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Skyactiv Supercharger Quest

56K views 338 replies 24 participants last post by  hioctaneda 
#1 · (Edited)
I am on a quest...To transform a great car into my dream car.
to supercharge the Skyactiv 2.5L. I want the peak power of the 2.5T with the broad power band of the 2.5L.
Goal: To be on par with e46 M3 or Civic Type R. (and way faster than the Skyactiv 2.5T: less torque, more horsepower).
I initially thought I would pursue cobbling together my own kit (Considering Supercharger on Skyactiv)
But found VT-Racing, Chinese company, twin-screw supercharger for 2.0L or 2.5L Skyactiv engines (launched in early 2019 in China).

Supercharge Your Skyactiv Mazda 2.3.pdf

UPDATE 12/2022 - 20 months, 19000 miles, many racing events, lots of hard driving and daily commute, everything is great, still amazed at the mpg, same 34-36 freeway, 22-30 in-town depending on my mood. Getting ready to install smaller pulley for more power!
AFAIK 40 people now running the supercharger, other than one that failed and was replaced under warranty, they have all been running fantastic (really convenient to be able to drive on the stock tune as needed). There are now group buys that are happening so the price is coming down into the mid $3k range, and we now have at least 3 tuners involved beyond the included base tune from the supercharger company, so lots more happening and more to come.

The Skyactiv-G engine is just beginning to shine for how boost-able it really is, and how much power it can make while retaining amazing fuel efficiency!

(note: in all of Corskports development of their turbo kit they never blew up an engine even with them getting up into the 12+psi range and well over 280lb/ft of torque to the wheels during beta testing, these engines are so strong that nobody yet knows the limits, though we can probably draw a lot of inferences from the Miata Skyactiv boosted builds. Extra note: Corksport did destroy multiple manual transmissions, so the transmission will be the issue before the engine it seems...)


Started FB group: "Skyactiv-G Super/Turbo Community" (if you're going to do this, come join us)

Skyactiv Supercharging Guide
Supercharging at a glance summary:
Cost - $4,000usd (kit, S&H, spark plugs), $5k+ depending on extras.
Purchasing - No proper international store front, have to work around that...
Purchasing Contact - IG: Jiasusupercharger, WhatsApp:+86 131 2935-1806
Tuning - Provided as part of the kit, but it is a very censervative tune. DrTuned is now partnering with one of the early adopters, and will be officially supporting tuning for the Supercharger kit. Also Matt of OVTune, now VFTuner, is getting involved....
Power - 225-270whp (old kit on stock cx5 dyno’d at 241whp), there’s possibility of smaller pulley to increase boost, or cams/etc., in the future…
Feeling - Way faster than that power number sounds like. Instant power at every RPM that builds more and more power all the way to redline. There’s always boost when needed, pushing 40% more air!
Efficiency - On the freeway, no loss in MPG, in-town generally -1-4mpg depending on how heavy your foot is (when not pushing it, can get as good MPG as N/A motor).


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UPDATE 7/12 - 2 months & 1400 miles with the supercharger and it has been great, exceeded my expectations!
for more info read on in this thread or check out my YT channel
243278



UPDATE 4/25 - SUPERCHARGER IS INSTALLED AND RUNNING!
It feels great on the road, with a lovely "zingy" sound when on the throttle, but when idling or cruising it almost sounds stock (250-300HP crank). Power just builds and builds as the RPM goes up with peak HP at red-line.
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Complimentary PARTS
1. Spark Plugs (reqired) - need to run colder heat range, found NGKs that are slightly smaller gap (.31" vs .44") and one step colder heat range (8 vs 7)
These are actually OE on Nissan GTR ;)
2. Oil Cooler (recommended) - adding 30% more power means more heat, adding thermostatic oil cooler should help longevity. This kit is made for an ND Miata so the oil filter plate will fit fine, and was able to use one of the brackets to leverage intercooler mounting point.
3. Oil Catch Can - adding forced induction will likely increase blow by and I want to keep the twin screws clean for a long life.
4. Liquid Chill - coolant additive proven to modify surface tension/conductivity characteristics of liquid to increase cooling capacity, drop temps by 25f
5. Boost gauge and Oil Pressure/temp gauges - To have better visibility of what's happening when I'm pushing the car on track or any time. I found a two in one gauge for oil pressure and temperature, plus matching boost gauge. Both are digital so even though the boost will only go up to 6psi I can see exactly where it's at.
Oil Pressure/Temperature Gauge Kit
Digital Boost Gauge Kit
6. Antigravity ATX30-RS 5.5lb, 880CA Battery - to help compensate for the additional weight of the supercharger kit (40-80lbs) switching to ultra light 5.5lb battery can drop 40lbs to help offset. Antigravity also has a bluetooth battery tracker that I was going to install to keep tabs on the health of the battery.
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*Note: VT-Racing has not installed their kit on any Skyactiv with manual transmissions (mostly CX5s and some 6s), and are not sure how it would handle it. They did seem open to using a softer spring on the bypass valve to lower the peak psi to potentially be livable for manuals.
The good news is they claim the automatic has no problem at all with it, same transmission used with the 2.5T and this will be less torque than that (more horsepower)
 
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#2 ·
Watching closely, Dan. Good luck; I hope all goes smoothly.

If boost goes with rpm (alone???; throttle must play a role??) it seems to me that transaxle torque capacity aside (and I hasten to point out that that may be a big issue) - a manual transaxle may work reasonably well it seems to me. I say this cuz automatics usually are great with turbos cuz there is no (or there is little) throttle lift upon shifting and boost is not lost like it is with a manual. Am I right in this supposition re superchargers?
 
#3 ·
Yes, supercharger will not have the turbo lag problem that can happen with manuals.

To your other question: the supercharger is mechanically connected to the motor and will pump a set amount of air at a given rpm. What the throttle changes is how much air is allowed through. So if there was no bypass valve than pressure would get out of control when at high rpm and low throttle.
 
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#5 ·
Good point re injectors. This setup does have the possibility of using substantially more fuel, what with the supercharger's parasitic drag + adding fuel to further charge-cool. Hopefully i) the charge-cooler in the kit is very efficient; and ii) the cam phasor can do its job to reduce the effective CR.
 
#8 ·
updated the OP with a little more content about Power

Also, just got confirmation that the kit I'm getting will be their latest revision: with supports to install the stock engine cover
(Note: I am getting black version to go with my car, but this red is their other color option)
Hood Automotive fuel system Vehicle Car Motor vehicle


Awaiting estimates for fabrication/shipping time, and they are making me a "warranty document" using pictures they had me take of my car/engine/VIN placard.
 
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#16 ·
honestly I am thinking of this like investing in a small business, the upside in this case is an AMAZING car, but there is obviously risk in being a pioneer 💪
 
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#12 ·
Yes, putting-in $5000 is alot...but if Dan is successful and Others do this too... think of all the $ all those folks would save in substantially delaying upgrading / trading-in their respective cars 'cuz they are unhappy with their engine performance. This relatively small $ could substantially extend the cars' use by these folks.
 
#17 ·
Found this on youtube when I was snooping, the supercharger on a CX-5, it's short and very not English :)
and yes this is the company am working with.
 
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#18 ·
I'm curious how they will deal with detonation.. the high compression is not ideal for forced induction (even at low boost levels).. high compression is the enemy of boost in general . (The factory turbo 2.5 has lower compression for this reason)

Should be interesting nonetheless..

On a sidenote, superchargers usually create more torque than horsepower compared to a turbo (and it's usually very linear, i.e low end torque, would seem harder on the transmission) so I'm a little confused in the description suggesting it makes more hp with less torque than the factory turbo setup..

Keep us posted!
 
#19 ·
I'm curious how they will deal with detonation.. the high compression is not ideal for forced induction (even at low boost levels).. high compression is the enemy of boost in general . (The factory turbo 2.5 has lower compression for this reason)

Should be interesting nonetheless..

On a sidenote, superchargers usually create more torque than horsepower compared to a turbo.. .
Keep us posted!
Yes, the compression ratio and heat reduction measures (in particular our great tri-Y headers) are why I think the attempts at an aftermarket turbo have failed.
Fortunately with a supercharger I'm not impeding exhaust flow at all (which is the biggest factor in combustion chamber temperature, and it is that heat which ultimately leads to detonation).

They claim that with the liquid-air intercooler, and low boost, detonation is not an issue (they may tune the valve timing to reduce effective CR also).
I am planning on installing an oil cooler, to aid heat management (all Skyactiv engines use the same oil filter so I will use a Moshimoto kit made for an ND Miata).

Power curve:
the way Mazda implemented the 2.5T it has 310lb/ft of torque below 2000rpm (not normal for turbos, impressive Mazda engineering). Normally turbos mean more high rpm power...

Yes, twin screw superchargers pump a set amount of air per RPM, so will give a great torque bump even at very low RPMs, but given the level of boost it's still much lower torque than the Mazda 2.5T (~260lb/ft VS. 310+).
Twin screw maintains pumping efficiency throughout rpm range, so PSI falls off a little at high rpm, but keeps PSI up enough to keep pushing horsepower all the way to red line. That's why they say 30% torque gain and 40% power gain, since the compressor helps overcome flow challenges in skyactiv at high rpm.
In contrast roots compressors fall off in efficiency in higher rpm thus are known to boost torque not so much horsepower.
 
#21 ·
Yes, but it's in Chinese and they don't list the Mazda kit on there, not sure why

Technically they're two sister companies (VT-Racing and Anrot Industries). Searching for those names you can find posts on Facebook and Instagram, but mostly from 2019 (that's when they launched a whole line of twin-screw supers) and a few months into launch the pandemic hit...

Basically all of their sales are from within China right now, where they install as part of the sale (some install pictures they've sent me are just in an apartment building parking lot). So it's been challenging to communicate and exchange funds

 
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#22 ·
Got them to send me close up pictures of the supercharger assembly. They're calling it their second-generation "more texture and more power" LOL (I think this is their second big run of manufacturing the Mazda kits...)
Wish I didn't have to wait weeks ;)
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#32 ·
Now it makes sense. Yes, reducing the risk is more important. I was thinking of ordering a chrome spray kit as a side business but I hesitated as they were asking for a full payment. I never bothered to communicate after that.

Good thing you have a Chinese friend, that makes things a bit easier to confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate company.
 
#33 ·
Supposedly my kit is on its way to an intermediate location where it will then be shipped to the US. Current estimate is 2 weeks out (~4/20), assuming it arrives as planned I will likely do the install the weekend of 4/24 or 5/1, getting excited/nervous

They shared the install instructions, and though they are not translated yet, there are so many pictures I think I could almost figure it out as is :)
Looks legitimate and makes me feel more confident about this, they clearly have done this before...

a screenshot of a representative page:
Photograph Tire White Automotive tire Light
 
#34 ·
Updated original post with details of accompanying parts list...

Still waiting for tracking number, once I have that it's expected to only take 5 days to get here, but it may be another couple weeks before that happens, depending on customs and stuff. Obviously I'll update this thread once I hear anything.
 
#35 ·
They sent me a video of the final check of my kit before sending it to the 'courier'
I have a tracking number, current ETA is 4/23

I also ordered all the accompanying parts so they should be here by that time.

I shared the little clip on my car profile here:
http://instagr.am/p/CNsSJQtH0Br/
 
#36 ·
They sent me a video of the final check of my kit before sending it to the 'courier'
I have a tracking number, current ETA is 4/23

I also ordered all the accompanying parts so they should be here by that time.

I shared the little clip on my car profile here:
http://instagr.am/p/CNsSJQtH0Br/
You must be super duper excited! Regarding the posted link, I don't have Instagram and Facebook so I can't see it.
 
#38 ·
According to FedEx the supercharger kit is now in the US, ETA. 4/23!!!

It's two packages totaling 61.2lbs
(radiator for the intercooler ships in its own box)
With the install I'm switching to an Antigravity LiFePO4 Battery that is 6lbs. This will save over 30lbs so the supercharger won't add much weight at all 😎
 
#42 ·
Holy crap just got a text from Fedex, it's been delivered!!!! (my son confirmed it's sitting on the deck)

Yes, I'll share a quick vid to tease you all today or tomorrow :)
(but not sure yet, when I'll get it all installed)
 
#46 · (Edited)


@Archerfish here comes a future YouTube star :ROFLMAO::LOL:
Makes me a bit anxious though, never shown my face or spoken to the camera in a YouTube video before...

@fernando8877 Thanks for chiming in on my other thread about this kit, I'd heard of it before but your comment helped push me to take another look at this Chinese superchager (that I always thought was BS before)
 
#50 ·
Thank you, felt awkward making it but seemed OK when I watched it back 😎

Ya! I was really impressed with the build quality, seems solid! Like each of the bolts has a green mark down the side onto the pieces it's screwed into, thus if any bolt rattles loose during operation I Can easily see that it's out of alignment.
Also, the Radiator for the intercooler is huge with great looking welds, gonna move a lot of heat!
 
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#56 ·
Twincharging is actually pretty popular when it comes to making huge power. I mean considering this game we play is all about air flow they can make huge amounts of power alone but together?! Whole nother ball game. That and the faster you can move the air and the hotter you get it the better mpgs/emissions.
 
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