VFTuner M20A Supercharger

Saw someone talking about this guy on the subreddit. Anyone think we could get this working on our M20A-FXS? I shot their support dept an email asking about it but I haven’t heard back yet.


(pics from the product page)

 

I don’t really understand what youre trying to say here? I sent an email to VFTuner, not toyota, and I don’t think a warranty has anything to do with installing a part meant for the FKS engine on the FXS engine

 

As was expected:

so I guess making this work is a matter of figuring out the specific differences between the -FKS and -FXS engines.

Does anyone happen to know? I know the internals are likely to be different to enable the higher compression ratio and miller cycle, but for this project I think any differences to the intake manifold, timing cover, and any pulleys/belts/chains would be the big sticking points for fitment.

I asked for a pdf of the installation guide in case that might help me identify potential issues, but I haven’t heard back yet

 

I’m taking this one step at a time: if it doesn’t fit without MAJOR changes to the engine/supercharger kit I’m not even going to bother touching the tuning side. That being said, the site offers tunes for priuses, so I’m thinking that would be a good place to start if this is feasible.

 

It absolutely is not, in fact that photo may be an A25A, the 2.5L I4 engine in a Camry. This kit supposedly fits vehicles with both the M20A and A25A, which makes sense because the only difference between them is the size of the cylinders.

As for what the object of this is: supercharged prius is funny and I want to. I don’t think that there’s a single good reason to do it, so I won’t pretend there is.

 

Alright friends we have an upd8

First, I have the installation PDF. Looks like these specific instructions are for a 2018 camry with an A25A, but the M20A is similar enough that we will be able to use this to troubleshoot fitment

First issue I’m noticing: the M20A-FXS has no crank pulley. We have MG1 handling the job of an alternator and all of our accessories are electrically driven, so no pulley, no belt. HOWEVER, after doing a but of research and poking around in my engine bay, the -FXS has all the mounting points for a crank pulley. It just doesn’t have anything installed:

It should be as simple as replacing the harmonic damper with one from an -FKS, bolting on the missing belt tensioner, and finding the right size of belt.

I’m also noticing a slight difference in the way the wiring harness bolts onto the intake manifold:

I’d have to make some kinda bracket, or maybe the case around the wires can be swapped with an -FKS harness?

The biggest issues have to do with the Prius engine bay. Because we don’t have an alternator, that space is taken by a fluid reservoir. Potentially interfering with the pulley on the supercharger:

Its possible that the supercharger would sit UNDER the reservoir, but its hard to say without actually having the supercharger on hand. Regardless, as you’ll see later that this reservoir will likely need to be relocated somehow, which means a custom bracket and redoing all the tubing.

Then theres the heat exchanger assembly, with its own fluid reservoir and water pump. I have no clue where/how to mount these. Remember that reservoir we have where the alternator should go? That guy sits right where the supercharger reservoir needs to go. No doubt these will all need custom brackets. Relevant pages:

Maybe the version of this kit for a newer Corolla has better compatibility with the Prius engine bay, but its pretty likely that it won’t.

So, definitely not an easy bolt on job, but I think its feasible? The additional factory parts would add to the cost, but I’m fairly confident in my ability to fab the necessary brackets. What are we thinking? Doable?