After having my kit installed for almost two months now I can fully provide feedback of the results......Here we go.
Quality - We all know this kit uses great quality parts. This kit's components are built to last for several years and then some. Much longer than I will most likely have the car for. As great as the components are I did have a few problems.
First encounter with an issue was not BP's fault. The intercooler holes on the mounts did not match up with the holes off the intercooler tabs. I at first just tried drilling the holes out but the mounts are made of stainless and my craftsman drill bits were just flexing, smoking and dulling. This required me to go to the store and purchase a new set of dewalt carbide bits and a can of lubricating spray. 15 minutes later I had punched two new holes and continued my build. I was told this issue came from Treadstone as they
changed the tabs on the intercooler that Sasha had used in previous kits.
This brings me to my next issue. The intercooler was by far the worst component I received. It came to me in pretty rough shape. The worst part was the baseball sized scuff that runs right across the front of it, so unfortunately the side everyone sees. It has zero affect on the part but it looks like ****. Also there was a nasty scratch on the front top where the air would go to the drivers side. This was hidden by my bumper so I didn't get too worked up from it. Lastly the weld on the top looked like a 3rd grader did it. I called Sasha about this and he said he would call them to see what he can do. After about a week and after my build was done, I called Sasha back and he said that they will just give a partial refund for the part and that Sasha would take a hit from it. Knowing how little margin Sasha makes on these kits I didn't go through with sending it back. Also, since my car was complete I didn't have the patience to wait for another one so I just took the hit and kept this rough looking intercooler mounted. This intercooler weighs what seems to be at least 3 times of what my Powerlab provided intercooler did for my 350z and its not even as big. I have heard nothing but good stuff from Treadstone but if I hadn't I would have really been wondering what is going on.
The second quality issue came on the manifold. In the drivers side O2 bung there was a chunk of weld that worked its way up and over the threads. This should have been caught. A simple look inside the bung would have been more than enough to catch it. The problem I had was that I already had the whole kit installed and just had the sensors left to screw in.
So I spoke with Sasha and he said I could either send it back and he will send me a new one, (great service), Or I can try to drill it out. I of course was far too impatient to wait for a new one so I went back to the store to buy a dremel. This piece was impossible to get to while on the car without the special dremel attachment wand thingy. It is a flexible hose handheld toothbrush sort of thing that allows you to get into small spaces. This cost me $100 for the set, but most of you know how versatile dremels are and I will find a ton of uses for it in the future.
Fitment.... I thought the fitment of this thing was incredible. Everything lined up perfectly and it was effortless to get the exhaust connected. I did have an issue with the manifold touching firmly against what appeared to be some sort of mounting tab off the bell housing of the tranny. This apparently was not on all models so Sasha was not aware it was there. Another member said the same thing. Again this was tough to get too as there isn't a whole lot of room under there to cut it out. I ended up just drilling a hole in the middle of it and increasing the size of the bit until it drilled the whole tab off.
Lastly, I'm not sure if this is a quality issue or not but the scavenge pump had me worried. This thing sounded like it was running dry for the first week I had drove the car. It literally sounded like someone dropped a handful of sand in it and it was going to die. Sasha assured me that the sound goes away. And sure enough a week later it did. I don't understand how but it must have finally flooded the rotor housing enough to turn it into a much quitter pump. I was actually already looking at other pumps that would work since It was ruining the "coolness" of my car. It was embarrassing to pull up to a stoplight beside someone with a badass car that sounds like a blender. But like I said, All is good now. Patience.....
Sasha had agreed to fixing all of these problems the second he became aware of them. His service truly is top notch!
Performance - Uhhhh....hold on and pray for defensive drivers!! This kit pulls so much better than any car I've been in. It would have destroyed my 350 with the Powerlab kit on E85. It also put my buddies modded up 2008AMG SL55 to shame. Sure he got the jump on me with that positive displacement supercharged V8 but before I could pull into 3rd he was in my mirrors. Any other car that has attempted such things has met the same fate as well.
The drivability of this kit is awesome. It performs exactly how I would want it to. Stab the throttle and your gone at anything over 3K. It will push you into your seat and there is no mercy untill you let off.
The sound is also a huge factor in this kit for me. I for one LOVE the sound of forced induction, and this kit can be heard! It gives me goose bumps when it opens up and starts that spool scream. One of my favorite things is to go under and underpass and listen to this thing spool in rage and try to suck the pavement off the road while doing it. Its pretty hard for people not to go "Holy S hit what the F uck was that?"
After my boost controller issues I had seen first hand what this kit can do if your engine can handle it. Needless to say this thing will handle more power than anyone really wants, or usable power anyways. I took it up to 19lbs,by accident, and it was insane. My dyno showing this is over on another BP thread somewhere.
Install - This is where this kit shines even more. I think the overall install took me about 40 hours. However, I did have a few hiccups here and there but I thought it was mostly easy. If I had to do this kit again I think I could do it in 20 pretty easily. I originally was going down the twin turbo route. But after a few things happened on my way I came to the single side, and am glad I did. It is comforting knowing that if anything goes wrong it is easy to get at. Also if you did it yourself you know exactly what to look for if there is a problem. Maintenance is also a plus with the DIY'er. Plus the fact that you can take pride that you put time and effort into it versus paying someone and just being handed over the keys. That goes a long way for me.
Oh and to make things even better. She said yes!!
Winning..