I'm looking to put a supercharger on my engine, what do I need?
This is a great question and one we get asked a fair bit. If you are brand new to supercharging or performance VW engines, then it is very easy to get misled by the armchair experts on Facebook, or tempted by snake oil sales promises you read online. So we'll break things down into an easy to digest article so you can be more informed about your purchase.
We have a range of different supercharger kits that are aimed at different price points and intended use. We'll walk through each option and outline their intended applications and fitment, and help guide you in selecting the right solution for your application.
Budget Kit
Overview
Our budget kit is intended to be an affordable solution for those looking at increasing the power output of a stock engine. The kit is designed to a standard aftermarket serpentine belt setup along with an S&S carburettor. This helps save some $$$'s whilst giving good HP / $ value.
This kit can also be used on mildly tuned engines or slightly larger capacity engines if the drive ratio is increased, but generally if you are targeting performance, then we recommend using our performance kit which will net much higher HP returns. (More on that later)
The budget kit when used with the stock AMR500 pulley and standard VW serpentine kit will generally give you a drive ratio of approximately 2.4:1 This will generate approximately 5-6 psi of boost on a 1600, which is a fairly safe level with low detonation risk if properly set up and maintained.
Due to the low detonation risk the budget kit can be safely used with a modified distributor and does not need additional boost referenced ignition control with the stock drive ratio. A further cost saving. Full instruction on distributor modification and tuning are included with each kit.
What's included
The Basic kit is supplied with manifolds, drive belt, supercharger mount, tensioner pulley, hoses, throttle connection kit and our custom S&S velocity stack.
Supercharger and carburettor are available to purchase separately.
You need to provide your own serpentine setup. It will work with any aftermarket serpentine kit.
Fitment
Bus, Bug, Ghia, Thing, Brazilia etc
Typical Application | Typical Engine Capacity | Target Boost Range |
Daily Driver | 1100-1600 | 5-6 psi |
A note on performance
The main difference between our budget kit and our performance kit is the serpentine belt system and the round 2" / 50mm manifolds. Both of these limit the overall output that you will get out of the AMR500 when compared to our performance kit. The blower is the heart of the system, it is the part that generates the boost so it is important that it operates unrestricted.
Our Performance kit uses a dedicated drive belt and square port matched manifolds. The square ports of the performance kit flow 40% more than the round ports on the Budget kit. The Performance kits dedicated PK6 drive belt also completely eliminates belt slip, which is a big issue when trying to run a serpentine belt setup at higher boost levels.
More boost = More back-pressure = More force required to turn the blower = More grip between the belt and pulley required = Belt slip when using narrower and longer belts
You can of course run a smaller pulley to use the budget kit with larger engine capacities, or to increase boost, but as you are already at a 40% deficit with regards to blower output, overcoming that restriction by increasing the drive ratio simply ends up creating unnecessary heat. (Heat is a byproduct of compressing air)
So if performance is your goal, you are much better off moving to the performance kit with the higher flowing manifolds and bullet proof drive setup. As a result we do not generally market the budget kit as a high performance or high boost option. We consider that it is a reasonably priced option that works very well with stock(ish) capacity or mildly tuned engines at a reasonable boost level.
🐍 Snake oil Alert !
Here's an interesting consideration. If you're thinking about buying a copy-cat kit from one of those other manufacturers. Before you part with your hard earned $$$s, it's worth considering that our budget kit is essentially what other copy-cat manufacturers are offering as their top shelf products (basically because they copied it). They all use the same round ports and serpentine belt setups that our budget kit does. Just something to keep in mind when comparing our kits with theirs. It's not apples for apples despite what they may imply.
A note on blower sizing
If you are looking for a supercharger solution for a larger capacity engine (1776cc+) it is worth noting that the AMR500 supercharger cannot really be used. Whilst other suppliers will tell you that the AMR500 will work on 1915 and 2 litre+ engines, the reality is that the maximum speed you can spin the blower at is 16,000rpm. So for a performance engine reaching 6,700rpm or more, you can only achieve a drive ratio of 2.4 or less. (16000 / 6700) This means that the maximum boost you will be able to generate is about 4psi. Even less for larger capacities. When you tally this up in HP/$ it is simply not a viable solution.
Just like turbocharger applications you must size the blower for the engine capacity and application, and whilst it is true that you can adjust the drive ratio to tweak the output for the boost required and engine capacity, you cannot make it produce more boost than it's capacity and rpm limits allow. Larger capacity engines require larger capacity blowers.
Performance Kit
Overview
Our performance kit is the outcome of years of development which initially started off as the budget kit. This has larger aluminium manifolds and higher flowing square blower ports and can be supplied with a range of carburettors or throttle bodies for either the AMR500 or AMR300 supercharger. The kit uses a dedicated PK6 drive belt that is wider than the belt used on serpentine setups and is suitable for those wanting to run more boost. The dedicated belt also takes the load off of the generator bearing and has more belt to pulley engagement.
Generally you will see a 60% power increase out of the box and around 8psi with the standard pulleys supplied. With more power available using our custom drive pulleys.
This is the go-to kit for performance applications and can support up to 12psi with an AMR500 on a 1776 using one of our cams. We have one customer making 138hp with this setup.
What's included
The kit is supplied with crank pulley, blower pulley, manifolds, drive belt, supercharger mount, tensioner pulley, hoses, gaskets and throttle connection kit
Supercharger and carburettors are available to purchase separately.
Fitment
Bus, Bug, Ghia, Thing, Brazilia etc
NOTE: DCOE carburettor requires decklid standoffs when installed in a bug.
Typical Application | Typical Engine Capacity | Target Boost Range |
Daily Driver / Performance | 1100-1776 | 8-12 psi |
Vintage Kit
Overview
Our carbureted AMR vintage kits are inspired by the vintage Pepco / Speedwell supercharger kits and are designed to work on 36/40/50/60hp upright style Type 1 engines using a modified 34 Pict carburettor and either an AMR300 or AMR500 supercharger. Featuring dual dedicated drive belts to help give that vintage look, eliminate slip and overcome the excessive load on generator and alternator bearings found with single belt serpentine setups. The modified 34PICT carby is overbored to maximise flow.
The kit includes a custom throttle linkage setup that hooks up to the standard throttle cable. This kit will produce between 5-8psi of boost depending on drive ratios. It will work well on stock 1200/1500/1600 engines and can also be used on mildly tuned or vintage speed engines.
The kit is supplied with a custom distributor cap that allows the blower to sit lower down, this means that it will clear the decklid on a beetle. This kit requires a modified 205 style vacuum distributor, these are common standard fitment on 60's VW's. Full instructions on how to modify the distributor are included in the kit.
What's included
The Vintage kit is supplied with billet blower and crank pulleys, custom modded 34Pict 3 carby, velocity stack, manifolds, hoses, drive belts, drive tensioner, distributor cap and custom throttle linkage
Supercharger is available to purchase separately. This kit will not work with your existing 34Pict carburettor.
Fitment
Bug (Vrod, trike or buggy with head clearance)
Unfortunately due to the height this kit is not suitable for Busses, Ghias or any other application where engine bay clearance is an issue.
009, SVDA and late model distributors cannot be used with this kit.
Typical Application | Typical Engine Capacity | Target Boost Range |
Daily Driver / Vintage Speed | 1100-1600 | 5-8 psi |
Dual Blow through kit
Overview
Our dual blow through kit uses dual IDF carburettors and is a blow through configuration. This kit offers the same performance as our side-draft kit with DCOE but is packaged to fit under the decklid of a bug. We recommend that this kit is used in conjunction with our ignition / WMI systems to help manage the elevated intake temps that are found in blow through setups.
What's included
The Dual Blow Through kit is supplied with crank pulley, blower pulley, manifolds, drive belt, supercharger mount, pressure hats, bypass valve, hoses and throttle connection kit
Supercharger and carburettor are available to purchase separately.
Fitment
Bus, Bug, Ghia, Thing, Brazilia etc
Typical Application | Typical Engine Capacity | Target Boost Range |
Daily Driver / Performance | 1100-1776 | 8-12 psi |
Centrifugal kit
Overview
Our centrifugal kit uses a procharger style centrifugal blower in a blow through configuration that can cater for engines making up to 700hp. This kit is the one you want if you are running a larger capacity engine and want to target performance. This setup absolutely must be used with boost referenced ignition control and either an intercooler / chargecooler or water methanol injection, which is why we normally bundle it with our ignition system.
What's included
Typically the Centrifugal kit is supplied with crank pulley, blower, manifolds, drive belt, supercharger mount, pressure hats, carburettors (or throttle bodies), bypass valve, hoses and throttle connection kit. As the centrifugal kit is a custom package tailored for your engine / application, actual contents may vary.
Fitment
Bus, Bug, Ghia, Thing, Brazilia etc
Typical Application | Typical Engine Capacity | Target Boost Range |
Performance / Race | up to 3.2 litre | 8 - 22psi |
Custom solutions
We can build what you need
We offer a range of custom solutions and can build a system to suit any application. Common solutions include larger Rootes style blowers or centrifugal blowers for larger capacity engines. Prices start off at AU$4000 for Rootes kits and AU$4700 for the centrifugal kits depending on configuration / blower choice.
If you have a specific application in mind, please reach out.
Electronic Fuel Injection
Most of our supercharger kits can also be supplied in EFI versions. This generally means swapping out the carburettors for throttle bodies and adding one of our EFI controllers. We can also supply bare kits so that you can use your own EFI controller should you want. These are generally supplied with the crank trigger package and throttle body.
We can tailor an EFI based package to suit your requirments.
Ignition Control
Detonation proofing your engine
Ignition control is a really important factor when running forced induction. Essentially the higher the pressure of the charge in the cylinder, the quicker it will burn. This means that you need to start the ignition event later in the engine cycle to ensure that peak cylinder pressure occurs at the optimum rod angle.
The simplest way to achieve this is to limit the overall advance that your distributor can move, this is easily done by making a small modification to your existing distributor. This simply mod will help to manage ignition control when running low to moderate boost levels and is great for a budget option, but is not the most optimal solution, especially when running higher boost.
When targeting higher boost levels you are at a much higher risk of detonation, a small error in ignition timing can be very detrimental and so we recommend that you consider running a computer controlled ignition system to more accurately manage spark advance and also provide additional detonation protection.
We recommend our own distributor-less ignition control system which comes complete with a custom developed ignition map tailored for use with our supercharger systems. Our ignition system is available as a bundled kit including ECU, loom, coil and sensors. The ECU will work for all road and race VW applications, both boosted and normally aspirated, and comes packed with additional features such as Water Methanol control / Turbo boost control / Nitrous control / etc.
Of course any boost referenced ignition control system will work, the main goal is to be able to control the exact ignition advance based on both engine RPM and Boost level to ensure that the ignition occurs at the optimal time.
We do NOT recommend 123 style distributors, especially when targeting higher boost. If you are going to blow that kind of money on 100 year old tech (the spinny sparky part) then you are much better off buying a crank fired solid-state distributor-less system like ours. Not only is it much cheaper, but you are getting a 50kv spark instead of the 5kv that a coil and distributor setup gives you.
The higher the cylinder pressure, the more voltage is needed to initiate the spark event. More boost requires more voltage which you simply do not get from a regular distributor. There is a very good reason that 100% of modern cars run distributor-less systems. Distributor-less systems are more accurate, more efficient, give you more spark energy, and a better stronger flame front initialisation, which means more power and more reliable ignition events.
For more information check out our ignition control article
Camshaft Choice
Joe BLow Custom Cams
We offer performance blower specific camshaft grinds. These differ from both Normally Aspirated cam grinds and Turbo cam grinds and were developed to help get the most out of using a blower on your aircooled VW engine.
Any cam will work with our kits, the correct question to ask is what cam works best !!!
N/A versus Turbo Versus Blown Cams
For optimal performance we don’t recommend any other cams other than our own. This might sound very conceited, but there's actually some very good technical reasons why...
Essentially, Normally Aspirated (N/A) and Turbo cams are far from optimal in a blown application and apart from our cams, there were simply no other blower specific cams on the market. So we developed our own.
If you are interested in the technical aspects of how and why Joe Blow cams are better than running an N/A or Turbo cam, please checkout our Cam Tech article