Welcome to Project Blue Sky. This is a project we’ve been looking forward to doing since we first sat down with the owner. Since the Subaru BRZ & Scion FR-S hit the showrooms, the cars have been an instant success. The handling, chassis dynamics and overall balance of the car is spot on. The people asked for an affordable back to basics rear wheel drive sports car and Subaru & Toyota have delivered.
But, and it’s a big but, is the unfortunate stock power output of the engine. Professional reviewers, publications and owners alike all expressed that if this car had another 50-60 horsepower from the showroom, it would be perfect…and we agree. But we also realize that this was likely the goal all along. Create a solid platform for which the aftermarket industry could build upon adding power, brakes and other upgrades as needed. To put it simply, the BRZ/FR-S is going to be the next Miata or S2000.
Here is when Project Blue Sky first rolled in to the shop.
Here’s the mod list we completed in the first round of upgrades which we provided for Project Blue Sky.
-Kraftwerks C38-81 Supercharger Kit
-Skunk2 Alpha Series EL header
-Tomei Overpipe
-Invidia Catted Front Pipe
-Invidia Q300 Cat-Back with Titanium Burned Tips
-Clutch Masters FX300 Clutch and Flywheel
-Radium Auto Dual Catch Can System
-Deatschwerks DW65c Fuel Pump
-Deatschwerks 450cc Injectors
-Ecutek tuning by OnPoint Dyno
Fortunately for us car lovers, the tuning world stepped up to the plate in a frenzy, with multiple brands trying to solve this power problem in the BRZ/FRS. It’s been a few years now since the cars launch, but one particular power upgrade kit seems to be leading the sector in terms of cost, reliability, drive-ability and potential for power. No, it’s not a Turbo system, but actually a Supercharger system. This is the Kraftwerks Rotrex Supercharger kit.
Kraftwerks has been at it making Supercharger ktis for various platforms for some time. Their proven S2000 Supercharger kits easily produces over 400WHP. Although at this stage the BRZ/FRS will not be hitting that number, our goal was to produce safely as close to 300whp as we could get on pump fuel. Just for the sake of having a relative number to the stock BRZ output, 280WHP is about 330hp at the crank taking into account the rule of 15% drivetrain loss on RWD vehicles. We cannot stress enough that 15 is not a be all end all figure, rather just a rough figure to give a relative crank number. With that said, 330hp is a whole 130hp more than stock. These cars also baseline stock under 150WHP on the Dynapack system.
R&D is constant with Kraftwerks, and the BRZ kits are no exception. First coming out with the C30, they now have the C38 available which is designed to be spun much faster and create significantly more power at higher boost levels where the smaller C30 would die off. Kraftwerks has also been doing lots of R&D, listening to the customers and constantly improving their kits. Their newest design incorporates a toothed belt and pulley, essentially eliminating any belt slip.
Kraftwerks utilizes the Rotrex Supercharger. Rotrex has been at the supercharger game since the 1970s. The company, born in Denmark, has been making Supercharger kits since the 70’s and not just aftermarket but for OEMs. Moreover, not only have they been making Supercharger kits for cars, they also make them recreational powersports (jetskis, quads, motorcycles etc.) as well as industrial equipment. So in short, they know what they are doing. Kraftwerks chose the best partner. We all gasp and aww at sexy turbo kits, but look at this Supercharger and tell me it’s not equally as sexy!
Let’s look at the compressor wheel now, and, just look at that wheel! CNC Billet Aluminum never gets old!
The standard silver finish of the compressor housing was a bit dull, so we decided to add a splash of colour to the engine bay with this blue powder coat.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where we will look at the Tomei overpipe, Skunk2 Headers, and Invidia Q300 exhaust!
