getting the blower lined up and bolted on and making sure it was sealed to the new manifold.

The car was dead reliable and easy to keep that way with the JRSC on it, I kept a close eye on the spark plugs and knock and with the proper fuel pressure and boost retard, the car rarely detonated and when it did it was very mild in part-throttle situations.

The sound is awesome. I really liked the power delivery.

That said, I had the kit that uses the larger M62 blower. I've heard a lot of disappointed people talking about the M45 kits such as the one that would fit the ZC head. And THAT said, they were also usually in 2700 lb show kaa sedans or coupes.

So yeah, I was extremely happy with mine and I miss it every time I drive the car.

EDIT: BTW, thanks for the advice. I installed the Koni Sports on the 328 friday night and saturday morning along with the TC Kline rubber RSM's and externally adjustable Konis. The car feels amazing.

 

While not Jackson Racing, the TRD blower for the 2.4L and 2.7L Tacoma's is the same M62 eaton unit and housing (and there is also the M90 available for the 2.4/2.7L too...) I personally have not installed mine yet, but there are plenty of Tacoma guys who have. Installation is no problem basically just a little bit more complicated than an intake manifold install - which is what you are doing. Though on a Honda the injectors are in the intake manifold right? That's what I like about the Tacoma...injectors are in the head, so don't need to mess with them until upping the boost to 8psi or more... Not sure about the JR supercharger for the civic's and integra's, but on the Tacoma's (2.4L) there has been a problem with the head bolts failing from the extra weight of the supercharger - going with ARP head bolts seems to be the solution. The 4 cylinder tacomas also are prone to pinging when adding a supercharger because of a lean running condition at the higher RPM's (computer doesn't give enough fuel for the added air). There is a way to route some vacuum lines on the Supercharger that gives more fuel at the higher rpms. Also water injection is pretty good to keep the exhaust gas temps down and help resolve any pining issues.

The reason I purchased the supercharger recently is it was a very good deal for a great shape used unit - I'm going to end up spending just as much if not more to get the truck ready to accept 10psi with no problems (Split Second Fuel/timing controller, Aquamist water injection system, Wideband O2 monitoring system). And even with the total expenses added up it'll still end up being thousands less than a turbo system. Not bad for 190hp and 210-220ft/lbs to the wheels at about 10psi. The only problem is getting the supercharger means I'll definately need to get the suspension up to par, upgrade the braking capability, and get a Limited Slip differential (which none really exists for the 2.4L 2wd Tacoma... - but I just got and entire '01 model 2.4L rear end off E-bay for $55.00 [not including shipping] to experiment with....)

Vracer111, who says linear boost is better than logarithmic boost for autocross and daily driving...plus it's cheaper!

 

In addition to the supercharger I would also install an oil cooler, and some sort of A/F tuning device. Then hit the dyno and tune that pupy in with a wide band. You may or may not need bigger injectors. %90 of your work will be in tuning. But i'm sure you know this. Sound like a fun project let us know how it does out on track. I'm currious how hot it will run, and if you will have any cooling problems with FI.

 

Installation is cake and the up-keep is next to nothing. I highly recommend a JRSC.

 

I had a JRSC on my d16y8 and beat the hell out of it for a year and a half and never had a single problem with it.

 

Negatives: I had the JRSC on my '95 Civic EX back in '97, IIRC. I always got part throttle detonation. I went to a Bell Engineering fmu which helped. We cranked the fuel pressure up to try to get rid of it - much higher than recommended. That helped a little. It then threw codes saying too rich @ idle. I went to 270cc RC injectors that helped as I could lower the fuel pressure. I could never get it to go away. I never felt that I could get into the throttle & stay there. I did have egt, boost & fp guages. @ this time, the people who were really getting them to run well were doing custom tuning. Remember, back then, custom tuning really was custom tuning!

Positives: It sure felt fast. The throttle response was great. Install was pretty easy - my mechanical level was much lower then too. You can go to a Hondata dealer & have a 'stock' map loaded that is optimized for the JRSC these days.

 

In reply to VRacer111.

The kit does come with bracing to help support the extra weight of the supercharger with the 99-00 Civic SI kit, at least that is what it said in the instructions that I read from JacksonRacing.Com. So hopefully it will come with bracing for the ZC motor.