Back in 2006 Vivid Racing made the TPC Supercharger a known competitor to the VF Engineering kit. TPC at the time was mainly known for their racing in the Grand Am series with focus on suspension and race car prep. Our 2000 996C2 3.4L with the Supercharger was featured in a couple magazines and we also ran the US Leg of the 2006 Gumball 3000. With the Eaton supercharger, our car baselined at 230rwhp and then gained 100rwhp on 91octane to 330rwhp. Read the article here – https://www.vividracing.com/forums/project-996/20641-total-911-magazine-features-vr-996sc.html
So overtime TPC has changed their business around and with that is the release of their Single Turbo Upgrade Kit. Much like the Supercharger kit, TPC still uses the front OEM center radiator kit to work with the air to water intercooler. Because the turbo is now located where one of the mufflers was, the exhaust system is completely changed from the headers back. TPC shows a change in power from 250rwhp to 420rwhp on a DynoJet using 93oct, 5.5psi, and an ambient temperature of 72F.
So here we go… which is better? Our install car here we are doing is also a 2000 3.4L 6speed. Our dyno calibrations have changed over the past 4 years so the baseline test shows 247rwhp and 212ft/lbs of torque. Being in Arizona, we only do 91oct gas and it is 105-110F right now. So should be interesting to see the results. Check out the gallery of images here and stay tuned to our build thread for updates.
And the install begins. Same concept as the supercharger using the GT3 center radiator and the air to water intercooler as you see mounted. I put a picture of my old 996C2 so you could see the differences. We have put in the new injectors, bolted up the turbo and exhaust system and ran the plumbing. The silicone hoses provided are a tight fit but much easier to install then their old hard aluminum hose. The headers are nice quality and interested to hear how this smaller muffler and cats will sound. The turbo is massive tucked in the right rear fender. Enjoy!
Old Air to Water on our Supercharged 996C2
Damn, that’s sick. What a great project!
Estimated whp?
Nice design, now how does it feel from the seat of the pants perspective?
Not done yet. Have not driven it. Soon though 🙂
Update Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got the kit all installed. Overall fit and finish is good. 2 things that I would change. The driverside exhaust outlet does not have any brackets holding it in place except for the passenger clamp on the turbo. We made a cheap $2 bracket to give it rigidity as it was flopping there. The Turbo is enormous and if that thing reaches EGTs of around 1500F, the bumper will melt or bubble the paint. So we put some heat tape on the inside of the bumper. Everything else was golden. The car idled great and sounded impressive too.
We strapped the car down on the dyno and gave it a run. The car baseline run was 247rwhp and 212ft/lbs of torque. This was done on July 2 with a very similar ambient temp of around 100-105F. On the same 91octane in the car with nothing else changed except the turbo kit, the car made 336rwhp and 287ft/lbs of torque. That is a 90rwhp gain. Not bad at all! In fact a k16 Porsche 996 Turbo on our dyno makes about 330awhp to 340awhp. So this is strong. The wastegate boost made 4.8psi which is on par with what TPC says. A Greddy EBC would be a nice add on to set a solid 5 to 5.5 PSI and maybe 6-7psi on race gas. There is an extra 20-30HP there. Remember that HOT HOT temperatures greatly affect turbocharged cars and cooling capacity.
These numbers are directly inline with the TPC Cayman we did 2 weeks prior here. That car in the same climate/temp conditions also made 90HP.
Comparing this turbo kit to our own 996C2 from 2006 installation of the TPC Supercharger is very interesting. They both made about the same HP. However the supercharger kit was dyno tested in April with temperatures of around 20-30F cooler. So in theory the Turbo Kit makes alot more power. The Supercharger has higher instantaneous torque, but the Turbo power delivery is smoother. The Turbo sound is much more appealing too. The supercharger whine is intense. If I were to have had a choice of buying the supercharger or turbo kit… Turbo All the Way!
Another great TPC Turbo Kit install! Now who wants one next from Vivid Racing!
Here is a HD video for ya!
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4NH7DJXxss[/tube]
Cleaned up, some new rear tires, and final adjustments, the car is picked up and gone. Thought I would share some final shots!
a few questions:
1. Are there any catalysts in the TPC turbo kit? Any problems with the catalyst censors?
2. Did you need an ECU upgrade?
3. What happend with the rear bumper reinforcement? Did you have to replace the original one with anew one provided by TPC?
Thanks!
TPC uses 2 high flow cats on either side. The sensors are retained and work fine. The Turbo kit comes with an ECU upgrade. It is required since you are putting bigger injectors and introducing forced induction. The rear bumper beam is removed.