TRD Supercharger.... Worth it?

Worth it for sure. Where are you located, would you like to test drive mine?

I would LOVE to test drive yours. I would LOVE to. That would be simply the best.

I'm in Castle Rock! But my church is in Centennial and I will be up there Sunday if that works for you!
 
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I came to my first 3rd gen from an FJ60 (125hp and HEAVY) and a carbureted mini truck (80hp on a good day), and to me, the 3rd gen with a 5-speed was a veritable rocket ship compared to what I was used to.

See I noticed that just with the 3rd gen compared to another 3rd ten - automatic vs. manual. The 4-speed with this engine combo was just terrible. The 5 speed is much faster I believe. But a supercharged 5-speed? I am starting to like the sound of that...
 
Any vehicle with added BOOST is well worth it. If you dont mind the drop in gas mileage its EVERYTHING!!! Mine would be supercharged if it wasnt my daily driver and they where not so damn pricey.

I miss my boosted vehicles so bad, but Im building a beast of a mitsubishi that will be running 40+psi!!
 
Does anybody have any acceleration numbers to compare to a stock NA motor since then we could actually see that power in a real world situation. Of course those that have it would feel it's worth it and yes,more on road power for pulling steep inclines or towing it would be nice.

Now with that said I've driven a couple blown 3.4s and the extra oomph was nice but for my truck I didn't feel the extra cost was worth it for my needs since around town and off road there really wasn't a plus but on the hwy and passing a little extra boost would be useful.

Do I regret not ever going with an SC? At first yes but the more I've moved along with my 4Runner I don't think I really needed any more power to make my truck more enjoyable.
 
I have had my 96 auto supercharged for the last 35,000 miles. My truck has 244,xxx on it now and I do not regret putting the supercharger on at all. I came from a 94 mr2 with a 3rd gen 3sge swap so the runner felt like a dog to me.

I am running the stock pulley (although it gets me 7-9psi for some reason) no additional mods other than 2 step colder plugs and ALWAYS 91 or higher octane at around 2400ft elevation. I dont get any ping and it made a HUGE difference in how it feels zipping around town and going over passes on the freeway.

I actually raced my buddy in his runner for the first time about a 2 weeks ago just for fun. He has a 02 runner with a k&n intake, no lift and stock 265/70/16" tires. I have the supercharger, a trd catback and run 33" tires with a 3" lift. From a dig, I jumped about 2-3 car lengths ahead through 1st gear (35-40mph) and then steadily pulled to about 4-5 lengths by the time we hit 75-80.

I think i could gain another 1-2 lengths on him if I didnt have a horrible slip on my 1st to 2nd shift. That is the only issue I have had arise in the 35,xxx miles I have been boosted and I attribute it to my heavy heavy foot and lots of full throttle pulls to 60. I have a new trans sitting in my garage that I picked up for $125 with just over 100,xxx miles that will get the valve body modded before getting put back in.

Once you go with a supercharger, you will never look back. It makes the truck so much more friendly as a dd to zip around town with. It did make it a MUCH easier reality for me considering I picked up my kit for less than $600 all said and done. :)
 
Have you driven a supercharged 4runner before? Not trying to attack you at all, but just wondering.

Your point of less MPG's is actually false. I'm getting the same if not better MPG's since supercharging. Sure if I stop on the gas all the time I would be getting less MPG, but not as I'm driving now. I'm actually downshifting a lot less and can go up hills at 70 MPH that I would otherwise drop down to 55 MPG. I can understand some other points, but it really does change the way you drive and the enjoyment. I was ready to give up on my lifted 4runner, but now I'm so happy driving it.

Yep, sure have. The minimal feeling, or extra HP gained, does not warrant the cost of 1.5K-2K IMO. Plus paying the extra .25 cents for premium at the pump would take the joy out of it for me.

Different folks, different strokes.
 
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The more I think about it, if one buys a new S/C, uses it for 30,000 miles, then sells their 4runner, one can recoup almost 4/5 of the price paid for the new S/C if they sell their used one on Fleabay at the present moment. I don't think the demand will wain anytime soon either.

I did see one on CL in South Carolina for $800 years ago and dragged my feet in getting it. Now that was just plain dumb on my part.
 
Well, you guys have pretty much made up my mind on it. I'll be getting one eventually. Although when I do mine, I'll want to do it with the added accessories, so it'll be pricey. Plus the added ongoing cost of using premium instead of 87, it'll have to wait. But it's on the list. Probably after the house is paid off...
 
I wonder what a SCd 3 rd gen would run against a stock 4th gen V6 since that would be a better comparison to a power increase since a stock 3rd gen runs the 1/4 in the mid 17s so even a 60hp increase might only jump you into the 16s which is an improvement over stock by quite a bit but overall still a bit slow. For me I'd rather put the money into it's offroad prowess plus some of us have more than one car that calls on the wallet for mods.:yell:
 
S/c

I think it all depends on how far you take it and what elevation you are at. I have never driven a stock 4runner w/just a S/C, and mine doesn't really count since I'm running a smaller pulley, URD 7th injector, headers, Level 10 valve body(to keep from smoking the tranny) and a progressive meth system.

My rig is also much heavier than stock between the 5 large wheels/tires (actually 6 since I'm too lazy to the take the 2nd spare off the roof) , frt/rear plate bumpers, winch, full roof rack, and crap loads under body armor.

That said my 4runner scoots. Pretty fun to put my foot in it when the light changes, 0-speed limit it runs like a raped ape.
:naughty:
 
Have you driven a supercharged 4runner before? Not trying to attack you at all, but just wondering.

Your point of less MPG's is actually false. I'm getting the same if not better MPG's since supercharging. Sure if I stop on the gas all the time I would be getting less MPG, but not as I'm driving now. I'm actually downshifting a lot less and can go up hills at 70 MPH that I would otherwise drop down to 55 MPG. I can understand some other points, but it really does change the way you drive and the enjoyment. I was ready to give up on my lifted 4runner, but now I'm so happy driving it.

I haven't gotten to drive them back to back, and I don't own one...
but, have driven one a few times, and I wasn't impressed either. if it wasn't for seeing the SC under the hood...I wouldn't have known. I also didn't really stomp on it, it was a customer car, and I was on a test drive.

are the NA trucks just that underpowered, that the SC truck feels normal?
 
Yep, sure have. The minimal feeling, or extra HP gained, does not warrant the cost of 1.5K-2K IMO. Plus paying the extra .25 cents for premium at the pump would take the joy out of it for me.

Different folks, different strokes.

Ok I can respect that. Just bugs me when people who have never driven one make all these assumptions and points yet they don't know what it's like. It definitely is for certain people.

The more I think about it, if one buys a new S/C, uses it for 30,000 miles, then sells their 4runner, one can recoup almost 4/5 of the price paid for the new S/C if they sell their used one on Fleabay at the present moment. I don't think the demand will wain anytime soon either.

I did see one on CL in South Carolina for $800 years ago and dragged my feet in getting it. Now that was just plain dumb on my part.

That's the nice point of the resale on these. I could pull mine today and make at least $400 on it easy. To me that makes it all worth it since they don't really lose their value a ton unless it has really high miles.

I think it all depends on how far you take it and what elevation you are at. I have never driven a stock 4runner w/just a S/C, and mine doesn't really count since I'm running a smaller pulley, URD 7th injector, headers, Level 10 valve body(to keep from smoking the tranny) and a progressive meth system.

My rig is also much heavier than stock between the 5 large wheels/tires (actually 6 since I'm too lazy to the take the 2nd spare off the roof) , frt/rear plate bumpers, winch, full roof rack, and crap loads under body armor.

That said my 4runner scoots. Pretty fun to put my foot in it when the light changes, 0-speed limit it runs like a raped ape.
:naughty:

I've been meaning to talk to you about a meth system. Hopefully soon we can all meet up for a mod day and I can check yours out.

I haven't gotten to drive them back to back, and I don't own one...
but, have driven one a few times, and I wasn't impressed either. if it wasn't for seeing the SC under the hood...I wouldn't have known. I also didn't really stomp on it, it was a customer car, and I was on a test drive.

are the NA trucks just that underpowered, that the SC truck feels normal?

I've said it before and it's not unbelievably amazing power with just the SC. There are times that I wonder if it's there, but the subtle times like hills and quick merging is where it shines for me. Also compared to a 4th gen it really won't feel like much. My mom's 03 V6 can still beat me and has a smooth power band all the way through.
 
It's very well worth it although I'd keep an eye out for a used one to save some good money.

You'd also be welcome to test drive mine as well.

and it's even a 2000 and 5-speed like yours.

I pass through Castle Rock often feel free to PM me.
 
See I noticed that just with the 3rd gen compared to another 3rd ten - automatic vs. manual. The 4-speed with this engine combo was just terrible. The 5 speed is much faster I believe. But a supercharged 5-speed? I am starting to like the sound of that...

I actually drove a supercharged 5-speed recently and it made me wish mine was a 5-speed. It didn't seem any faster than mine(or slower), but had a slightly different boost area. It did better on the freeway, whereas mine(automatic) has a less noticeable boost on the freeway(I'm running lean/no accessories). Best part though is not worrying about the tranny as much. I haven't put my shift kit in yet and it always worries me when doing high rev shifts. I really hope to someday own a 5-speed 3rd gen.
 
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I've said it before and it's not unbelievably amazing power with just the SC. There are times that I wonder if it's there, but the subtle times like hills and quick merging is where it shines for me. Also compared to a 4th gen it really won't feel like much. My mom's 03 V6 can still beat me and has a smooth power band all the way through.

noted.
however, I wasn't really comparing it to my 4th gen, just in general. I drive a lot of cars at work, so I get a feel for how different cars drive.

that said, if this particular 4runner comes up for sale any time soon, I would be an interested buyer. the SC is the reason for that. :D



im curious, why are there so many SC's for sale out there? why are they being removed?
 
noted.
however, I wasn't really comparing it to my 4th gen, just in general. I drive a lot of cars at work, so I get a feel for how different cars drive.

that said, if this particular 4runner comes up for sale any time soon, I would be an interested buyer. the SC is the reason for that. :D



im curious, why are there so many SC's for sale out there? why are they being removed?

Haha, nice. The reasoning for them being available is sometimes worrysome, but a lot of guys just don't want to deal or need with the extra power/maintenance. The guy I got mine from had his 4runner totaled by a drunk driver, so he pulled the SC before the insurance company took the truck. Others buy a truck and don't want the sc so the recoup some money back. I like to talk with people over the phone to get a idea if they are holding something back or seem sketchy.
 

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