Is TRD just other parts?

[Richsince86]

So i have a question...i was talking to a friend and is it true that the TRD parts are just other parts with the TRD logo? or are they just based off of the parts? for example i know the springs are based/or are eibach springs, and the TRD intake is based/or is the AEM intake...but which is it? is TRD the actual part from another company or is it based off of it??

[Alex8181]

It's half and half. Sometimes it's rebadged products but other times it's made in-house.

[trdmaster]

everything made by TRD is rebadged, nothing from TRD is actually made by them for the tC, but other cars actually have parts made by them, the tC is not a car that TRD makes parts for, even the supercharger, its made by VORTECH, CAI is made by Injen, sway bars are made by hotchkis, shocks are made by bilstein, trust me on this one, i've dont all the research on this, just look at my user name

[navylife59]

Yes, TRD does not make any parts. They may have been fabricators back in their early days (this I only surmize), but since Toyota bought them out they only do R&D, sourcing parts, and such. Aything bought from TRD is going to have a Toyota markup on the price. The TRD exhaust is a one off piece, for sure, costing close to $500 dollars. It is an excellent fit being engineered and tuned specifically for the stock exhaust. That is where it shines. Aftermarket header is where it sucks. The original CAI was made by AEM.

[trdmaster]

actually the exhaust is borla

[navylife59]

Have to take your word on that one as I have not seen the manufacturer of that piece. I have not seen anythign like it on other vehicles, hence, the "one off" moniquer.

[trdmaster]

i only know cuz i actually got to meet from TRD guys from corp, and i get to see them again at NASCAR

[navylife59]

I talked to Bob (I think that is the guy) at TRD in-depth about the TRD S/C. I had alot of parts missing from the kit or so the Toyota mechanic said. Bob hooked me up and got me the missing parts I needed. Good folks.

[trdmaster]

might want to add the TRD S/C isnt made by them, its made by VORTECH, german company

[navylife59]

Parts sourced by Vortech but kit R&D by TRD.

[trdmaster]

im talking about the supecharger itself, not the entire thing, just like the turbonetics kit for the tC, its not all made by them, some parts are sperco, and so on...just like the s/c, the compressor itself is vortech, but i might add, VERY poor design, they should have just taken the alternator and mooved it, and mounted the s/c directly to the pulleys, much more power that way

[navylife59]

True that. If you look at a bone stock 2AZ-FE, you can see where it was engineered to take that TRD S/C. Well, it looks conspicuously so.

What I see coming down the pipe is electrically driven S/C's. No, not those retarded lil fan kits nor the ones that take 12 batteries to run a freakn starter motor. There is an entire world of electric motors, gearmotors, and servos out there that most people know completely nothing about. A mass engineering effort has been going on to make newer servo motors frictionless, ergo, more efficient. Getting a 16,000RPM 24VDC servo motor nor a step-down gearmotor is not that much of an issue. What is difficult is the logic to control it. That is to say, a boost control circuit, how much boost and when to come on boost? No parasitic power loss, no lag time, boost at any RPM in any amount. Think about the possibilities.

[trdmaster]

do ur NST pulleys make any difference, cuz i have the agency power crank pulley which is the same as any other crank pulley out there, but what about those water pump and alternator pulleys?

[navylife59]

With the alt pulley being overdrive, it negates any slight gains in WHP that could be gained. I do hear my alt spinning. If I do a slow pull to about 5-6K in 1st/2nd, along with the S/C and TurboXS BPV offloading, I get a nice, load whirring noise. This sort of sounds like a turbo spooling. Anything that lighteneds the load on the engine is going to benefit. There was a huge weight dif between OEM H2O/alt pulleys comapred w/ NST. The engine wraps up quick though.

[navylife59]

While doing some late night research, I ran across some old info that I decided to follow-up on. British Company Integral Powertrain is developing an electrically driven supercharger for hybrid vehicles called SuperGen. This product is R&D from the ground up with the design being easily adaptable to performance vehicles. It features a quick response (tip-in), boost on demand, and efficiency. This version under development is meant for a hybrid, start/stop vehicle. It contains a belt start/generator that is also capable of regenerative braking.

Being that a traditional automotive supercharger is driven by the engine accessory belt, it inefficiently makes boost (positive manifold pressure) when compared to a turbocharger application. Superchargers provide consistent, linear power response while turbochargers have considerable tip-in (lag) which is variable based on the turbocharger's size and design (trim).

Many persons have tried to drive various types of superchargers with electric motors. These have ended up with minimal increase in engine power that can be negated by the increase in vehicle weight from the large motor and extra 12VDC batteries. The failure in these designs has everything to do with the electrical motors being that they were intended for different uses. Thinking "out of the box" and utilizing 24/48VDC servo motors with step-up power supplies eliminates the need for a battery bank (thus reducing weight) and providing the high RPM drive needed to create usable boost (power). The downfall here is that these motors have torque ratings in the in-lbs to low ft-lbs or have bulky, heavy reduction gear boxes to increase torque. This equates to a very slow tip-in speed necessitating these units to be in constant drive mode (wasting energy) and added cost/complexity of controlling boost output.

As traditional 4-cycle engines have reached their design potential limits, the need for new technologies and products that explore the possibilites of non-standard methods has become increasingly prevalent. These "out of the box" approaches ultimately stall or fail due to the lack of technical expertise and manufacturing capability. These "grass roots" efforts have not gone unnoticed by the OEMs. Expect to see products with these advanced technologies in the next 5 years.

[Jay666]

actually the exhaust is borla

A friend of mine who works at the parts counter at the Toyota dealer also told me several months back that the TRD muffler is Borla as well.

I am pretty sure that the TRD Brakes are Stop-Tech.

I have 90% the TRD upgrades, mainly because I bought the car used that way. But had I known then what I know now, the remaining parts I put on after I bought the car that I did go with TRD through the dealer, I would have just gotten elsewhere. Not because of quality, but because of the mark up on slapping the TRD logo on there.

Save your money. Do some research, and shop around first.