TRD Supercharger.... Worth it?

nevada said:
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?
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Mine was removed because the plastic coupler between the nose drive and the lobes had worn out and was causing a horrible sounding rattle. The guy thought it was bad and didnt want to deal with it. $40 for a trd replacement kit and an hour later and it was like new. About a year ago, I also did go ahead and replace the bearings and seal in the nose cone for good measure.
 
Where are you guys finding superchargers for less than $1k? The ones on Ebay that have minimal accessories are still going for upwards of $1.5k. It must be the part of the country that I live in because if a trd supercharger popped up on craigslist around here it'd be a miracle.
 
You sometimes see used ones on Craigslist for cheap.

If I can muster up some winnings in Vegas in May and once the house property taxes are paid, I may have to give some serious thought to buying one.
 
So I just drove sn0wrunner's runner.

But it leaves me with some very interesting thoughts. His supercharged truck and mine are like apples and oranges. His is so much less efficient on the road than mine. It is totally geared for off road use. His 4runner has much more weight, and more drag, AND it was an auto, so that all works against on-road performance.

I can't imagine what the performance would be like if it didn't have a supercharger. With the supercharger, I felt performance to be very similar to my stock 5-speed - maybe a smidge quicker. But with all his mods and the auto, it is hard to tell just how much was gained by the supercharger. But from the size of his truck I would say the gains may be considerable.

So for me I still really want one, but it's just hard to tell. My 5-speed would be able to hold its own on the road against his, but his is far from stock. So there lies my conclusions.

But thanks again, sn0wrunner! It was great to meet you and just be able to drive your masterpiece truck! It looks fantastic.
 
I agree, not worth it. A good friend SC'd his 97, and I drove it a few times, wasn't impressed much. Now I did also drive a SC'd S Runner that had some other mods, and that little truck was pretty quick.

I look at money spent to performance gained. It really seems like a giant waste of money to me.
 
It was good meeting you Adam. Hopefully driving my runner was beneficial for your decision. Interesting analysis. As you said, it's certainly hard to compare the handling of my rig vs. a stock 4runner. And I had both sway bars connected! Haha. I'm sticking with my opinion that it's completely worth it. Night and day difference. I think you'd be quite happy with one.
 
adkinsadam1 said:
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...
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Good to meet you today. Sorry my rig was full of dogs and stuff lol. Hope you enjoyed driving it and maybe I'll see you around Fort Collins sometime.
 
EatonKyleH said:
Good to meet you today. Sorry my rig was full of dogs and stuff lol. Hope you enjoyed driving it and maybe I'll see you around Fort Collins sometime.
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Yes good to meet you too! I definitely noticed a power difference. And dogs are better than no dogs always!

I think I'm sold. Time to start saving!
 
Definitely worth it! I owned a normally aspirated 2002 Limited 4X4 for 8 years. I got rid of it for my supercharged 2000 Limited 4X4. It's a night and day difference in driving. I put 130,000 miles on the '02. It was constantly downshifting on even the slightest of grades to maintain 65-70 mph. My '00 can hold overdrive on some pretty steep grades. I too noticed no change in fuel economy. Having to run premium fuel would be the only downside that I could see.
 
The placebo vs no-cebo effect is evident here as well. Some people dont see anything beyond auto maintence as a good investment. Some dont have the money. i dont have the time to get mine installed. Having owned boosted vehicles in the mountains before....i believe there is no substitute for boost when you need it.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
 
psraff said:
These old threads are popping up a lot lately. ... lol
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It means people are using the almighty search bar!


On topic, I can live with my current NA 4runner, but I would be significantly happier if it had a bit more punch. Lots of preventative maintenance and proactive mods to do beforehand to get my car into a condition where a supercharger would be worthwhile though.
 
I’ve never driven a supercharged 3rd gen, but I think my stock Runner has enough power already. Yeah, on an uphill it drops speed like crazy, but once you press that Overdrive off button on the shift lever, hey, I can keep going at 90 mph on an uphill for couple miles. Once I reach flat surface I just press the button again to get better gas mileage. To me the $3000 kit and having to run premium all the time is just too much money since I only paid $2500 for my Runner and it’s saving me gas money by running regular. That being said, if you were to tow boats/trailers every weekend it should be worth it. I only drive my 3rd gen as a reliable DD and DIY repair subject so I probably wont get it S/C’ed.
 
Palatino said:
I’ve never driven a supercharged 3rd gen, but I think my stock Runner has enough power already. Yeah, on an uphill it drops speed like crazy, but once you press that Overdrive off button on the shift lever, hey, I can keep going at 90 mph on an uphill for couple miles. Once I reach flat surface I just press the button again to get better gas mileage. To me the $3000 kit and having to run premium all the time is just too much money since I only paid $2500 for my Runner and it’s saving me gas money by running regular. That being said, if you were to tow boats/trailers every weekend it should be worth it. I only drive my 3rd gen as a reliable DD and DIY repair subject so I probably wont get it S/C’ed.
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You're burning more fuel, trying to get yourself up that hill with O/D turned off. With a supercharger...you will no longer have to downshift. Passing people on the highway is also done with a lot less effort with a S/C. Once you drive one that is supercharged, you will be disappointed with your normally aspirated TR4. This is coming from someone who owned a 2002 naturally aspirated TR4 for 8 years before selling it for a 2000 supercharged TR4. Yes, premium fuel costs a bit more. I like to refer to it as smiles per gallon though. When the supercharger starts whining and pulling...the cost of fuel is the farthest thing from my mind.
 
jsukey said:
You're burning more fuel, trying to get yourself up that hill with O/D turned off. With a supercharger...you will no longer have to downshift. Passing people on the highway is also done with a lot less effort with a S/C. Once you drive one that is supercharged, you will be disappointed with your normally aspirated TR4. This is coming from someone who owned a 2002 naturally aspirated TR4 for 8 years before selling it for a 2000 supercharged TR4. Yes, premium fuel costs a bit more. I like to refer to it as smiles per gallon though. When the supercharger starts whining and pulling...the cost of fuel is the farthest thing from my mind.
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Well said! I drove a 2000 4Runner for a couple of weeks that was naturally aspirated and every time I stepped on the gas I was disappointed. Once you're on the sauce you can never go back!

But I do agree about the price of these units new. $3500 + tax for a new Magnuson supercharger system is almost the same price, if not more, of an average used 4Runner. Hard to justify that price tag, even though that's fairly cheap for a complete supercharger assembly. If you can find one with a supercharger already installed they sell for much, much less. I paid about $1000 above the normal price in my area with similar mileage to get one with a supercharger on it already.
 
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