Stillen Supercharger reliabiity

irondoc

I suspect that many of the negative comments you read about the Stillen tune were in this thread in response to my troubles being the first to do the Stillen SC on a 2013. (I have not read about any similar issues on 2009-2012 models).
There were troubles at the outset, but those issues have been resolved. I am at 395whp with snow tires with no attempts to improve on the Stillen tune - (I will have it re dyno'ed when the Summer tires and wheels go on).
It is my DD, it is reliable and seamless with roughly 1000 miles on the kit.
I will post issues if and when they occur, and do an update in any case when the kit has 5K on it.

darli328

Not to sound completely ignorant but what does having a 2013 have to do with anything in this case? Correct me if I'm wrong but they didn't change anything other than the bumper/wheels right? And, neither of those would effect the Stillen SC. Also, a lot of the negative comments I've read about the Stillen SC are from a year or so ago. Mainly to do with how crappy the tune is, and how the install process requires you to cut/trim/bend pieces of your car. Personally I don't want to do that, I'd like something that doesn't require me to cut stock wires, bend and cut stock parts of the car to make something fit. But, I know this thread isn't about Stillen SC installation and I could be completely wrong on the install process.

irondoc

You don't sound arrogant, you sound like you are assuming you know something that you do not.

According to Stillen the ECU programming changes every year and so Stillen's tune has to change as well.
According to Stillen - the 2012 tune will not work with any year but the 2012, and so on.
The 2013 was a new ECU for them. I had to buy the UpRev cable and software before the SC kit, and do a ROM dump so that Stillen could "Crack" the ECU code. Thy did so and said the tune would be 80% good to go. It was not, the car would not run at first. Then there was an install problem with the TBA, that was ultimately solved. Finally the car came home stalling every time I would decelerate to below 20mph. Stillen had a fix for that and the fix was included in the original kit. It is a shield that covers the air flow sensors to reduce turbulence. It did not fit the 2013 because of the change in the bumper. Rather than modify it to fit, my installer assumed it was superfluous and did not install it. Stillen would not even discuss the issue further until the shield was installed. They were correct. The shield had to be significantly modified to fit the 2013, but when installed it solved the problem.

darli328

Ahh, I had no idea they change the ECU every year. I knew I was missing something, thanks.
Just curious, am I the only one that doesn't want to mangle my car to make something fit? Maybe it's a pipe dream of mine to want parts to just bolt up without modifications... If anyone can't tell I'm new to this so please excuse my ignorance

Nut_N_Much

Your not ignorant buddy. For people like us we don't need to most power, the highest boost. My nuts dropped long ago in Haiti, Somalia, AFG and Iraq. For out of the box fitment to get into the SC realm Stillen Kit is a good start. I personally like the GTM kit for SC, and Boost Performance for turbo. Also there customer service is real good!

Look at it this way, do you learn to ride a Motorcycle on a 1000cc/240 HP Super Bike. For enthusiasts, the kit is fine. Just a few recommendations to make it more reliable based off guys input that have ran the kit for a wile.

$170.00 25mm dual port BOV: JSC Speed
$38.95 idler pulley 4gr116-300 3inch from Vortex

The stock bands that hold the boost side on the manifold work fine but more reliable to have these on the pressure side. Good luck with what ever you choose to do!!!

Stainless Steel T-Bolt Hose Clamps : BoostController.com LLC - America's Source for High quality turbo boost controllers, silicone hose, and more performance products - 877-836-6155- precision boost control. Turbosmart Warehouse Distributor

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darli328

Thanks, glad to see there are more people out there in the same boat as me. I personally like the GTM supercharger kit the most because from what research I've done it's a cleaner install and doesn't require you to mangle you car as much the stillen kit does. But, as with anything things change and I could be wrong. Problem is even though I don't live in California and probably wont anytime soon I still want something smog/carb approved. Maybe it's overkill, but it would give me piece of mind when getting pulled over and/or going through emission testing.