Harrop self fit supercharger kit review

[Neil-h 29]

Hi All,

Back at the start of the lockdown I decided I needed a project to look forward to whilst working from home and I'd been toying with the idea fitting a turbo/supercharger for a while. Only problem was a i really fancied doing the installation work myself, so after some research (and a test drive in the Abbey demo car) I settled on ordering the Harrop supercharger kit from @Mark@Abbey M/S . Now it turns out that Abbey don't sell many of these kits for DIY fitment, so i figured I'd write up a bit of a review in the hope others might find it useful and may even have a go themselves in the future.

Existing mods

Prior to fitting the supercharger I'd had a TD manifold fitted and a remap by Abbey which took the car up to about 180bhp at the hubs and around 140ibft of torque. I’ve also fitted several cat backs ultimately settling on the TD super res.

What's included?

So for the money you get Harrops custom built manifold mated to an Eaton TVS1320 blower plus all the bits and pieces required to make it work on the car (including a special tool for reforming the A/C pipe around the supercharger). I have to say on unboxing the kit i was really quite impressed, it includes just about everything you need to get the job done. Complete with a signed off opy of the picking sheet when the kit was put together at Harrop so you can see someone's taken the time to put it all together and you can easily check it's all there. The only bit that wasn't included was the coolant for the charge cooler but that's not the end of the world as it's a standard GM coolant so you can get the anywhere.

In addition Mark also provided; the loan of an EcuTEK programming cable and dongle, a base map to get the car running, distance mapping (more on that later) and a session on the dyno for final map tuning and a power run.

The fitting process

This is the bit i'd imagine will be most of interest to other as there's not an awful lot of info online about it. Now the first thing I must stress is much in the style of the Pirates code (see one of the Pirates of the Caribean films for the full reference), the instructions are really for guidance only. They'll point you in the right direction (usually getting you 95% of the way there) but there will be times where a little bit of thinking is required. Most of those moments centred more around the removal of the OEM items rather than the refitting of the new bits, which in all honest I kinda expected and it wasn't really that difficult. That being said Mark was always at the end of phone when I had bits i wasn't sure of.

In terms of what was required to fit the kit, i did it over the course of a week with the front end in the air on a set of drive on ramps. If you're going to this way it's worth considering fitting the chargecooler/chargecooler pump/pipe work first (the instructions have it last). That way all the work from underneath is done before you start removing things like the fuel rails. Also it's worth following a bit of advice from one of the American forums and remove the undertray all the way back to the footwell, it's sods law you'll drop something and it will almost certainly land on that under tray.

As for tools, the only specialist tools required were the former for bending the A/C pipe out of the way and that was included in the kit (it's worth making sure you have a substantial G clamp  though as bending that pipe is hard work). Just about everything else can be done using a socket set and the odd screwdriver/allan key.

The only minor issue i did find was that clearance between the TD manifold and the crank pulley was a bit tight, so we had to grind a little bit off the flange to fit the auxilliary belt. That and getting the fusebox apart to fit the chargecooler pump wiring but that's simply a case of trusting that it's more solid than you think. Once you're happy leavering things knowing what you can get away it comes apart fairly easily.

Mapping

Now the mapping process is something I've never really been involved in before so it was quite interesting. So Mark talked me through the initial process of connecting the EcuTEK software to the car and querying the ECU. He then sent over a base map which allowed me to get the car running and. From there it was a case of going out taking data logs starting keeping the car at low load/rpm initially then gradually increasing load/rpm as Mark tweaked the mapping till we got to a point where i could run it all through the rev range. This was the first point where the supercharger relay began to put a smile on my face, running it all the way through the rev range in third is really quite addictive. The way the torque just builds and builds is fantastic. After that i got the car booked in on the dyno for the final tune and a power run (the results of which are attached), the headline figures being approximately 240bhp (up 60bhp) and 200ibft or torque (also up around 60ibft).

Conclusions

to wrap up, i have to say i don't regret going down the DIY fitment route and i'd highly reccomend it to anyone that's half decent with a set of spanners. Fitting this kit really isn't all that complicated and the feeling of pride when you fire it up for the first time is just fantastic. That and of course you get a car at the end of it with some serious performance, the bit where it really comes alive is the the way it pulls through third/fourth/fifth. Where it used to run out of steam the car now just pulls like a train. With the added bonus that the fuel consumption hasn't taken to much of a hit, granted if you really press on then it drops quite quickly but on a gentle cruise i can still get 32-33mpg.

I'd also just like to say a big thanks to Mark and the team at Abbey Motorsport. They were really helpful through out the process (Mark even delivered the kit personally after Parcel Force decided it was to heavy but didn't bother calling him to say so) and it was good to know that Mark was at the end of the phone should i need some advice.

If anyone has any questions then fire away, i'm more than happy to help.

 

[MartinT 514]

Congratulations, Neil, for doing it yourself. I can understand the pride in doing that (I will happily modify my hi-fi equipment but not so much the car).

You're right about the Harrop putting a smile on your face in 3rd, or pretty much any gear. It's a constant pleaser.

[Neil-h 29]

Cheers Martin. To be honest it’s a testament to the design and the quality of the Harrop kit that it just bolts straight on so easily.

[BRZ-123 174]

Great job and a useful write up for future DIYers. This is the value from the forum and a chance to give back.

Interesting to note you had to grind off crank pulley to create space due to manifold. Is your exhaust standard? If yes, Martins previous build had 300 bhp iirc. So a catback could get you 20 more bhp but I will say you are now at the safe end at 280 brake. Enjoy it as is.

Wish you miles of smiles.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

[SimonG68 71]

Sounds like a great project you’ve done there and I read it with much interest.

Enjoy.....


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[Neil-h 29]

42 minutes ago, BRZ-123 said:

Great job and a useful write up for future DIYers. This is the value from the forum and a chance to give back.

Interesting to note you had to grind off crank pulley to create space due to manifold. Is your exhaust standard? If yes, Martins previous build had 300 bhp iirc. So a catback could get you 20 more bhp but I will say you are now at the safe end at 280 brake. Enjoy it as is.

Wish you miles of smiles.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 

It was actually one of the exhaust flanges that needed a bit grinding off. The TD manifold has a pipe that loops up at the front of the engine bay and it was the flange where that pipe meets the headers that was the problem.

[Luke 193]

Great write up. How have you found the heat management driving around with these high temperatures lately? 

[MartinT 514]

My heat management with the Harrop, since switching to the Rogue manifold, has been perfect with all temperatures normal even on the hottest days.

[Neil-h 29]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Great write up. How have you found the heat management driving around with these high temperatures lately? 

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your outlook) I was working from home most of this week, so it’s hard to say but it doesn’t seem to run any warmer than it did before. Tbh I’d like to hope it’ll be fine given the kit was developed in Australia.

[Kodename47 446]

I'm not sure many would expect heat management to be any worse, the OEM cooling system has plenty of capacity and is not known to be a problem even at high power. Oil temps will typically increase faster than stock, but on the street this is really a non-issue. The biggest one tends to be, as Martin alluded, that other mods can increase underbonnet temps to go up that play a more significan impact IMO.

[Luke 193]

True I forgot that it was an Australian development. I just wonder how it would handle on a track day because it has a separate cooling system. I guess adding an oil cooler would cover that for the most part. 
Also I like your pirates of the Caribbean reference “There more like guidelines”. I had that with kitchen furniture recently.

[Neil-h 29]

So I figured I’d do a little update on this given I’ve just collected the car from its first MOT after fitting the supercharger and it’s good news. It flew threw without a problem, even the emissions were well below the required level (which is impressive given its only got the main cat). A real credit to @Mark@Abbey M/S and his mapping skills.

[MartinT 514]

One point which may be of interest is that I have my ScanGauge display IAt intake air temperature. Comparing it with outside air temperature shows the effectiveness of the intercooler. On a very hot day, it never runs at more than +20C. Typically (like today), it runs at +15C.

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