Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ get supercharged

An Australian company has defeated Toyota and Subaru in the race to develop a forced-induction version of the smash-hit 86 and BRZ sportscars.

Both car-makers continue to deny they will produce a higher-performance version of either affordable rear-drive boxer coupe but speculation is rife that Subaru is developing an ‘STI’ version of the BRZ fitted with a supercharged flat four-cylinder engine.

V8-powered Toyota 86s have already been created by drifting enthusiasts in Japan, but an affordable Australian-made aftermarket supercharger kit that increases power output by more than 50 per cent is now in production and will soon become available globally.

Gold Coast-based Bullet Cars has been supercharging vehicles of all descriptions for more than a decade and gained notoriety back in the 2000s for its Bullet Roadster, which was based on the Mazda MX-5, powered by a supercharged Toyota V8 and went as if fired from a sniper’s rifle.

Now Bullet has teamed up with West Australia’s Sprintex Superchargers to develop a bolt-on supercharger package for the 2.0-litre boxer engine that drives both the BRZ and 86 coupes.

Boosting peak power from a standard 106kW to 162kW, measured at the rear wheels, the Bullet/Sprintex supercharger increases performance by more than 50 per cent, which should be enough to turn the sweet-handling compact sportcars into serious performance coupes.

The kit includes a Sprintex S5-210 supercharger mounted on a Bullet-designed manifold, plus an internal air/water intercooler using four Laminova cooling tubes inside a billet carrier. This has been designed to provide even airflow distribution to the individual manifold runners.

There is a front-mounted radiator and electric water pump specifically to keep the intercooler fluid cool and supercharger management is via an ECUTEC flash system, with a cable provided to download the supercharger software from a PC. All hardware and plumbing required for the conversion is included in the kit.

The Bullet Cars 86/BRZ supercharger package has been designed to appear like original equipment with factory-look hardware and plumbing and a professional finish.

The accompanying photos of a prototype vehicle show a silicone hose from the original air-filter to the throttle body, but a production-looking moulded plastic version will replace this in the production kit and a polished supercharger housing is also available for a show look.

The supercharged engine resides under the standard 86/BRZ bonnet without any additional bulges or scoops and the only visual give-away that there is something special under the bonnet is the radiator for the intercooler, which can be seen behind the lower grille opening.

Most of the package was developed in-house at Bullet with input from Sprintex, which will manufacture the system in Perth, where it produces a range of superchargers. Bullet retains distribution rights in Australia and New Zealand, while Innovate will market the conversion in the US and talks are underway with companies in Japan and Europe.

There has already been strong interest from international markets and, of the 250 kits being produced by Sprintex in the first production run, 150 are headed Stateside, with the remainder divided between Japan, Australia/NZ and Europe. Another production run will follow if there is strong demand.

The complete intercooled supercharger package is available in Australia at an introductory price of $5690 (including GST) if ordered in January or February.

The 2.0-litre direct-injection 4U-GSE engine that comes standard in the 86 and BRZ is a high-performance engine in its standard guise, making 147kW of power at 7000rpm and 205Nm at 6600rpm.

To achieve this it has a high 12.5:1 compression ratio that requires the use of 98 RON premium unleaded petrol and, for the Bullet supercharged engine, limits boost pressure to just 9psi.

Bullet’s Tom Rabold says this makes the engine very sensitive to fuel quality and owners of any 86 or BRZ should be careful where they buy their PULP, recommending they try to purchase fuel from company–owned service stations’ where possible.

As with any such engine modification, the package will void the 86/BRZ’s new-car factory warranty, but Bullet provides a 12-month/unlimited-kilometre warranty on the supercharger and the kit itself.

When asked about the added stress on the standard driveline, Mr Rabold said Bullet’s development 86 had encountered no mechanical problems during more than three months of road and track testing.

Mr Rabold said engine durability is a factor of individual driving style, but stressed that Bullet’s in-house testing included track days at Queensland’s Norwell at the hands of current Australian drift champion Rob Whyte, who doesn’t spare the car for any reason.

The 86/BRZ twins are a global success, particularly with enthusiasts attracted to the no-frills rear-drive configuration of both affordable two-seat coupes, but have been criticised for their lack of outright engine performance.

Enthusiasts, being enthusiasts, will always want more performance and the Bullet supercharger kit was developed in response to the absence of a turbocharged version of the boxer engine that has powered both models since their launch last June.

Subaru has earned itself plenty of success and a legion of fans over the years with its WRX, STI and other turbo-boxer vehicles, but despite widespread expectations of more powerful 86 and BRZ models both companies have consistently denied the development of a forced-induction version.

The Bullet supercharger kit may still produce a relatively modest power output, but its 50 per cent performance boost should deliver what the well-balanced 86/BRZ chassis – and the affordable sportscar enthusiast – is crying out for.

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