DIY Supercharger/CAI mods

[daug1502]

I feel as though the weight of all those D batteries is hindering your maximum performance gains

agree'd why havent you tied in to the car battery and just stick with 12 volts?

[Weirdo_Joe]

Quite frankly, a complete lack of electrical knowledge, and fear of messing the cars electronics up. I AM still a newbie... But I've been working on that... the electric part, that is! The supercharger plans I got from GA Projects call for a 12 volt motorbike battery ran in a series with the car battery, creating 24 volts. You use a Dual-Pole-Dual-Polarity switch that takes you back and forth between a 24 volt series and "charge" mode; putting the batteries in parallel (positive to positive). Believe it or not, I got this figured out. (And January marks one year since I took an interest in car tuning! ; ) So... I was just messing around, gradually working up to what I'm about to show some pics of... still a work in progress, but ALMOST done. A full blown, centrifugal supercharger capable of creating 2-2 1/2 psi with 24 volt operation. 3.5-4psi using a second battery, which I may do, making it 36 volt. I KNOW I'll need fuel management then, but my BIG question is: can I run 2 to 2 1/2 psi before adding the AEM fuel management with ignition timing control that I plan to get? Any help on this is GREATLY appreciated, as always! I've heard up to 2 psi is ok without an FMU... so it ay be right over... pics comin' up!

[Weirdo_Joe]

P.S.- real quick, while I load pics... the heater fan, just hooked up to the 12 volt motorbike battery... had some SERIOUS kick! I don't doubt these guys when they say that if well constructed, it efficiently creates pretty good boost!

[Weirdo_Joe]

The one on the far right is after the wall was attached to the base... the cage part of the fan is sitting on it, along with the impellor blade that I made (I made all the aluminum parts; cut the metal... drilled, screwed, all that. With SUPER exact measurements [pi and stuff. ] from the project design...; ) I've also made the diffuser out of paper card, and will be stiffening it with fiberglass resin tomorrow, along with screwing and cold-welding the fan to the base... after that, it'll be ready for an adaptor for the intake! (made from fiberglass) So, that's the plan. Like I said in the 1st post, I'd REALLY like to know if I NEED fuel/ignition management for 2 - 2 1/2 psi boost. I hope I can add that between 24 & 36 volt versions... I've already switched to the highest octane we have here (91)

[petrified.rabbit]

i would be really surprised if you get 2 psi of boost.

[Weirdo_Joe]

Well... let's assume I do. (Read up on it before you doubt... google GA Projects supercharger...) At what point do I have to start worrying about detonation? Wouldn't it be kinda dumb to not prepare for the possible and stated outcome? rabbit, would you plug in a turbo system you got really cheap, that was supposed to generate 8 psi boost, to a car you knew could only handle 5 psi of boost on the engine & just assume it was cheap/old/refurbished/or otherwise not well constructed and risk blowing your engine? THAT'S why I posed the question, and whether this thing works or not, it's a reasonable question: Do you need fuel/ignition management on a 2008 Aveo if you're going to run 2 to 2 1/2 psi of boost? I am using high octane (91) and the air entering the supercharger will be cool (from wheelwell, where it's "vented" ; )

[thehunterooo]

Did you already buy one? Rabbit is right.....

[Weirdo_Joe]

Hey, your doubts are fully justified... especially if you haven't read up on it... But don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that it WILL, or that I expect it too... All I'm saying is that to me, it seems like if you're putting on a part that says "creates X psi" you'd be silly not to prepare for X psi... even if there IS a good chance it may not. Preparing for best/worst case scenario! And hunter, I really appreciate your info on the other thread... that makes 2 people I've heard say up to 2 psi is ok on 'bout any car... I'd be really happy with any noticeable performance gain, and I DO realize it may be minimal... I expect something, though. The times I took with the 6 volt fan showed a 3/4 second increse. After my snow tires, my time had dropped about a third of a second (0-60mph, same place I always test.) and the small fan setup got me times 1/2 a second better than EVER! So... I DO expect a gain proportionate to the extra voltage... or quite possibly more, due to a more efficient design. If it DOES exceed even 1 or 1 1/2 psi... that'd be FREAKIN' COOL!!! It's been a FUN project, and it's all about trying something different! I'll keep ya posted! Fiberglass resin layer 1 drying now...

[Weirdo_Joe]

Hahaha! LEAFBLOWER!!! In an early test, this thing blew newspaper not only across the floor, but up against a wall about four feet away and held it there; that was just hooked up to the 12V motorbike battery! Here's the quick results, and I'll go into more detail afterward... (Oh, and it's now hooked up to 24V; the car battery, AND the motorbike battery in a series.)

0-60 mph in the same spot is my standard for testing all the mods I've done. Going back to the last time where I didn't have ANY fan setup (even the small ones helped a little, if placed right) So it was just a CAI, hi-flo muffler, and underdrive pulley with snow tires (which dropped my time a little, but they're still on)... That was 10.97 seconds. Remember, high altitude has an impact on performance; I've heard more than one place 10% loss of power for each mile of elevation is a good general estimate, and I'm testing at roughly 6,000 ft. So, going back to the 10.97 I got after the snow tires, before any fan...


I pulled a 9.85 with the Supercharger last time I tested it. I've also modified the placement even more since then, and expect even better results next time test. I had a passenger ride with that setup, who rode with the current setup, and believes there to be a noticeable improvement again. That's a total of 1.12 seconds off of a 0-60 mph test. With room for more improvement, still. Placement is SO important; I've had it in about 6 different setups, and even made a second model (in ONE DAY! : ) that was smaller, and fit under the hood by sacrificing the diffuser. Tests with the unattached chargers to the same battery proved the 1st to be MUCH more powerful, and it's the one back on there. I don't know the psi being generated, if any, but I do know that two passengers, one of which is a gearhead friend recently met, have both been VERY impressed with the results. As am I!!!!!!! Was it worth the time and money invested? ABSO-FREAKIN'-LUTELY! It's taken more than a second off of my time, and broken the 10 second mark. I wouldn't be surprised, with a little more adjustment, if I got close to 9.5 (9.6 or so...) I'm excited for lots of reasons, but one is that I'll get even better results from say, cat-back exhaust and lighter wheels/tires. For those in doubt of the elevation thing; my buddy put a CAI on a Saab, saying there was a definite improvement, but he still wasn't at the factory book times for the car... book says the Aveo goes 0-60 in 11-12 seconds... mine up here was 13+. So, effectively I've taken CLOSE to 3 1/2 seconds off the car with mods... I'll post some more pics of the hookups and setups (I don't have pics of several variations...) and share some more times, if I get more improvement from this... still gonna be playing with it Now that ten seconds has been breached... getting into the 8 second range is my goal. I expect to break into the eights with the cat-back exhaust and some ultra-light rims.

[Nemasys]

All that and my stock mazda 3 is faster, just sayin. Despite the amount of cash i dumped in my Aveo, it aint worth it, save your money for something else. Took me a while to realise that, i guess you get wizer as you get older lol