Superchargers in the uk ...

TonyGoose · May 9, 2002

Moved this from the 'supercharger faults' thread so as not to clutter it up - sorry mat :)

I spoke to Toyota GB (TGB) + TTE at some length about supply of superchargers in the uk and here's the story...

TTE have an agreement with TGB that they won't directly supply their parts to uk customers - orders must be through uk dealers - at uk prices no doubt

Unfortunately, certain items from the TTE range haven't been authorised for sale or homologated by TGB for the uk market - superchargers being one such item.

TGB still plan to offer the supercharger for sale in the future for around the 4000ukp mark and as such have several on trial (still) on their own cars. They have around 75 of the kits in a storeroom and NO they won't sell you one ... yet!

They're old revision kits anyway .. ok for road use according to TTE but if you plan any mad / track use :) then a later revision kit is recommended with the 50rpm lower rev limit to prevent fuel cut + catalyst problems.

If people want to buy one, the options are to get it through a mainland european dealer ( germany, holland etc ) or TGB will authorize TTE to supply this item direct to the uk if you ask them - expect to pay approx 6000euro + vat for this ... or to put it another way about 25% of what my whole car (IS200 SE) cost brand new ... so WAY too much money imo ...

I mentioned the famous (among uk dealers) expired engine and after a chuckle was told it was actually just a broken throttle link :)

TTE mentioned another case in the uk where engine check lights were triggered but they assisted a uk dealer direct to fix it - that was down to the fitting (not by lexus or tte) ... old revision of kit or wiring plan or something.

I think the more likely truth is that uk supercharger option remains blocked so as not to harm the already very disappointing sales of the IS300 but that's just my opinion ...

Oh btw, TTE's range of wheels is to be made available through uk dealers in the near future ....

Hope that's useful ..

Tony Goose

Chris.S · May 9, 2002

I spoke to one of the main Lexus GB aftersales guys the other day,and yes you are right there are two or three IS200 that LGB have fitted but they have had problems where excessive heat has caused paint on the bonnets to blister

Lexus GB will be importing TTE parts in the near future but I don't know when

I will keep people posted when I hear some more

TonyGoose · May 9, 2002

But doesn't the paint blister and bubble on the bonnet, roof and boot anyway ...

even without the supercharger ??

Oops - wrong thread, sorry

andyhart21 · May 9, 2002

lol Tony:lol:

perhaps Lexus meant that the S/C did not make the bonnet paint bubble enough to meet IS200 paint standards:D

simonskippy · May 9, 2002

TonyGoose,

Cheers for clearing that up, I was due to be visiting TDI for the supercharger upgrade but that info from Lexus / Toyota got me thinking a bit!

tdiplc · May 10, 2002

hmmmmmmmmmm

Smells like BS to me.

There is no increased under bonnet heat from the compressor kit, and I have never seen any paint or bonnet problems caused by the system

Mark

simonskippy · May 10, 2002

Mark @ Tdi,

Have you guys ever seen any problems with the blower then?

TonyGoose · May 10, 2002

I quizzed TTE today about the paint bubble issue ...

They also say there should be little, if any, increase in under bonnet temperature due to the s/c kit.

I've got my own theories ....

1) TGB aren't driving fast enough to get any cool air moving over the top of the bonnet.

2) Their paint is even worse than ours ... Water based paint = low boiling point ?

:lol::lol:

Steve · May 10, 2002

If true that could be solved with a protective foil film protecting the bonnet from blistering

but take into consideration of cars in the US.. specially in Florida... it gets bloody hot on car paintwork out there....untouchable... surely that would be a problem? with heat i mean?

vic · May 11, 2002

Hi,

My car is in getting the gbox fixed at the mo....but thats a dif story & I had a call from head office today to ask if I was happy with the way things were going. I spoke to this really nice bloke who actually knew what he was talking about! It was quite by luck that I spoke to this chap because I missed the original call & rang back...the girl who had rang me was on lunch so I started talking to this guy.... He actually brought up superchargers himself & said that he has one of the LGB IS200 sports with a supercharger on it!! He reckons that there are a few reasons that LGB wont approve them yet because of damage that occours to the car. One of the main reasons is that they burn out the catalyst...which happened to him while booting it down the motorway & brought the car to a stand still!! other reasons include engine mountings arent good enough & ventilation was mentioned along with something else that i cant remember. He said that the kit is being worked on & redeveloped at present & once these probs are ironed out...then it will be released with LGB's blessing & wont affect the warranty.

TonyGoose · May 11, 2002

The catalyst problem was identified and fixed by TTE some time ago. They issued a revised sub-ecu (alloy cased - superceded one is black) with 50rpm lower rev limit which stops the fuel cut off occuring and hence the damage to the cats ...

Unfortunately, LGB have early revision s/c kits....

I can fully understand LGB wanting to make absolutely sure the kit is right before releasing it to the public - they've built a brand image around quality and reliability which they want to keep.

While the likes of us might not worry about the odd little problem cropping up given the bonus of an s/c kit, other owners may be less easy going which could ultimately damage the Lexus brand image.

However, i do find the disinformation you get from some dealers rather disappointing - you know the kind of thing .... What do you know about the TTE s/c ? Ooh no sir, you don't want one of those - it'll blow your engine up for sure - happens all the time ....

Monster-Mat · May 11, 2002

maybe we should request that Lexus GB releases a acurate response to peoples questions,otherwise by the time it comes to them releasing it,everyone would have bought them from TDI/TTE

come on LEXUS GB give us a straight answer!

tdiplc · May 11, 2002

<>

We have only seen one with supercharger system with a major problem, and that was self inflicted!

We had a guy that had an exhaust system (the brand shall remain anonymous) fitted that was actually more restricive than the standard item ( but looked great!), and to make matters worse he drove over something which caused enough damage to completely bend the exhaust in half thus causing even more back pressure. Most sensible people would have gotten the message by then and not driven the car, but this guy drove flat out - foot hard down (which was not very fast with a blocked exhaust!), until the cats melted and the engine blew.

Thereby endeth lesson number 1.

If there is a concern over bonnet paint, I would suggest that some simple heat reflective material under the bonnet will help, but we have not seen the need for it yet.

As an aside, our next project will be a better exhaust manifold for n/a and supercharged models. We think this will be very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Mark

vic · May 11, 2002

I agree..it would be nice to hear the proper facts from LGB....like I did from that guy the other day.....you hear so much rubbish you really dont know what to believe! & It would also be good for them to either

A: inform their dealers of the facts (so they know what they are talking about!)

or

B: Tell them to stop lying to us (otherwise we will all start losing faith in them)

:D:lol::D:lol::D:lol:

Maybe you should start a poll matt?

superchargedmorph · May 18, 2002

Hi all, I am the one with minor fault on supercharger, basically a wire had a split init.Tdi sorted problem out without any fuss. TTE are also very helpfull. They have said I am getting better performance than their car, probably becuase of exhaust,HKS Filter,HKS Plugs and a few other bits.

Ref heat etc I can thrash car and put hands on pipes without burning so its not that hot. I often drive the car hard ( to limiter before gearchange ) and have no problems of any sort.

If anyone has any major concerns you should speek to TDi they are first class, I had plenty of concerns that come from the grapevine and most of them are a case of chinese whispers think.