Supercharged Boxter

[Steve986]

Hello folks I'm new to this forum. I recently bought a Supercharged 2001 986 with 26,000 miles on it. It also has a custom exhaust with Magnaflows on it (it's pretty loud, but sounds fabulous, if you like that sort of thing... and I do). The car is virtually perfect and like new. Here's my question; can I trust this thing for a long range cruise in the heat of summer???? It's not inter-cooled, as very few aftermarket superchargers are. It has obviously been tuned for the supercharger. I've heard that when cruising most high end superchargers dump the boost, that is, they don't use the boost until acceleration is applied (I've not yet determined the brand of this unit). Anyway the car runs perfectly and has LOTS of power, but I must admit after having the assumed reliability of my former car (a Miata) this Porsche scares me a little for long range driving. Should I fear the open road?

[mikefocke]

You bought a car where the internal stresses on the engine are not as designed. You have no idea if the cooling system was enhanced (3rd radiator in the front), the brakes were enhanced, the lower end of the engine beefed up, etc. You propose heading off into the unknown where no dealer will have a clue about some things that can go wrong. Few but the shop that did it might have any experience.

I remember a long long time ago owning a rather unique car (Alfa 1300 Giulietta Spyder Veloce). I owned it in 3 cities. South Bend IN where no mechanic even knew about the car, Newport RI where I found an excellent specialist in the brand, and Charleston SC where, on a trip up to Myrtle Beach the engine overheated and I had to tow it to the nearest mechanic who worked on foreign cars. He took my money and when I next saw the car he was out of business and the car was sitting with the top down and 2 inches of water in it. When it ran, it was perfect heaven. When it had trouble and I needed help...a disaster.

Yes, there is risk in owning a car that is a bit uncommon. Compared to an unmodified Mazda...yea. It can be the simple things ... will the local tire dealer in the small town where you picked up the nail have the right tire in the right size?

Your base '01 is a good car. The mods probably no one can vouch for.

Owned a '99 and a '01 and both have been great in terms of reliability.

[Steve986]

Yes, I've owned many modified (some heavily) cars... and you're right, I could get myself in a pickle if this thing needed work out on the highway, no doubt! I've experienced that very thing with my last Porsche, was stranded in Nowheresville, Illinois... horrible and expensive experience.

I've driven this Porsche over 2500 miles and have been driving it nearly everyday... it's been perfect in every way... and as I said, the car is literally like new.

I would say that the only big mods on this car are the exhaust, the supercharger and, I assume, the chip's tuning.

In my view (anyone, please tell me if I'm deluding myself here) if I drive normally, I'm not really adding much boost, especially when cruising in 5th gear. I might be getting one or two pounds of boost at most while cruising... what harm can that cause? I guess what I'm scared of are those 110 degree days on I-70 for hours on end!


Steve

[Wayne 962]

Yes, your assumptions are correct - the car, if setup properly will only boost when it's needed. The rest of the time it will use normally aspirated type power. Still, turning the SC puts a load on the engine no matter whether you're driving or idle. My suggestion? Make sure you have AAA and don't worry about it too much.

-Wayne

[tholyoak]

I would hazard to guess you have an Imagine Auto supercharger on your car, based on it being a 2.7 and your location. If it is, it will be a procharger centrifugal supercharger. I believe they were a relatively well engineered solution that unlike the early TPC units for the 2.5 used a remapped ecu and larger injectors rather than a piggyback controller and a 7th injector. Unfortunately Imagine is out of business. Putting forced induction on any motor not designed for it will reduce its life, but I don't think that you should worry too much about the cars reliability due to the modifications. Just enjoy it.

-Todd

[Steve986]

I did finally get a look at the supercharger itself yesterday, man is that a tight fit!. I still can't find any identification on it... would love to know what kit it is. Can't tell if that's a Procharger (thanks for the tip, Todd).

I noticed that one could easily bypass the supercharger by installing a stock size serpentine belt with no issues... I may do that just to see how life would be with a normally aspirated 2.7, out of curiosity. That may also be a reasonable solution to my issue: when I intend to take a long trip, let's say ten to twelve hours of driving, I could just slap on an original serpentine belt, if for nothing else just for piece of mind of knowing that I'm darn near stock... or I could just get AAA and not worry about it (thanks Wayne!).

Steve

[Wayne 962]

If the computer has been updated with a new map to correspond with the installation of the supercharger, you may be doing more harm than good by disconnecting it. I.E. the car might run rich, thinking the SC was blowing when it's not. Again, I would just drive the thing and enjoy it. The previous owner probably drove the heck out of it, so you should probably just continue it and enjoy!

-Wayne

[Steve986]

OK, Wayne, i trust you! I'll try to accept this car for the awesome machine that it is.

Thanks... here she is.

[Wayne 962]

Looks cool, I like the wing!

-Wayne

[Wayne 962]

Looks cool, I like the wing!

-Wayne

[Steve986]

Here's a better view, you can see the custom exhaust while we're at it.




Steve

[Wayne 962]

Custom / modified bumper cover too!

What else is hiding in the back of that photo?

-Wayne

[Ray_s]

Since you're driving in the US I would not worry too much over the SC, even with the SC it should hold years, unless you accelerate like hell all day long.

I personally stepped away from such kind of mods since I'm using my car in Germany, where my only limit will be the rev limiter at around 285 kmph... no way to use a SC w/o intercooler etc.

I also suggest - get a AAA membership and enjoy :-)

[arethusa71]

Steve,
First off- Congrats. Nice looking ride. I just, 2 weeks back bought a 2001 Boxster S with 37,000 miles - Also supercharged.

I know a little history on my car, and ive learned a little about the supercharger kit that I have. My kit is an Imagine Auto (IA) kit, which does use the ProCharger C-1 compressor.

The first thing you really need to do is identify your kit. Depending on what kit you have, may determine how you would need to maintain the system.
In the Imagine auto system the compressor is right inside the passenger side rear wheel. This is what the procharger C-1 looks like:



Note in the photo, there is a logo saying 'ProCharger' right next to the pulley. Lay down next to the car with your legs toward the back of the car and look up inside, just in front of the passenger side rear wheel. Probably need a flashlight, but you should be able to see that logo and determine if it is indeed a Procharger C-1.

The C1 needs to have its oil changed every 5-6k miles. It uses its own oil that you can buy from several places.

As others have stated. Dont worry about the car. Just get AAA and drive it. The compressor is only putting out 4.5 PSI max (if its an IA sytem) -Yes, it will probably reduce the life of the engine. And I would recommend that you change oil more frequently, maybe get a magnetic oil plug, and just take general good care of the car.

Nice to meet another Supercharged Boxster owner!!!

[Steve986]

Mine appears to be a TPC Racing unit... an Eaton roots type... 4.5 lbs of boost. No oil change required according to the Eaton folks.

They claimed about a 40% increase in power and I can tell you, this thing goes like stink! And the low-end torque is great. I'd rather have more displacement instead of supercharging, for sure... but this car's performance is damn impressive, let me tell you.

Steve

[Wayne 962]

Post some pics Steve, I'm not familiar with your type of installation.

thx,

Wayne

[Steve986]

These photos are not of my car... but it is the same installation. I have no easy way of shooting under my car, so these will have to do for the underside for now:







This is an Eaton M62. I'll try to get a shot of the top of the engine soon

Steve