The Best Supercharger Kits for Your Toyota GT86

The Toyota 86 is a fun car to own, especially if you’re into tuner cars. It has a low center of gravity, a lightweight body, stiff suspension, a reliable engine, and a rear-wheel-drive system — it drives like a go-kart!

It’s almost perfect, except that it uses a naturally aspirated engine that doesn’t have a lot of power and torque when you compare it with other sports cars within the same price range.

However, you can install a supercharger on your 86 to improve the performance.

If that’s what you want to do then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ve reviewed the best supercharger kits for your 86.

Stock Motor Potential and Reliability

The 86 is fitted with a 4U-GSE engine which is also known as the FA20 engine in the Subaru BRZ. It’s a 2.0L, 4-cylinder naturally aspirated motor featuring an aluminum cylinder block.

The standard 4U-GSE engine can produce 197 hp to 205 hp at 7,000 rpm and 151 lb-ft to 156 lb-ft of torque at 6,400 rpm.

The real question is; how much horsepower can the engine reliably handle with forced induction?

It depends on the modifications but the stock GT86 engine can safely handle up to 300 hp with a lower chance of blowing up.

That said, we’ve seen modified examples of these cars that can push up to 450 hp with forged internals.

Supercharger vs. Turbocharger

Tetsuya Tada, the chief engineer behind this car, favored a supercharger over a turbocharger when Toyota was considering making a faster version of the car.

Even though a faster GT86 with forced induction was never released by Toyota, Tetsuya Tada had installed superchargers in the test cars because they had a better throttle response compared to turbocharged versions.

Let’s put it this way; a supercharger compared to a turbocharger is easier to install and doesn’t compromise the character of the engine.

Superchargers also deliver instant boost with no lag. Besides that, you don’t need to replace your exhaust system if you’ve installed a supercharger.

However, if you want more horsepower output, a GT86 turbo kit might be your best option.

Keep in mind though, that they are usually more expensive and complex to install since you have to deal with the excess heat generated by the turbochargers.

Supercharged 86: Supporting Mods

Before you install a supercharger, you’re going to want to add some supporting mods to make your blown GT86 build reliable. Some of these include:

• Stage 1: Sports exhaust systems like the GReddy RS-Race or HKS Hi-Power Single Exit. Lightweight Spec or Cusco flywheel, panel air filter, and suspension upgrades like some Toyota 86 specific coilovers. You could also do a remap on the ECU.
• Stage 2: Bigger injectors (700cc or 900cc) and fuel pump upgrade. To improve the airflow in your engine, we recommend you port and polish the cylinder heads.
• Stage 3: Upgrade the coil packs, oil cooler, and throw out bearings. You could also upgrade the camshaft or clutch if you have reliability issues on those parts.
• Stage 4: Upgrade the pistons, head, and valves to achieve higher gains beyond 380 whp. If you want more precision, balance the engine and invest in wider wheels and stickier tires.

The Top GT86 Supercharger Kits

You’d imagine that cars that have such an enormous aftermarket community would have more options for forced induction.

But unfortunately, that’s not the case with this platform. Below we’ve listed the only supercharger kits that you can buy.

Vortech

Manufacturer: Vortech
Type: Centrifugal
Warranty: 3 years
Finish: Matte Black
Buy On: Enjuku Racing

If you want a supercharger for your 86 that is designed to deliver boost at higher rpm, you should consider this centrifugal option.

It comes with everything that you need to install it from the integrated air cooler, internal oil reservoir, duct connections, billet impeller, air filters, pulleys, belts, airbox, and drain hose to mounting brackets.

The installation process is easy and it can be done in less than 6 hours.

Talking about the performance, this Vortech supercharger can inject up to 9 psi of air pressure. This should be enough to increase your engine performance up to 294 hp and 210 ft. lb of torque at the redline.

Another cool thing about this supercharger is that it looks like an OEM accessory with a matte black finish that perfectly blends with your engine appearance.

Edelbrock 1556

Manufacturer: Edelbrock
Type: Roots
Warranty: 3 years
Finish: Matte Anodized Black + Red Accents
Buy On: Amazon

This is a positive displacement roots-type supercharger ideal for a consistent boost on both low and high rpm.

With the right modifications, it should boost 9 psi of pressure to deliver about 242 whp and 186 ft. lb of torque.

If you want more power, the kit includes a 3.25-inch 6-rib pulley to fine-tune the airflow. Besides that, it features a heat exchanger and air-to-water intercooler to prevent overheating.

Not to mention, it comes with self-contained lubrication to keep it in check, but you need to change the fluid every 100,000 miles.

The warranty on this Edelbrock supercharger is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.

What’s more, it doesn’t have a break-in period and you can push the supercharger to the limit as soon as you’ve installed it.

HKS GT2 V3

Manufacturer: HKS
Type: Centrifugal
Warranty: 1 year
Finish: Brushed Aluminum
Buy On: Enjuku Racing

This is an updated HKS V3 supercharger kit with a larger inlet pipe than the preceding version. It also comes with a larger pulley with no restrictor plate.

This means you will have a slower spin on your supercharger but with better airflow which makes it possible for more air to enter the engine while reducing the intake temperature.

How much horsepower can you expect? If you use 91 octane with HKS intake, exhaust, and headers, you can get up to 251 hp and 212 ft. lb of torque. Beyond that, you can achieve 268 hp and 212 ft. lb of torque on 93 octane.

But if you want to go on the race track and push your 86 to the limit, you can use E85 fuel and 900cc injectors to achieve 319 hp and 234 ft. lb of torque.

Sprintex

Manufacturer: Sprintex
Type: Twin screw
Warranty: 1 year
Finish: Gloss Black

This is arguably one of the best twin-screw supercharger kits if you prefer an instant low-end power boost and a flatter torque curve.

Since this unit features a water-to-air intercooler and a 70mm pulley, the performance is more consistent. On top of that, you are less likely to experience heating issues in your engine.

The supercharger can inject 6 psi to 12 psi of air pressure into your engine and increase the horsepower by at least 41 percent.

More succinctly, you can expect between 240 whp to 270 whp depending on the mods made to your car’s exhaust system.

We also like that the kit is engineered to factory specifications and the installation can be done without any major changes to your engine.

In fact, you don’t require external oil lines since the kit features a self-contained oiling system.

Kraftwerks

Manufacturer: Kraftwerks
Type: Centrifugal
Warranty: 2 years
Finish: Brushed Aluminum
Buy On: Enjuku Racing 

The Kraftwerks is one of the most popular supercharger kit builders that utilize Rotrex compressors. The specific Rotrex C30-94 used on this kit is the same supercharger that was made for the Honda Civic SI.

Other than that, the supercharger is designed with an independent drive system so you don’t get stranded if the drive belt malfunctions.

Better yet, it has toothed belts to prevent slippage caused by heavy loads or hard accelerations.

Talking about the performance, this supercharger can deliver an extra 90 whp with a linear power curve on 91 octane through exhaust and OEM headers.

If you’re still not satisfied, you could use E85 fuel, some 4-2-1 or 4-1 headers, and aftermarket catback exhaust with a high-flow catalytic converter to achieve an extra 125 whp out of this supercharger.

If you don’t have access to premium fuel, consider having a second tune for the times when you’re using a fuel octane booster.

What’s more, you can easily upgrade to a bigger C38 Rotrex supercharger considering there is more than enough space on the mounting plate.

Our Favorite GT86 Supercharger Kits

In a nutshell, you should choose a supercharger depending on what kind of performance you want out of your car.

Since we want to make it easier for you to make a decision, we’ve categorized the best supercharger kits according to their strength. So here we go.

For top-end power: Vortech

This is the best option for Toyota GT86 owners who prefer top-end power at higher rpm for track racing.

This centrifugal supercharger has the highest power boost ratings on our guide. Besides that, this kit is CARB-compliant and you can use it on the streets.

We also like the Vortech supercharger kit because it’s easy to install and matches the appearance of your engine.

For consistency: Edelbrock

The good thing about the Edelbrock supercharger is that the power boost is consistent regardless of the rpm. This could be perfect for daily driving.

In addition to that, it comes with a 3.25-inch 6-rib pulley, heat exchanger, and a water intercooler to improve reliability.

The manufacturer is so confident about its reliability that it offers a 3-year warranty if you purchase the kit.

For flat torque curve: Sprintex

One of the biggest flaws of a naturally aspirated GT86 is the torque dip. However, this Sprintex unit can fix that problem.

It’s also an ideal supercharger if you prefer an instant power boost at low rpm. Not to forget, you don’t need to make major adjustments to your engine during installation.

Do you drive a GT86 or a BRZ? Which supercharger kit is your preferred option? Let us know by leaving a comment below!