qoheleth

Has anyone here had first-hand experience with the Jackson Racing Supercharger for the fifth generation Prelude? My third car is a red 99 automatic and I am entertaining the idea of tricking it out in sleeper form—probably mild lowering would be the only externally visible mod, maybe wheels. Will the Lude’s auto tranny be able to reliably handle the JRSC added power? What about with the 8 lb. pulley for more boost? I have seen three or four of the Jackson setups on e-bay lately for about half-price.

Thanks,
~Kelly

monkey

the SS tranny (auto) fails early and often on stock settings, so adding a SC to that mix might just make things happen faster. What would be an all around more effective mod, for roughly the same price, would be a SS to manual swap, because honestly, it's worth it. it'd cut a full second of your 1/4 mi, and not to mention give you a more reliable transmission and better gear selectability.

We just had this discussion over @ HT.com and the consensus is that the 30%+ driveline loss found on cars with an automatic transmission makes doing any sort of engine work or FI work frustrating...SS Guys that have $4000 turbo kits are dyno'ing similar numbers to 5spd owners who just have I/H/E...

Not sure what the going rate for trannies is, but i'm sure for the price of a JSRC, dyno time, etc, you could get a tranny and a quaife which is much much cooler...

qoheleth

I find it impossible to believe that a SS Prelude with JRSC would dyno the same as stock 5 spd.

My wife drove a new 97 several years ago and I did some intermittent dyno runs after exhaust/intake/header mods with a buddy who had a 5 spd. The SS did dyno less power to the wheels (of course) as compared to the manual, but the difference was not that overwhelming (maybe my 150 to his 165).

I am seeing JRSC runs with 230HP to the wheels with the same bolt on mods. Why would the SS lose 50-60 of that? I don't buy it.

The weak tranny concerns me though. Sounds like it may be better to get a good NSX instead of pouring money into the Lude.

Thanks for the input,
~Kelly

monkey

well a JSRC SS will put down more HP than a stock 5spd, but i was comparing a 5spd w/ bolt ons vs a JSRC SS

everyone's car is different, but assume you've got a 5spd lude with AEM CAI, SMSP Header, and Apex'i N1 Exhaust. This setup probably dynos in the mid 170's. BHP is probably anywhere from 205-215 assuming a 15% driveline loss. To dyno the same 175 whp on an SS losing 25% of power you'd have to be making 233.3 bhp. Now, depending on who you know and whether you can do the work yourself or have to pay to get it done, i think the 5 spd swap+I/H/E vs. JSRC is a wash, money wise...(aka both expensive as hell) but the benefits above and beyond WHP make the 5spd swap the better choice. also, as you make more and more power at the flywheel, the more pronounced the difference becomes b/c it's a percentage loss, as opposed to a numerical one...

bkw4287

Yeah... I sold my Prelude a couple months ago, but I had a JRSC running 6psi. I/H/E, 2.5" cat and Hondata 2b with 440cc injectors and P28 ECU. All Tuned it made 228whp and 190wtq.

Now given that info I did a lot of research and know a lot of people with JRSC Ludes. I'm not sure where a lot of you get your info but it's way off. A JRSC SS with nothing but the charger will put down ~190+whp and ~170wtq This is more than enough power to leave a bolt on 5spd wondering what just happened. Add I/H/E and you are above 200whp. I've seen a couple timeslips with JRSC SS in the high 13's and most are in the low to mid 14's. The tranny seems to hold fine and most seem to think it is a great mod for the SS.

5spd swap is worthless. If you want a 5spd trade your car in and get one. Don't spend thousands just to make your car into a stock 5spd.

monkey

i'm not so motivated to draw a graph, but to spend ~3500 to run mid 14's doesn't seem very cost effective to me. granted it'd probably cost ~3500 to swap the tranny, get an LSD, and a spend the leftovers on some bolt ons, dollar for dollar after the initial investment, the 5spd swap would be faster with less money. it's just the nature of the beast.

of course it could all depend on what year and what condition your lude is in, and the one your trading up to buy but for some it makes more sense to do the swap. it's also an opportune time to get a quaife or a LSD equiped honda tranny. but personally i find the swap is less worthless than spending thousands trying to make an SS fast. ask kotetu how much he "regrets" swapping in a 5spd for his SS. What i think is even more of a waste of money, is spending 3000 bucks on a JSRC for a car with a transmission that will probably fail at some point in the next few years. If you're over 100K miles, that's another couple G's for a rebuild, and for what? to keep driving a car with an inferior transmission? i mean, swapping a tranny is a pain in the ass, but so is replacing a SS, and wringing your hands because your JSRC just burnt a hole in your credit card balances.

13 second SS's are fine, and much faster than my car but i'm curious as to how much extra pain and trouble they went through to reach those numbers. and i'd like to see them negotiate a road course...

bkw4287

So you think spending a couple grand on an SS to make it a 15 second car is a sound decision...LOL

The fact is a JRSC is a viable option for the SS. It takes over 2 seconds off the 1/4 mile time. The 13.8 SS was just basic bolt ons with 555r tires. I don't really see how a road course would be a problem for a JRSC SS. The supercharger should make it quite a force out there.

If you look around you can find a used JRSC setup for around $2k, add $600 for install and you have a very good source of power. Not every auto tranny gives out, there are a bunch on PO.com that have been running for almost 2 years with a JRSC. One of them has been at 9psi for a year now.

monkey

if you're just gonna stop with the tranny, it seems like a waste of money, but if you're planning on doing more, i don't think it makes any sense to stick with the SS... To buy a used 5spd, that's one thing. If it's cheaper to swap one in, that's another thing. To spend money trying to make a SS less slow is like trying to bail water with a spoon, when you could easily get yourself a bucket or a pump.

if i ever end up going up against a JSRC SS @ buttonwillow or at autocross, i'll let you know then how much faster it is to have a 5spd...

ah whatever. it's your money, your car.

importsyn

Hey if you can make your SS a force to be reckoned with than all the power to you.I'm not here to debate auto vs 5spd because we'd be here all day.It's totally up to you but at some point you have to start weighing whether you're going to be happy with the auto or will you always be wondering what you're car could have been with a 5spd.For some people they wouldn't care but for others it would eat them up inside and make them miserable.
Cost is the other huge factor is it worth modding the auto,is it worth swapping trannies,getting a LSD,etc???
It all boils down to what YOU want not your friend or someone on a web forum.If you're going to be satisfied with a sleeper a SS that runs low 15's/high 14's and have gobs of torque than go for it.That alone would be a potent enough "street" combination.You won't beat everything but you might surprise a few and even yourself.Good luck.:thumbup:

machinehead

i thought the SS tranny was weak and cant handle over 250 or something. or am i thinking of another car...