My GTM Supercharger Review
 

After having GTM's SC kit on my G37 6MT for over 4,000 mi, I just wanted to give my 2 cents about it. In short, it's everything I wanted in a supercharger system for my Infiniti. Significant power throughout the rev-range, factory-smooth driveability, great price, clean looks, refined sound, everything: I give this kit two thumbs up.

Now, I will say that I can only give it a 99 out of 100 and not a perfect score because I'm not putting up as much peak power as others with this kit (about 400 to the wheels on 91 octane but a great 340 ft-lbs. of torque). However, my main goal with my G wasn't peak hp. I was more interested in torque and useable power, something that I was totally unsatisfied with when I only had bolt-on mods. A peak hp increase that's only available at 6-7k rpms wasn't cutting it. I wanted to have as much low-end and mid-range grunt as possible (which makes the biggest difference for my daily-driver) but also have enough top-end power to spank M3s and IS-Fs when I feel like it. I have all of that and then some.

Since I was an early adopter, I did have to deal with the flutter and boost taper issues. I waited to post a review until I got those solved and until I could get a better feel about how the SC kit performed day in and day out. Idle in all temperatures has been rock solid. Power has improved greatly but is still smooth and linear throughout the rpm range. No detonation problems with the crappy Cali gas regardless of the weather. I don't have the dynos to post, but Sam has 'em if you guys wanna ask him about them.

The customer service I received from Sam and the guys at GTM has been absolutely top-notch as well. They did definitely take their time when working on my ride, but I'd rather have that than have them rush everything and not do the job right. Finally, I want to add that I'm no fanboy with a blind allegiance to any one brand over another. I live 5 min. from Stillen, have been to their headquarters many times, have bought parts from them for my past two cars, and will probably buy stuff from them in the future. However, when GTM released their SC kit, it was exactly what I was looking for. After finding out first-hand how it has performed for months now, I can honestly say that they have absolutely delivered.

Congrats and nice write up!

You should post some pictures when you get a chance.

DAN

Congrats good review great right up:tup:

Good review, how about a pic of under the hood and the total car so we can all envy you just a little haha.

I've always been lazy about taking pics of my car. Here are some pics Sam took a while back when the kit was first installed. I went with black piping and intercooler for a clean, subtle look.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/P1110708.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/P1120471.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...n/P1120420.jpg

Thanks for the pictures, Looks great!



DAN

Thanks for the review!

car looks good. I just saw the two videos Sam posted on YT.

Sam, you are successfully feeding my need to BOOST!!

And reinforcing my choice to go with a GTM kit when I do. :tup:

I will be calling you sometime after the new year.

Glad to hear that it is working on you :D

Sam

Thank you Nick, We are glad that we have met your expectation.

beautiful ride

Sam

I can't watch the video! Damn phone video stream sucks!

How much boost are you running? What was the base line before the SC?

I'm running the normal pulley for about 8 lbs. of boost (I don't have a boost gauge to give you the exact number). It dynoed at around 278, but my baseline was w/ a few different mods (motordyne xyz pipe, HFCs) that I ended up taking off my car and selling.

I'm really curious cuz the video are showing close to 8psi of boost at about 6k-6.5k

I was thinking that maybe you have a smaller pulley. I like it that way better rather than always redlining just to reach 8psi of boost

Did you remove the cats for performance purposes?
I am starting to save for the stage II kit and I love the way my car sounds with HFC's. I'd hate to lose them but if the supercharger kits perform better with the stock cats then I'd just have to deal.

No it is the same pulley as before, The car was making 8 psi on the dyno and it made little a little more on the road. also the boost did not change wither we had test pipes or factory cats. although i did tighten the bypass valve as much as possible to give the car a better boost response and maybe that 's what did it .

And yes you are correct the beauty about this set up is that you don't have to red line the car to get all the performance out of it.

Sam

Will post the dyno graph's shortly .

Sam

I'm posting a supercharged 370Z Nismo shortly with HFC that made 420 rwhp and 350 rwtq on 91 octane . So the system is working well with both setups, The only problem with after market HFC is that they wont survive an FI system for more the six month .

Sam

Sam did you get my email about the sedan SC kit?

I see. So test pipes it is then. :driving:

I saw that video of the SC Nismo. That sounds SICK!! I love it.

:drool: :drool: :drool: :tup:

Nice work Sam ...... me likey :driving:

Nice!

:tup:

Poor Cats :rofl2:

Merry Christmas to everyone and longlive to GTM!

You must love your car that much more , OP. Nicely done Sam! Thanks for posting the videos. How long did the install and tuning take?

Sam what are your thoughts on resonated test pipes? Will they eventually blow out the packaging because of the increased hot exhaust gasses? I've had mine on my car for about a year now without any issues with exhaust mods.

I removed the HFCs for money and sound reasons. Wanted some extra cash and I wanted to quiet down my car. I used to have a full Fast Intentions setup: HFCs and cat-back exhaust. But I sold all those pieces to go with the more conservative y-pipe back GReddy exhaust. I may go back to a full catback sometime in the future, but I'd want to look for the quietest catback exhaust I could find. Also, Sam said that HFCs wouldn't last too long w/ forced induction.

Just curious why would aftermarket HFC's not last long when going FI? I have a set of Fast Intention HFC's, and I would sure hate to get rid of them because of boost.

Because HFC were never intended for FI use, not strong enough to take the heat of the EGT on an FI car. On average it will take 3 to 5 months before they melt down .

Sam

No problem there, might get louder with time but that will be the worse of it.

Sam

I have a feeling that we are going to cross paths one day . don't know it's just feeling.

Thank you:)

Sam

Yes i did, still have to wait on chris confirmation though.

Sam

We are getting down to 2 days now and will take another 2 for QC and test drives.

Sam

Sam, I spoke with you a few days ago. I have 93-octane available for me, but I'm looking for a conservative safe tune with my current mods (test pipes, fast intentions catback), I'm looking to go with the stage 2 kit. Should I run your 91-octane tune to be safe, what kind of air/fuel ratios do you look for when tuning?

Thanks

aren't we already set up to cross paths???

Sounds like a love connection

whoa! look who snug out of the turtle shell! hahahahah!:icon18:

Nice review and great looking G! The SC setup looks very clean like it came with the car! I love it! Looking to SC my Z but it calls for mucho dinero lol! So tempted to do a loan just for one. So tempting!

:tup: