|
|
Mike Kojima posted on April 14, 2011 21:16 
Project Toyota Tundra- Installing the TRD Supercharger Part 1
By Mike Kojima
When we last left off on Project Tundra we had installed a TRD cold air intake and TRD exhaust system. We were enjoying the high quality, warranty friendliness and smog legalness of our TRD factory engineered performance parts. However being how we are we still wanted more. In our search for the ultimate tow and work vehicle, we obtained one of TRD's awesome supercharger kits.
Read more about Project Tundra Here!
 |
| From the top the TRD unit looks like a huge honking old school 8-71 roots school bus blower but when you look underneath you can see that the Eaton TVS blower is actually quite compact and the big top is actually the housing for the water to air intercooler and the intake manifold. Pretty tidy packaging if you ask us. Eaton is an OEM level company and the supercharger is made to ISO, TS and QS quality standards. Note the nice molded rubber o-ring type gaskets around the intake ports? Cool feature! |
The TRD supercharger is perhaps the ultimate bolt in. TRD claims it takes the Tundra to an unheard of 504 hp @5500 rpm and 550 lb/ft of torque@ 4000 rpm. The best thing is that its smog legal and won't void your Toyota warranty as is is engineered by Toyota.
 |
| How tidy the layout is is most apparent when viewed from the rear. We think that this is really cool space utilization. The Eaton blower is self contained and requires no external lubrication or drain access. |
We were a little sketchy about bolting on so much power on a stock engine, especially a daily driver that we use to haul and tow. Towing can be just as brutal as racing on your engine. Pulling your race car up the Baker grade, Cajon pass or the Grapevine is common for So Cal racing and we have forced some of our tow vehicles to spend as much as 15 minutes at wide open throttle to get up these hills. Imagine a 15 minute dyno pull and thats what you get!
Friday, April 15, 2011 9:16 AM
The dealer has to do the install for the longer warranty, correct?
Friday, April 15, 2011 9:19 AM
Here is TRD's warranty policy Warranty Toyota/Scion Warranty - Length of Coverage Accessories installed at the time of the new vehicle purchase are covered for 36 months/36,000 miles, from the vehicle's in-service date, whichever occurs first, under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. Accessories installed by the dealer after the new vehicle purchase are covered for 12 months, regardless of mileage, from the accessory installation date, or the remainder of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty, whichever provides greater coverage Accessories purchased over-the-counter are covered for 12 months from the date of purchase. Car covers are warranted for 12 months from the purchase date and are not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty
Friday, April 15, 2011 11:05 AM
"Looks good on old muscle cars", eh, debateable! Nicely tucked under the hood of the Tundra, not so debateable for me, beautiful! There are multiple reasons I'm such a big fan of TRD and GMPP. Great parts, performance, warranty, service, etc. Some of their platforms may be lacking, but I guess you can't win them all. This kit is just one more reason that I'm growing as a fan of the Tundra! Them there are diesel like performance numbers (did my southern drawl come through there?). Mike, is there a way for you to give us a before and after comparison on empty MPG, tow MPG and tow temps, just to verify TRD claim? And I was really suprised that TRD didn't at the least want to upgrade that torque converter?
Friday, April 15, 2011 1:07 PM
Aren't you Mike an ex TRD engineer with a TRD certification? I wouldn't see why they (TRD) would not stand behind their words. Anyway, it was about time you guys bolt this sucker up ! What other upgrade are you foreseeing in the future? Bigger oil cooler? What EMS are you guys running?
Friday, April 15, 2011 3:53 PM
Hell yes, twin screw supercharger for the win! Reminds me of what I'd like to do to a VH45 at some point (Whipple running about 1 bar of boost), and makes me wish I had the facilities to cast my own manifold! I really like that the pulley is attached to a shaft that goes through the intake and attaches directly to one of the rotors instead of using a jackshaft like *some* companies (Sigh... Whipple), though I will admit that it doesn't work for all applications. Knowing that the engineers probably chose the MAF sensor for the stock ECU with all of the TRD add-ons in mind, I suspect that the stock ECU is still in play, and will likely continue to be in play throughout the life of this vehicle.
Friday, April 15, 2011 7:09 PM
Mike, good job on this build. I am going to share with our field tech group up here in San Francisco. Got o test one of these. What a rush... "Thats why we are #1"
Friday, April 15, 2011 9:28 PM
I was a TRD engineer about 20 years ago. There is no such thing as a TRD certificate. I am going to track normal driving and towing mileage later.
Friday, April 15, 2011 10:47 PM
Almost as much torque as my Cummins with far more power. Nice. What kind of mileage do you think it'll get towing and unloaded?
Friday, April 15, 2011 10:51 PM
BTW, this thing's going to be a rocket ship, and will likely beat nearly every project car we have at the stop light Grand Prix.... :)
Friday, April 15, 2011 11:00 PM
I think the casting is done locally (Southern California) by Buddy Bar. They have been doing great castings for years for the OEMs. Excellent castings by far!
Saturday, April 16, 2011 8:56 AM
It gets 12-14 mpg towing now and 15-19 unladen. Sounds bad but its about the same as my 2006 Pathfinder with way more everything. The Titian gets better mileage but its a fragile truck compared to the Tundra.
Saturday, April 16, 2011 12:00 PM
Holy crap. Kojima's truck is going to have more horsepower than my Mustang. Dammit, now I need to go out and buy that Borg-Warner turbo kit.
Thursday, April 21, 2011 9:59 AM
These trucks are pretty impressive with the TRD Supercharger kit. The owner of my Toyota dealership has had a new Tundra each year and each year it gets fully decked out with all the TRD accessories. I don't recommend the 22" TRD wheels though; they're supposedly forged, but he's damaged at least 3 on separate occasions!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 1:42 AM
Mike, I am not sure if you guys had the chance to take it to the track yet, but we got together and had a group meet. A 2 wheel drive with the TRD package (430 gears) withe the super charger netted me a best time of the night of 13.31. That was running 275/65/18 goodyear silent armor a/t tires. Just had to be careful on the launch. We did have a couple of guys that were running drag radials that pulled down in the upper 12's with a double cab. The Toyota extended warranty also covers the super charger. It's a win/win situation with it being a Toyota built supercharger and covered under your factory and extended warranty. November 19 will be our next meet and hope to see some lower times with the Firestone destination s/t tires. Good write up. Looking for more updates from you on this project.
 
|
|
MotoIQ Proudly Presents Our Partners:
|