Realistically how unreliable is a supercharger. Need real input.

[Millie]

Anyone drive it in the winter? I mean constantly below freezing winter not a light jacket Florida winter.

[Rekrul]

Originally Posted by squartus

I just had ESS 625 supercharger installed yesterday, of course I replaced my bearings with wpc and upgraded my rodbolts while I was at it...

Here's what my bearings looked like at 31,000 miles. 2010 manual trans.
If you are worried about supercharger causing wear... well you prob already have a lot of bearing wear and don't even know it. Spend the 900 bucks on labor and 500 on new upgraded bearings and save yourself some pain.






Car was never tracked, oil changed every 7500 miles. Other than the outrageous bearing wear for such a low milage car the shop said my engine was completely flawless.

Where did you manage to get it done so cheaply? Everyone is quoting me like 3k+ for the bearings and bolts.

[CNDM3]

Originally Posted by Millie

Anyone drive it in the winter? I mean constantly below freezing winter not a light jacket Florida winter.

Yes, I drive my VF540 M3 in the winter. Ontario, Canada.

[jimk]

Vortech has a warning advising against a cold start at temperatures below 25 degrees Farenheit.

On Vortech's warranty PDF, the following is listed under exclusions:

"Subjecting any Vortech supercharger to a cold start-up condition (below 25° F) without the
use of an engine block heater/aftermarket engine blanket".

[squartus]

I had it done at Velos Designwerkes in Miami FL, order the parts yourself and will save a few bucks as well. With the bolts/bearings/labor you should be spending no more than 2k, only like a 9hr job.

[SflBimmer8484]

Originally Posted by tinman831

Would it be safe to say that a supercharger puts more strain on engine components in general (rod bearings included )?

I would be lying if I said more power equaled less stress because obviously that makes no sense.. Although we have seen over 80k miles on a supercharged car thus far without a bearing change which is pretty amazing considering it makes 250+ whp over factory.