What Kit ESS 550 or VF 540 Kit

[Groundpilot]

Originally Posted by FNG

Thanks for the information. Along with the OP, i am also trying to make a decision on which SC kit to run. Not looking for a popularity contest. Your insight is much appreciated.

According to the ESS website, the VT1-550 kit produces 6 PSI and the VF engineering kit produces 4.5 PSI. Can you or anyone else confirm this is correct?

ESS VT-1 550 Kit produces 5.5 PSI

[Harry Da Hamster]

Originally Posted by FNG

According to the ESS website, the VT1-550 kit produces 6 PSI and the VF engineering kit produces 4.5 PSI. Has anyone actually measured this with a boost gauge to confirm this is correct for both kits?

Originally Posted by Groundpilot

ESS VT-1 550 Kit produces 5.5 PSI

Sorry i corrected my question to be more clear. Has anyone actually measured the boost pressure for either kits?

[Sered]

Originally Posted by FNG

Thanks for the information. Along with the OP, i am also trying to make a decision on which SC kit to run. Not looking for a popularity contest. Your insight is much appreciated.

According to the ESS website, the VT1-550 kit produces 6 PSI and the VF engineering kit produces 4.5 PSI. Has anyone actually measured this with a boost gauge to confirm this is correct for both kits?

My VF540 kit made about 5psi with test-pipes, I'd imagine on a complete stock exhaust it would be closer to 6psi. Remember boost is a byproduct of lack of enough airflow. The engine can't digest all the air at once, so backpressure builds up. If you increase the exhaust flow significantly, like with test-pipes or an x-pipe, then the boost level will drop. It's one of the main reasons you see such wild variations in claimed boost levels and power levels.

Normally, a VT1-550 and VF-540 will make about 470whp at ~5psi on an otherwise stock car on a 75degF day so long as there's decent airflow on the dyno. Both run a 101mm pulley to my recollection.

[BNBM3]

Originally Posted by FNG

Thanks for the information. Along with the OP, i am also trying to make a decision on which SC kit to run. Not looking for a popularity contest. Your insight is much appreciated.

According to the ESS website, the VT1-550 kit produces 6 PSI and the VF engineering kit produces 4.5 PSI. Has anyone actually measured this with a boost gauge to confirm this is correct for both kits?

Depending on your budget, I wouldn't count out Active Autowerke's kit.

[k3silk]

Originally Posted by BNBM3

Depending on your budget, I wouldn't count out Active Autowerke's kit.

I don't think they have a kit that is in the price range that I posted on this original thread. Im only looking for one of the two kits and for some reason Im not a big fan of that kit for the money.

[BNBM3]

Originally Posted by k3silk

I don't think they have a kit that is in the price range that I posted on this original thread. Im only looking for one of the two kits and for some reason Im not a big fan of that kit for the money.

That's why I responded to someone who didn't mention what their budget was

For a level 1 kit, I would probably lean towards ESS also because of the large price difference. But some people are not that budget conscious and would prefer the nicer kit and don't mind paying for it.

[k3silk]

"After Doing a lot of research on a bunch of bolt ons Akra pipes/ Test Pipes and or supercharger for what I intended to do with car I have decided between ESS 550 or VF 540. For the price it hard to beat at $6400-6500 for both kits plus did not want to hack anything to make intercooler fit. Which kit is better and why? Im looking for 480-520 rwhp."

But yeah I understand. To be honest if money wasn't an issue I would do a stroker motor. Something about the ease of having all motor set up feels real good. But with 4 other Cars 2 motor cycles 2 kids and a wife..... Sometimes your money gets spread thin. lol

[BNBM3]

Originally Posted by k3silk

"After Doing a lot of research on a bunch of bolt ons Akra pipes/ Test Pipes and or supercharger for what I intended to do with car I have decided between ESS 550 or VF 540. For the price it hard to beat at $6400-6500 for both kits plus did not want to hack anything to make intercooler fit. Which kit is better and why? Im looking for 480-520 rwhp."

But yeah I understand. To be honest if money wasn't an issue I would do a stroker motor. Something about the ease of having all motor set up feels real good. But with 4 other Cars 2 motor cycles 2 kids and a wife..... Sometimes your money gets spread thin. lol

Again, if you scroll up, my response about the budget was towards another member, not you.

As I said, I'd probably lean towards the stage 1 ESS kit if on a budget like that.

I had the option of the stroker but you get so much more with the supercharger. And the blow off valves when you let off, oh my.... The car just screams now. It's kind of obnoxiously fast and 130HP more than the stroker. I didn't drive my M3 that much but since adding the kit, I find myself wanting to drive it quite a bit. Though I am more worried about getting a ticket or killing myself now, lol. It's crazy fast.

I don't think you will regret it. I personally did my rod bearings at the same time, but that adds another couple thousand bucks to the project.

[okusa]

Originally Posted by k3silk

Which kit is better and why?

ESS hands down. Their product is bullet proof, their tune is fantastic and their customer service is top notch. Just search the forums and speak with the top vendors and you will find similar feedback. With VF, not as much.

[k3silk]

Originally Posted by BNBM3

Again, if you scroll up, my response about the budget was towards another member, not you.

As I said, I'd probably lean towards the stage 1 ESS kit if on a budget like that.

I had the option of the stroker but you get so much more with the supercharger. And the blow off valves when you let off, oh my.... The car just screams now. It's kind of obnoxiously fast and 130HP more than the stroker. I didn't drive my M3 that much but since adding the kit, I find myself wanting to drive it quite a bit. Though I am more worried about getting a ticket or killing myself now, lol. It's crazy fast.

I don't think you will regret it. I personally did my rod bearings at the same time, but that adds another couple thousand bucks to the project.

That why my budget is where it is because I factored in the Rod Bearing cost into this at around 2400 for that plus the 6500 for the Kit Im looking at around 8900 for it all said and done... Thanks for the feed back though as I though you were responding to me.....

[JEllis]

I don't have experience with VF.

I installed my ESS myself and also removed it when I went back to NA. I miss my ESS kit and had no issues with it. I found it very simple to install/un-install.

[Longboarder]

The ESS product is incredibly reliable and the service is fantastic. I can't speak of the VF product.

As an aside, with these non intercooled kits I'd run a meth injection system. Without the intercooler in the intake manifold, there is an unobstructed flow from the blower to the throttle bodies. Distribution may still be an issue (since the atomized water/meth mix needs to get into each throttle body equally) as will fuel trims being adversely affected (our DME doesn't compensate quickly to fuel trim changes from meth flow in my testing) but I think the benefits from the additional octane and cooling and more consistent IAT's will outweigh all else.

Getting 480-500 RWHP is not an issue once in a dyno in conditions where the car is cooled down....but obviously with a non intercooled kit keeping that power on the street or track in real life conditions is the challenge as we all know there is a high inverse correlation between IAT's and power.

[k3silk]

I see makes since.

[Harry Da Hamster]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

The ESS product is incredibly reliable and the service is fantastic. I can't speak of the VF product.

As an aside, with these non intercooled kits I'd run a meth injection system. Without the intercooler in the intake manifold, there is an unobstructed flow from the blower to the throttle bodies. Distribution may still be an issue (since the atomized water/meth mix needs to get into each throttle body equally) as will fuel trims being adversely affected (our DME doesn't compensate quickly to fuel trim changes from meth flow in my testing) but I think the benefits from the additional octane and cooling and more consistent IAT's will outweigh all else.

Getting 480-500 RWHP is not an issue once in a dyno in conditions where the car is cooled down....but obviously with a non intercooled kit keeping that power on the street or track in real life conditions is the challenge as we all know there is a high inverse correlation between IAT's and power.

Thanks for the info. If I'm not mistaken, i remember reading a while ago that you were trying to set up a meth system but had a difficult time doing so. Were you able to get it set up properly? What components and tuning did you use?

[Longboarder]

Originally Posted by FNG

Thanks for the info. If I'm not mistaken, i remember reading a while ago that you were trying to set up a meth system but had a difficult time doing so. Were you able to get it set up properly? What components and tuning did you use?

It was set up and did the job of spraying water/meth. It used a Snow Performance progressive controller and sprayed right after the blower.

But in terms of performance it did not cool IATs for me and I experienced detrimental fuel trim changes once meth began spraying.

Others have had success with water/meth but I didn't so I removed the kit.

I run meth on my Porsche and it works fantastic but it's a completely different configuration / ECU.

[Groundpilot]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

The ESS product is incredibly reliable and the service is fantastic. I can't speak of the VF product.

As an aside, with these non intercooled kits I'd run a meth injection system. Without the intercooler in the intake manifold, there is an unobstructed flow from the blower to the throttle bodies. Distribution may still be an issue (since the atomized water/meth mix needs to get into each throttle body equally) as will fuel trims being adversely affected (our DME doesn't compensate quickly to fuel trim changes from meth flow in my testing) but I think the benefits from the additional octane and cooling and more consistent IAT's will outweigh all else.

Getting 480-500 RWHP is not an issue once in a dyno in conditions where the car is cooled down....but obviously with a non intercooled kit keeping that power on the street or track in real life conditions is the challenge as we all know there is a high inverse correlation between IAT's and power.

ESS intercooled kits suffer from the heat soak even more than non intercooled 550 kit on a road course in high ambient temp. due to the way that bigger ICer is mounted.
It blockes the air flow to the radiator and oil cooler.
I chose ESS 550 kit over intercooled kits for this very reason.
My gage shows no significant increase of IAT and the coolant temp on a road course. Oil temp. goes up to 260-270 with no power loss or a limp mode in 85F temp. or less. Have not tracked the car in the 90F temp. yet. I do run bigger oil cooler.

[Longboarder]

Originally Posted by Groundpilot

ESS intercooled kits suffer from the heat soak even more than non intercooled 550 kit on a road course in high ambient temp. due to the way that bigger ICer is mounted.
It blockes the air flow to the radiator and oil cooler.
I chose ESS 550 kit over intercooled kits for this very reason.
My gage shows no significant increase of IAT and the coolant temp on a road course. Oil temp. goes up to 260-270 with no power loss or a limp mode in 85F temp. or less. Have not tracked the car in the 90F temp. yet. I do run bigger oil cooler.

How do you know? Do you think if this was true, ESS would have made the non-intercooled kits at only 5-5.5psi and the intercooled kits 6-8psi? The intercooled kits do terrific when they are getting sufficient airflow. I've tracked many times and have not experienced heat soak. It can heat soak when it is just sitting at idle since the heat exchanger isn't getting airflow.

In fact, I went out for a session at Willow Springs it was 95 degrees and the MRF shop car and I were following each other around the track (that car is NA) and our oil temps were exactly the same at 275 at the end of the session and the car was pulling like a beast in the straights (the MRF car would catch up in the corners).

[Joe S]

Have you looked into the Harrop SC kit??
More expensive but looks very OEM. Good power and only 5.5 psi Hope I haven't confused you more by suggesting another SC !

[Joe S]

Picture of Harrop SC

[k3silk]

That was my top choice kit when I was looking but at 13k for the kit not installed just seem like way to much money and Im modding two cars now that I decided to scoop up a GTR along with keeping my M3. So 550 kit it is for my M3 and down pipe, exhaust, and Cobb for the GTR.

[Patrón]

Originally Posted by Longboarder

In fact, I went out for a session at Willow Springs it was 95 degrees and the MRF shop car and I were following each other around the track (that car is NA) and our oil temps were exactly the same at 275 at the end of the session and the car was pulling like a beast in the straights (the MRF car would catch up in the corners).

How awesome is that?

[Patrón]

Originally Posted by Joe S

Have you looked into the Harrop SC kit??
More expensive but looks very OEM. Good power and only 5.5 psi Hope I haven't confused you more by suggesting another SC !

at 2.5 the price difference, I think it's a poor recommendation. nice kit though.