Interesting Conversion questions and answers

Which cars can be supercharged by RGM?

RGM does supercharger conversions on most late model 6 and 8 cylinder petrol engines excluding rotary powered vehicles.

We don’t supercharge 4 cylinder engines due to a general lack of space as well as insufficient performance gained vs. power lost to spinning the charger on smaller engines.

The only 4 cylinder vehicle supercharged by RGMotorsport is the Honda S2000 due the engine layout as well as it’s high revving characteristics.

Does RGM have a supercharger conversion for my vehicle?

Most of our supercharger conversions are listed on the Supercharged page, as we continually develop new applications, this list will be updated on a continuing basis. If you are unsure, just contact our friendly sales team for more information.

What if my vehicle is not on current list of supercharge conversions?

By making an appointment with the RGM team we will evaluate your vehicle on various factors; compression ratio, available space, engine electronics, potential power gained etc

Developing a supercharger conversion from scratch can take up to three months depending on the application, but this is a small price to pay for not only the fun factor, but also the satisfaction of playing an active role in RGM’s pioneer work on new developments!

Why not turbo?

Although turbo chargers deliver great results in factory applications RGM has chosen to do only supercharging when it comes to aftermarket forced induction applications. Reliability is of high priority to RGM making supercharging the obvious choice due to lower intake and under-bonnet temperatures as well as much less load on drive train thanks to the supercharger’s linear power curve and general brilliant driveability. 

What about importing a supercharger kit?

Having imported supercharger kits ourselves it soon became apparent that this is not ideal due to various factors. South African models are often of a different specification resulting in the need to modify the kit or worse, making the kit totally unsuitable for the application.

South African fuel is very different to fuels found overseas; this can very easily result in a lack of performance and possible severe engine damage.

Due to our high altitudes most kits can not cater for high intake temps due to our thin air as their intercooler/charge-coolers are either non existent or lacking sufficient efficiency causing detonation which can destroy an engine in seconds.      

Why is a RGM/Vortech Supercharger modification better than other engine modifications?

A supercharger compresses the air/fuel mixture of an engine by forcing air into the engine under pressure. Supercharging raises compression, increases air density, and significantly increases power on an otherwise stock engine. In short, supercharging makes a V6 perform like a V8.

Vortech supercharger systems offer more HP per Rand than any other single engine modification. Most other modifications available require specific matched parts, in-depth tuning and won't produce the performance gains you'll receive from just the addition of a Vortech supercharger system.

Will a RGM/Vortech supercharger system hurt my engine?

A Vortech supercharger system will not affect the engine durability. Supercharged engines, not unlike turbos, operate in vacuum almost all the time. When in boost, at full throttle, the forces on the engine are still lower than the rotational forces.

As a general rule, the worst thing you can do to your engine is over rev it (exceed the vehicle manufacturer's specified red line), run non-premium fuel, overboost your engine via pulley changes, and modifying your vehicle with aftermarket heads, cams, etc. without retuning the computer and fuel system to accommodate such changes.

What type of maintenance is required with a RGM/Vortech Supercharger system?

We do ask that you change your engine oil at regular intervals because the engine oil cools and lubricates the supercharger gears and bearings. When changing your oil, remove and clean the oil inlet fitting and strainer.

For severe duty or racing, it is suggested that you install an oil cooler and filter. We suggest following the manufacturers recommendations concerning oil type and oil change interval. You can use mineral based, synthetic blend, or full synthetic oils with a Vortech supercharger system as long as the oil meets or exceeds vehicle manufacturer recommendations.

Please explain to me how Nitrous works.

Nitrous oxide is made up of nitrogen and oxygen. Nitrous breaks down oxygen and releases it thus allowing more fuel to be burned during the combustion process.

This in effect causes the increase in power. Nitrous also reduces air intake charge temperatures causing a cooling effect.

Will Nitrous affect my engine reliability?

It very much depends on the application and the horsepower that you want to produce. It also depends on the type of installation that was done and the components utilised in the installation. If proper factory components are used, and these components do not exceed the ability of the equipment their are used on, there is not unusual extra wear on components.

Will a Dyno damage my car?

No not if it is done by a well trained dyno technician that understands what he is doing

What must I sign in order to have my car Dynotuned?

Although you have signed the job card, we also require you to sign the dyno indemnity as we are AA Quality Assured and this can only protect both parties.

Can you dyno any car ?

We will only dyno tune your car if all your service records are in order.

What will I gain?

You should gain an improvement in engine output and fuel consumption.

How long will it take?

Dyno tuning time differs from vehicle to vehicle and also according to booking time.

If all is in order what conversions do you recommend?

As this is our forte we invite you to our showroom premises where we can tailor a conversion to suit your needs.