Dyno Charts and more pictures to follow in the coming weeks...
I've trusted ESS since the day i tried the beta version of the NA Tune. Even though my version of the NA Tune only had an extra 5-6hp in the midrange, I still enjoyed how much more smooth the car ran. After the pre-MFEST meet @ Oakley Headquarters earlier this year, I got the chance to talk with Roman & AJ about updating my software to the current version they had been distributing. About 30min later AJ accommodated me and re-tuned the car right there! After talking with them at great length about the supercharger kit, i decided to save some money and purchase their kit.
I recently picked up my E90M3 after having the ESS VT1-535 Supercharger kit installed and let me tell you... After having the car for only three days, I've already put over 250 more miles on the car... I'm more happy with my car than EVER!!!
I really don't know how much power i'm putting down quite yet, PLUS i'm still running the stock muffler & x-pipe. I wouldn't be surprised if the stock muffler & x-pipe are restricting the full power of the kit but we'll see once Arqray exhaust finally arrives. I will be doing a before & after dyno run the same day of the exhaust install.
On my way home from picking up the car i decided to reset my gas mileage to see how much of a change there really was. To my surprise, the gas mileage didn't change too much on the freeway. At a cruising speed of 75mph over a distance of over 40 miles, the gauge read 21.2mpg!! During stop-n-go driving during traffic the next day my gas mileage did go down from an original average of 18.4mpg to about 17mpg, which was to be expected.
As for power delivery... to be honest, i haven't had a good chance to really PUSH the car but getting to 100mph is absolutely NO PROBLEM! First gear is almost not even needed cause i'm into 2nd gear in practically no time at all! When going through the gears it's not like an abrupt delivery to the wheels, it feels more smooth as if i didn't even have the supercharger installed! I can't say enough about the car.
One thing i do wanna say about the VT1-535 is that if you're still THINKING about getting the kit or VT2 or even higher... just DO ET!!!!
Here are a few pictures i have during & after the install:
Once everything was test-fitted, we sent the plenum & supercharger off to be painted. Here is the final look of the car as she sits today:
Major props and thanks to the homie Mark for a staying up late doing the install...
Laidback aka Chris, thanks for making this project a success by coordinating everything!
Roman, thanks for shipping everything out so quickly and always being there for any questions I've had before, during & after the install.
REMEMBER, these runs were done on 91 Octane with a stock x-pipe and Arqray Muffler (VT1-535 with 5psi pulley)
