Any downsides to Comptech Supercharger......
- Thread starter HockeyGoalie
- Start date
It is the simplest system out there said:
Biggest downside is you lose the sound of your motor and exhaust with the Ctsc. I miss my pride v2. 
Take the cats off like it did. Now i cant hear the supercharger:wink:Biggest downside is you lose the sound of your motor and exhaust with the Ctsc. I miss my pride v2.
Maybe, but I would rather smell good vs. hear my exhaust. :biggrin:
Biggest downside is you lose the sound of your motor and exhaust with the Ctsc. I miss my pride v2.
i was hoping that would be different with the nsx:-(
I hear my exhaust and intake plenty fine. There is just an addition of a supercharger whine and that just is a nice mechanical "I'm getting going now" sound. I love it.
It does change the character of the engine quite a bit. Feels more like a low horse smallblock chevy(think corvette vs ferrari). Revving out is slightly less thrilling IMO. The sounds they make vary greatly even with the exact same kit and they change thoughout the range. There is a substantive parasitic loss that feels sort of like you left the E brake on one notch. It's very slight, but it bothers the hell out of me. The above are all huge negatives for my mostly street machine, however if you track of street race the above may be a very small price to pay. The power gain for the low boost in not worth it IMO, a built motor with higher boost makes enough power that it mitigates quite a bit although i have not driven a high horse SC.
Many years ago i talked a local into getting a kit. He was not happy. No problems with it, but the parasitic loss bothered him and he sold. My bad.
They are very good kits, but my advice is to drive as many as you can and see for yourself.
Many years ago i talked a local into getting a kit. He was not happy. No problems with it, but the parasitic loss bothered him and he sold. My bad.
They are very good kits, but my advice is to drive as many as you can and see for yourself.
i have tp and don't smell anything. i drive behind my friend nsx without cat and still don't smell anything bad.
my exhaust is louder then my ctsc.. cantrell exhaust.. can barely hear the old whipple whine behind the seat.. i guess engine cover suppresses some whine sound.
I do have no engine cover. I don't know how you can say it doesn't smell. Maybe you have fried your nose. I couldn't stand to be behind my buddys NSX with test pipes. It was burning my eyes.
This is my concern. I am hesitant to buy a used NSX with a Comptech supercharger and not know if the previous owners beat on it. If would be hard not to.
If you weren't going to beat on it, why install the supercharger in the first place? That's like being stranded on a desert island with Kate Upton and just being friends.
I don't want to buy a supercharged NSX and a year or two later have to replace, motor, clutch, trans, and brakes, etc.
Like with any car purchase you have to inspect the condition of each specimen. You will also have NA NSXs that are in worse shape due to neglect, abuse, etc than a pristine CTSC NSX that has been maintained and properly cared for. They each could have equal mileage on the odo. I've seen many examples of both. In fact, I know of a few NSXs here in Socal that were once SC'ed and now NA and vice versa. They are all running great since they are properly maintained. It's when a car run in high boost conditions w/ an improper tune that would be of some concern. I can't remember the last time I read about a stock CTSC engine failures though i'm sure they exist.
The original Whipple CTSC and it's Autorotor version 2 are both well designed units and always command a premium in price. They are considered favorable upgrades. If they were junk they would not have sold thousands of them. Just sayin...
Sorry for the somewhat OT bump but I found a great educational video explaining STFT and LTFT which the F/IC "piggybacks" onto. If you understand this then you can understand why the stock ECU + F/IC has benefits over a partially tuned EMS and why a 3hr tune on a F/IC makes it difficult to account for LTFT changes and why good tuners say it simply takes longer to tune an F/IC. It doesn't mean the F/IC is bad... An inadequate tune maybe...? To address detonation, i'd run a bit of meth for a safety buffer.
The problem for us OBD1 guys is the lack of the ability to read STFT and LTFT. If I had an OBD2, the F/IC is a total no-brainer.
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Two things: 1) I know I've ran across two guys that have had their CTSC for over 75K miles. One is a member of prime here. 2) you used to be able to to order the basic CTSC kit THROUGH ACURA, and if they installed it, it did not void the factory warranty.
Reliability depends on maintenance and condition of car, not the fact that it has a CTSC or doesn't. This is a very mild upgrade, and the most thoroughly tested and proven system out there.
All very good points, seems very reliable.
Most of the supercharged cars for sale have only been owned by their current owners for less than a year? Why?
Seems like the previous owner always did the SC installation, not the current owner. If its so great and reliable and transforms the car, why are they selling? Could it be a bad installation or improper tune?
I'm sure in most if not all cases the SC is NOT the reason for selling the car.
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Idk what you are talking about. Most CTSC owners here bought the system themselves. I can name 15 people off the top of my head right now. If someone is selling a car it could be for all kinds of reasons but to assume they are selling t because they put on a CTSC is strange reasoning.
LMR is not right in saying "there are NO drawbacks". There are drawbacks to anything and yes I can say that a supercharged motor experiences slightly more stress. That doesn't mean it can't go 200k miles. There is extra noise, extra cost, extra maintenance, etc. there is no such thing as a free lunch and if you want the absolute utmost reliability don't buy an FI NSX. Buy a stock one and maintain it meticulously. But I can tell you personally it is very hard to go back to NA when you have had a supercharger. A well-maintained CTSC NSX is probably more reliable and less costly to maintain than any other exotic car I can think of. This is a car you buy to drive and have fun with. If I wanted a Camry I'd buy a Camry. Being that CTSC NSX's sell on the market for barely more than stock ones, and the CTSC with installation is 10-15K in costs, I would thoroughly have the CTSC model checked out and if the engine is good and the SC is good I would 100% prefer the CTSC one over an NA car.
^^ You might be guilty of overthinking this amigo :biggrin:
90% of the audience that buy the NSX wants exotic (somewhat), reliable and fun in the same sentence. Only 10% of the NSX owners are worthy of FI solutions.
I think it is waaaay over hyped especially on prime. I stopped wanting one right after experiencing one. Definitely drive one first.
The few NSX owners that drove my SOS SC or got a ride are all trying to figure out how to kill me and steal my NSX without being on the episode of CSI NSX.
I've yet to be in a CTSC NSX that can light up 1st-2nd gear from a roll start with sticky tires like Dunlop SS that are 275 - 285 wide.
My SOS SC can do that with no problemo.
I've yet to be in a CTSC NSX that can light up 1st-2nd gear from a roll start with sticky tires like Dunlop SS that are 275 - 285 wide.
My SOS SC can do that with no problemo.
Thats why i got such a great deal on mine. I bought my car with 40k in upgrades and paid 8k over stock. It was a risk i was willing to take since i have lost 30k in mods on other cars. So many people are worried about problems with FI cars
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