tkeyyy

what soulicious meant to say is that the SOS kit is the "best bang for the buck" since you can get more power out of it and it's easy to remove. if you plan on removing parts anyways, might as well make more efficient power for a cheaper price. idk. i think it's all personal preference.
i was on the same boat as the OP, until i got thirsty for more power. but let me get this out: got pulled over and cop tried to state ref me but noticed the carb on the vortech s/c and didn't state ref. only got an exhaust and lowered car ticket.

s2000Junky

The point is the sos kit isnt smog legal. Its not a practical solution to have to remove the (entire) kit and return the car back to stock every time you take emissions, especially when you can yield the exact same power potential out of a CT kit ( same blower) when your ready to move away from the fmu and supplied piggy back/stage 1 ( which does lower vtec to 4200rpm). Just like SOS stage 1, CT now comes with the added piggy back to further refine the fuel and vtec tune, giving you a good power curve in the 300whp range, unlike the old Novi1000 Comptech kits which did not, not without the aid of a vafc/neo. If you get tired of 300whp then down the road you can acquire an ems of your choice and some injectors and max the blower out, and still have a carb sticker, only requiring you to unplug the ems and swap back in the stock injectors and stay out of boost on the way to the emissions place, then go home and spend 20 min swapping back in, vs hours removing the entire sos kit, which you would have to do if there is any under hood inspection. Best case you can remove the ems/injectors and blower assy and wedge to the side loose with the oil supply still hooked up to the vtec unit and squeeze a factory intake on next to it so the car will still run and baby it to the emissions, but even that is annoying and you will dread it every time for the time you own the car. Ive been forced to do it myself in a pinch which is why im not recommending if you have a choice, just doesn't make sense to me to save a few hundred bucks down the road if you decide to boost more. Always a used EMS and injectors for sale somewhere.

soulicious

s2000Junky

The blower is plumbed into the vtec unit/engine oil and the after cooler is plumbed into the heat exchanger. What part of the kit are you planning on leaving in? And if you do the minimum required and unbolt the blower assy but resting loose to the side so you can still leave the oil system in place, how do you explain that to the under hood inspection if there is one? You are compromising potentially several points of interest, for the sake of your desire to have the op max out his blower right off the start, when the base kit will give him very close to what the op goal states without compromising anything, other then spending a couple hundred more down the road IF he wants to move to a stage 2 system. Hell I will buy the rrfpr and piggy back off him when he is ready to upgrade, that will net him more money. I will need them when I put together my 3rd supercharger for this car.

I just want to make sure the OP has a accurate full picture of what he is getting into, so he can decide what aspect he is willing to compromise on. If a carb approved system isnt important, hands down the sos kit is the best option. I have to take emissions, but they dont inspect anything under the hood or look for a carb sticker, just as long as the obd2 is in place and comes up passing, I drive off in 5 min.

soulicious

s2000Junky

Every state/country has different emissions requirements. I trust you will be taking the time to PM/walk through everything the OP needs to do to dismantle his kit and get it working ready for his test. Its a little different when guys such as ourselves have been down this road and are very familiar with the ins/outs of these kits and know what to do. Its another thing to know nothing at follow someones advice on the inherent and hope you made the right choice. Sometimes its worth settling for less power for the sake of ease and no fuss reliability. It is in large part the reason for going with a super charger in the first place, over say a turbocharging system. I agree the base kit just wets your pallet for more. But its a pretty big step/consideration to take the next step ie new clutch, ems, injectors, emissions debacle. Many times when that choice is made, its after a few years because of the added cost and consideration. Saving money now doesn't really work in your argument when you consider the other upgrades including further wear and tear on the rear end and trans needed to assume and save for when they break. Its a slippery slope. Ive been down it several times, its why ive been NA for the last few years after running a 450whp water/meth injected supercharger and going through a lot of running gear. Just couldnt keep up with the cost of wear and tear and some bad luck peppered in. Now toying with acquiring a stage 1 sos kit if I can find a decent used one and just sticking to that. I'm wiser for it now. Still faster then no supercharger!

soulicious

toztigger

wait are you telling me you can run a super charger on stock ecu without a tune....(assuming ap1/ 04-5 ap2) sorry i come from an evo x and everything usually has to be tuned for AFR

s2000Junky

No, it does tune, but you tune it. Its done via mechanical rising rate fuel pressure regulator and a plug in piggy back unit that is non programmable that lowers vtec, adjust some portion of the fuel curve and hides positive pressure from the map sensor. You set the fuel pressure and its recommended you have a wideband to verify your afr.

jdmz

I've been down the path of stage 1 SOS and upgrading to the paxton 1200 and standalone ecu.

I can tell you I was never quite happy with the tuning solution SOS provided with the stage 1. My vtec was acting weird cycling at engagement point. I had to crank the heck out of the fuel regulator to get acceptable AFRs.

Now the car is 100% better and I love the power at ~380-400whp.