Rotrex powered R32
Discussion
Been a reader on here for a while, finally joined up a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was about time I should post up some details on my car.
The car is a 2003 MKIV R32, I bought the car when it was just over a year old. Before this I had a PD130 Golf, however after a test drive in the R32 I had to have it just for the v6 sound track.
I kept the car standard for about 2 years, after this the modifications started with a Milltek cat-back exhaust system.
I have always liked superchargers, so in 2008 I had a VF stage II supercharger fitted.
This bumped the power up from the std 241hp to 324hp 269lb/ft. Later on in the year I added Milltek tubular manifolds and high flow sports cats, this made the car sound so much better.
In January 2009 I had to get the supercharger rebuilt due to an oil leak, only for it to fail again after 6 months. At this point I had the supercharger removed, however I missed the extra power the supercharger gave.
Roll on to October 2009 when I had a Rotrex supercharger fitted, the installation required lower compression pistons, bigger injectors, larger fuel pump and water + methanol injection.
The Rotrex supercharger is mounted low down behind the bumper.
Form the top, the engine bay almost looks standard, the only hints to all the work are the cut outs in the front grill for the pipes to the intercooler.
The power delivery with the supercharger is almost like stock, but there’s allot more. It’s currently running about 14-15psi of boost, which has upped the power to a healthy 454hp & 373lb/ft. A smaller pulley can be fitted which would push the power to 500+.
Having nearly doubled the power I thought it would be a good idea to increase the stopping power.
The callipers (yet to be fitted) are from a V8 Toureg, the disk is a standard R32 part (can of Pepsi added for scale) the callipers are made by Brembo and are the same as those fitted to the Porsche Cayane Turbo and some 911’s (I think). The only difference being they are not painted red and don’t have Porsche written on them so are about half the price.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to get the callipers painted/powder coated, or leave them as they are.
Future plans are:
Get the bumper and the bonnet re sprayed to get rid of all the stone chips.
Look into getting longer gearing fitted, to try and make it a bit more economical as it has quite a thirst for Vpower. I’m currently getting 19-21mpg, if I “play” this drops to single figures
Also I would like to enter the next Vmax, to see what it is capable of, as I have not been able to max it out yet!
The car is a 2003 MKIV R32, I bought the car when it was just over a year old. Before this I had a PD130 Golf, however after a test drive in the R32 I had to have it just for the v6 sound track.
I kept the car standard for about 2 years, after this the modifications started with a Milltek cat-back exhaust system.
I have always liked superchargers, so in 2008 I had a VF stage II supercharger fitted.
This bumped the power up from the std 241hp to 324hp 269lb/ft. Later on in the year I added Milltek tubular manifolds and high flow sports cats, this made the car sound so much better.
In January 2009 I had to get the supercharger rebuilt due to an oil leak, only for it to fail again after 6 months. At this point I had the supercharger removed, however I missed the extra power the supercharger gave.
Roll on to October 2009 when I had a Rotrex supercharger fitted, the installation required lower compression pistons, bigger injectors, larger fuel pump and water + methanol injection.
The Rotrex supercharger is mounted low down behind the bumper.
Form the top, the engine bay almost looks standard, the only hints to all the work are the cut outs in the front grill for the pipes to the intercooler.
The power delivery with the supercharger is almost like stock, but there’s allot more. It’s currently running about 14-15psi of boost, which has upped the power to a healthy 454hp & 373lb/ft. A smaller pulley can be fitted which would push the power to 500+.
Having nearly doubled the power I thought it would be a good idea to increase the stopping power.
The callipers (yet to be fitted) are from a V8 Toureg, the disk is a standard R32 part (can of Pepsi added for scale) the callipers are made by Brembo and are the same as those fitted to the Porsche Cayane Turbo and some 911’s (I think). The only difference being they are not painted red and don’t have Porsche written on them so are about half the price.
I haven’t decided if I’m going to get the callipers painted/powder coated, or leave them as they are.
Future plans are:
Get the bumper and the bonnet re sprayed to get rid of all the stone chips.
Look into getting longer gearing fitted, to try and make it a bit more economical as it has quite a thirst for Vpower. I’m currently getting 19-21mpg, if I “play” this drops to single figures
Also I would like to enter the next Vmax, to see what it is capable of, as I have not been able to max it out yet!
ct_ said:
Wow! Well done for not giving up on the superchargers!
Thanks, I could have gone turbo, but that would have made the manifolds useless, also superchargers are kinder on the running gear. It is still on the original clutch, gearbox etc…MattyB_ said:
Nice! Did you get any comeback from the VF supercharger for failing twice? Impressive power figure from the new SC though!
yep, it was repaired FOC under warranty, had to pay the shipping to send it back to the USA. Got a couple of vids, the first is from a home made camera mounted in the grill (was still running it in so not driven hard) it’s not very exciting, but gives an idea what it sounds like.
[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/kieranp_photos/?action=view¤t=Rotrexvideo.flv][/URL]
The second is from a rolling road day, blew the boost pipe off the intercooler at the end of the first run (watch front left for grill being blown out)
[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh28/kieranp_photos/?action=view¤t=RotrexRRvid.flv][/URL]
Had to be pushed off the rolling road as after the second run, it blew the hose off completely and was over fuelling so wouldn’t stay running. Now fixed with modified pipes and stronger hose clips.
Feel free not to answer but what did it cost you to get it to this stage? As a GTA owner, I'd be looking at a 3.7 conversion with a SC on top to get to 440bhp, which would cost around £13k just for the engine work. Manifold and exhausts would set you back about £3k, suspension and brakes another £2k. How does that compare to the costs on the R32?
MattyB_ said:
Feel free not to answer but what did it cost you to get it to this stage? As a GTA owner, I'd be looking at a 3.7 conversion with a SC on top to get to 440bhp, which would cost around £13k just for the engine work. Manifold and exhausts would set you back about £3k, suspension and brakes another £2k. How does that compare to the costs on the R32?
The install of the supercharger and engine work came in at about £7k, the exhaust was just on £1,800 the brakes were £700 (callipers, disks, brackets and hoses). Still running the stock suspension.kiethton said:
Nice car...think i remeber staring at it quite a bit at the shell garage on the A20 last weekend
Thanks, were you in the black Astra? I did spot you having a look. I spend too much time in those garages on the A20. ZeroSum said:
Very impressive, I love it. How did you deal with the tuning? - Is it running the standard ECU and was mapping difficult?
It’s running the standard ECU with new softwareGassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff