1engineer
Moderator
The problem with a supercharger is the same as it's always been. There are already alternatives that are better. Charging nearly full retail for a test unit is an even tougher sell.
At $5k for a test unit, I'm sure they'll get a few takers. If they sell a lot of units, I'll be kinda surprised. So trying to recover a lot of development in each unit is probably pretty important. Putting the $ toward a LC200 seems like a much better investment. Not only do you get a lot more power. You also get a lot more axles, more gears, more suspension, more tailgate, and more durability. I love the idea - but it's just not very competitive with alternatives that offer a lot more for about the same money. Kinda the same reason you rarely see a performance upgrade offered for a base model engine in other vehicles. Putting a supercharger on a 4cyl tacoma happens - but wouldn't you probably just buy the v6? It looks like well engineered system. The price is inline with other similar superchargers.
They will get a few takers. They will never sell a lot of these. They know that some people will pay a lot of money for anything new or different just to have something new or different. This is why the first run will cost as much as the production units. There simply isn't a big volume demand for a supercharger on a 4Runner that is aftermarket. Now, if it was an option on a new 4Runner? There would be a lot of buyers because they could finance and have the warranty of 5/60. After owning a 4Runner and reading all these posts for almost seven years, I doubt they will sell over 500 units. If they sold over 1,000 I would be surprised. There simply isn't a demand. Sure, everyone WANTS more power but wanting something and shelling out $5K+ to get it are two different things.