I am not totally sold on CTSC yet, but that is the way I would go if I went FI. That said, interested in making the car faster ASAP (my dd feels faster now ). Emailed Puddy and he is recommending the Stage 2 rear with a Mazda Speed 4.44 gear (understanding a CTSC in the future). Any comments/opinions pertaining to topic is welcome

Huy (S2KRN), I know you have personal experience with this.

So CTSC first or gears first?

 

If your hp goal is about 300 at the wheels then SC is my vote. Your stock diff will hold up and the stock gears will be fine. But if you want more hp then go turbo...more potential on making more hp and torque but then you might need to bullet proof your diff.

 

Marc, from what I understand, SC will not change the nature of the car, just provide more hp in the 6-9k range (VTEC). What about low speed torque or feeling of torque? Isn't that what gearing upgrade is for?

 

If you insist on going supercharged I would recommend the Kraftwerks kit over the Comptech. It's a much more impressive unit in my experience.

Your stock gears would be more ideal until you get used to having more power. I find it better to know what kind of powerband you're working with before changing gearing.

That said for obvious reasons I have to state TURBO>super

If your only after 300whp supercharging will be cheaper. But even so I would go turbo something like s20004mepdx's setup on low boost (less than 14psi) will give you a much meatier powerband than any supercharger currently available, and keep you under 400whp. And turbo's quiet exhaust noises whereas superchargers do not. Plus it's way easier once you've made the initial investment on the turbo setup to turn up the boost/power when compared to a supercharger at least.

Evan

 

Abhi, if you are planning on boosting and set with either the centrifugal supercharger (CT Engineering/Vortech/SOS) or the Rotrex (Kraftwerks), I would suggest you get that first. You will have a 300-350whp, depending on boost level and supporting mods.

I have no experience with Kraftwerks however I had a lot of interest for it but it was still in the R&D stage when I bought my Comptech Supercharger. On the forums there are number of people that have the kit and love it. There are some issues that people have identified however I don't know if it ever got fixed. Oscar Jackson Sr and Jr are no longer part of Kraftwerks and the company is going through some changes so I don't know how they are doing.

The CT/Vortech/SOS are used by a lot of people and have been on the market for a long time. Power is very linear, like stock but with more power. Power is more noticeable at/after VTEC.

As for gears (4.3/4.44), I suggest that you go with that last since you're thinking about supercharging because you want to get a feel of the supercharger. You may find that it's enough for what you want. You may find that off the line the car doesn't feel very fast so I (Brian as well) got gears to help get into boost faster, giving the car more "pep" in the low-mid part of the powerband This is however not necessary and I don't know if the new Paxton unit that CT/SOS is using helped, since it's suppose to be more efficient. If you're staying NA, gears are great.

One thing to also know/consider is the use of EMS or whatever tuning solution that these kits use. I believe Kraftwerks uses a Greddy Emanage with their map. CT/Vortech I believe still uses an ECM? and a rising FPR. This is not the best system but does help pass emissions. Otherwise you can go full standalone.

I hope this helps. Marc, Brian, Jeremy, and I believe there is one owner who has the Kraftwerks that can tell you their opinion of the kits.

There is a video of a car magazine doing some comparisons of different turbo and supercharger kits at Willow Springs. I'll try to find it and post it here.

 

I'm over my head in this stuff, but we all know the S needs low-end torque to get it to VTEC. A supercharger won't get you that. Gears will and a small, quick-spooling turbo will. I'd do gears and a good tune with Hondata EMS until you have a bottomless pit of cash to play in the turbo game.

 

Here's the video that I was talking about. It gives you an idea. I know that you track the S, so this may help. It really depends on what you're doing with the car and your limits. IMHO tracking a FI S2000 brings in another element of maintenance and cost. Not saying that can't be reliable. These are very hard decisions as many of us have experienced. Good luck and let us know if you have more questions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w9laYZoWEI

 

Thanks for all the responses. I was thinking of gears as a way of mitigating some of the low torque of the S (as John mentions also). I don't want to do turbo as it is not going to be as reliable as a supercharger (like CTSC, in my opinion from what I have heard/seen). I want the car to be very reliable first (otherwise I could have started with a Beemer ). If gears and maybe lighter flywheel, pulleys and tune make it faster while staying NA, I may prefer that option. Please keep posting more info.

 

Abhi i have 4.44 gears and they make a huge difference, however pre itbs for me near the top of the rpm range car didn't pull as hard. A tune would probably help with that. Now however with the itbs gears ap2 tranny and tune car has a linear power band and rips through the gears. At 6.5k I'm at 160tq and stays there till 8.5k Be happy to give you a ride sometime.

 

Hey Abhi, If your goals are best fit with a supercharger I would look at the SOS kit. Seems to have great feedback and results. Good luck!