Ade

I agree with some/most of the bits Will is saying but I will add a few (try to be non biased) to that.
Design c. I am not aware of anyone needing to cut a section, but yes you may need to put a small dent using a ball peen hammer.
Design e. Due to it compactness the intake runner lengths are not tuned properly. They are too short. This is one of the reasons why the Cosworth running 0.5bar makes the same power as the harrop running 0.7bar boost. The other reason is the bigger more draggy TVS and the tuning to balance cylinder pressure which can only be done with incylinder pressure sensors (standard tunnig with OEMs and serious motorsport).
Performance e. Its a fair point the most powerful Cosworth is their dev car running ~330hp. However, I am not aware of high power 400hp harrops that use pump gas? All E85 which help massively with high IATs. General advice I see is 12psi max on pump and you need E85 if you go for more boost due to heat and pulling timing. 
Cooling: Yes at 280hp both are fine, but running high power is where is were the nearly twice as good cooling (Coswroth is +15iat, harrop +25iat, Edlebrock +30iat) would come into it. Where the Cosworth could be +35iat @400hp, the Harrop will be +60C and the Edblebrock +70C. 
Tuning: Here is my main disagreement. The Cosworth was tuned on an engine dyno and it specific to that kit. You cant take things Matt has done differently with their SC kit and apply them to the other kits. Its not just the engine dyno tuning either, they use widebands in every exhaust runner, and cylinder pressure sensors to properly dial in each cylinder and evaluate things like how well the stock knock sensor work ect.. Its a different kettle of fish. 
Tuner dont typically use widebands  and thermocouples in each cylinder runner, they just poke a wideband sensor up the exhaust. They certainly cant measure cylinder pressure and balance them out or evaluate if the knock sensor is doing a good job or not. 
For me the defining decision to go Cosworth was the tuning. Yes most people are happy with dyno or road tuning but for me I wanted the real deal OEM engineered solution. 
 
If I were choosing now, I would be on the fence a bit for some of the reasons Will has given and the fact that Cosworth are getting out of the game. Matt@cosworth still gives excellent support and he isnt likely to leave Cosworth any time soon as he is very well respected there, but you never know....
 
 

26/01/2020 - Donington Park Trackday
As I'm sure most of you know, the club recently attended a trackday at Donington Park, thanks to @VAD17 for organising. This was to be my first trackday of 2020, at a circuit I've never driven before desite being the closest circuit to where I live at less than 30miles away. Knowing that it was a January trackday I didn't have much hope for the weather, thankfully the morning was dry but very greasy. These conditions meant it was very tricky for even the most experienced drivers and I don't think I've been to another trackday which had as many red flags as Donington did in the morning. Which was a shame as I didn't get alot of seat time, my longest session was about 25 minutes. I litterally left our pit garage only to be stopped at the end of the pit straight as the track had just been red flagged, however this meant I was to be the first one out in the next session. It helped that there was a couple of very slow cars right behind me, so I could get some space on track with no one else to immediately worry about. I made sure I got as much seat time as possible during that session, and eventually the track started to dry out. Below is a video of that session, taking it easy whilst trying to learning the circuit. 
(This is footage taken from the new GoPro Hero 8 which I'm testing - unfortunately the free video editor I'm using didn't use the best export ratio, which is why the footage is square)
The rest of the day was abit of a mess, I think I only had one more clean session as there were numerious red flags or the condition changed. It started to rain just before lunch and the afternoon was very wet. Unfortunately the AD08RS don't really like greasy conditions, they are fine in the dry or full on wet, but in between not so much. @Adi had has instructor there for the afternoon and I listened whilst the instructor and @Hokum discussed what lines to take during wet conditions, this helped massively during my next session.
Overall I think I managed 6 or 7 sessions during the day, mostly because of the number of red flags and people needing to be towed back to the pits. However atleast I can now say I've done Donington and I'm eager to go back during the summer. 
Here are a couple of photos:






 

I did a 0-60 in 5.3s without a proper launch!

Trying to get below 5s is a skill as 1st gear just lights up the rear tyres, but I do believe with a good launch its possible and helped by the fact that my wheel diameter means the Speedo is spot on and the car can infact do 60mph in 2nd.

I did a 0-60 in 5.3s without a proper launch!

Trying to get below 5s is a skill as 1st gear just lights up the rear tyres, but I do believe with a good launch its possible and helped by the fact that my wheel diameter means the Speedo is spot on and the car can infact do 60mph in 2nd.

Intake temp will vary quite a lot depending on airflow through the intercooler and how much work the charger is doing. 
At the track you should see about  +25-30C over ambient depending on the circuit and driving style, with the Harrop kit. 

Stock brakes at the moment.  They feel adequate to the task on the road.
I did discuss a big brake kit with Scott and will pursue this at a later time after I've saved more pennies.
I also thought I might need wider wheels and tyres but my 17x8 with 225 PS4s seem to cope with the increased torque.  I'd rather keep learning how to balance the car on the throttle rather than having huge levels of grip disguise what's happening down there.

The installation is done and the car goes on the dyno tomorrow morning.  I should be able to collect it in the afternoon.

I had a 1.6 Supercharged C180K Merc. The new models replaced the SC with a turbo and gained a few MPG combined, for the same power output. 
 
Turbos are a bit better for fuel economy than supercharged, its only about 5% based on the Mercs but in todays market where a few hp matters, turbo wins. 
You still get better fuel economy from a 200hp 1.6 supercharged than you do from a 200hp 2.0litre high revving N/A engine.  Partly because the higher revving engine has shorter gearing to make use of the higher revs (to achieve the power). 
My 86 is doing about 3k at 70mph. My 20d BMW is doing half that with it 8speed gearbox. Frictional losses for one are lower with less revs and as been said forced induction improves thermal efficiency of the engine. 
 
Next gen 86 if it does go ahead will have to be turbo or supercharged to keep costs down I would think.
 

I've just checked with Mark at Abbey Motorsport and they're ready for me to drop the car off tomorrow morning.
I should be picking it up Wednesday evening.  Exciting!

I mean its not because its illegal for one, but even if you can find someone to do it, you need to change the AC filling ports as the are different for each kind of gas.
 
I got my AC R1234yf done at toyota for £70 last month.

I would be in the supercharger camp if it came to it. The H4 layout and the fact you are retrofitting a FI system makes superchargers a nice neat package plonked on top of the engine. The power delivery keeps with how the car was intended too. I've only really felt the need of a charger when on the motorway, which to be fair this car wasn't designed for and is boring anyway.
 
 

Yes, I did consider that.  It's all the exhaust and intake re-routing that makes the pipework complicated, too.  Superchargers are generally an easier install (I installed my Sprintex on the CR-Z and it was a day's work but not too tricky).

Yes, that's about right.  I remember from supercharging my Honda CR-Z that it was already quite loud and didn't get any louder when cruising.  Hard acceleration with the Sprintex, though, was a completely different matter.  The whine was incredible.

It needs properly diagnosing before taking the engine out. I agree that I wouldn't rule out direct injector seals as one possible example that can cause a knocking sound. Its not always a big end failure. 
£17k for a engine has got to be trolling. Bet they had a great laugh about that in the office. 
 
 

It's around £5900 for the kit, installation and dyno tune.
I am now negotiating an installation date.  It's a two-day job and they'll give me a courtesy car for the night.

Nope and you'll love it. It just feels like a 3 litre FA20.

I've now spoken with Mark at Abbey Motorsport and he has been very helpful, answering my questions and sending me a quote by return.
I need to do some logistics planning but I'm now looking at the Harrop as my potential solution.  It all fits in with my use as a daily car, for road use only, mindful of a very progressive feel especially in the wet and the snow, near OEM installation looks and fairly quiet, making great use of the TD manifold and catback exhaust and HKS intake duct, retaining the stock 2nd cat, limiting the maximum torque in the map to preserve the engine and enjoying the charger's big engine feel.
Have I missed anything?

When you get to that level of modification and investment it just makes more sense to buy a faster car in the first place.
280bhp is the sweet spot, that's about 225bhp per ton which is perfect for a road car, after driving Abbeys Harrop charged car around Oxted it definitely doesn't need any extra, more than enough. In my opinion of course.

I wouldn't part from my Cosworth charger, after having to make a similar choice. I fitted it myself about 6 months ago and and from an engineering point of view, it's very good indeed. Very good support too.

I agree with some/most of the bits Will is saying but I will add a few (try to be non biased) to that.
Design c. I am not aware of anyone needing to cut a section, but yes you may need to put a small dent using a ball peen hammer.
Design e. Due to it compactness the intake runner lengths are not tuned properly. They are too short. This is one of the reasons why the Cosworth running 0.5bar makes the same power as the harrop running 0.7bar boost. The other reason is the bigger more draggy TVS and the tuning to balance cylinder pressure which can only be done with incylinder pressure sensors (standard tunnig with OEMs and serious motorsport).
Performance e. Its a fair point the most powerful Cosworth is their dev car running ~330hp. However, I am not aware of high power 400hp harrops that use pump gas? All E85 which help massively with high IATs. General advice I see is 12psi max on pump and you need E85 if you go for more boost due to heat and pulling timing. 
Cooling: Yes at 280hp both are fine, but running high power is where is were the nearly twice as good cooling (Coswroth is +15iat, harrop +25iat, Edlebrock +30iat) would come into it. Where the Cosworth could be +35iat @400hp, the Harrop will be +60C and the Edblebrock +70C. 
Tuning: Here is my main disagreement. The Cosworth was tuned on an engine dyno and it specific to that kit. You cant take things Matt has done differently with their SC kit and apply them to the other kits. Its not just the engine dyno tuning either, they use widebands in every exhaust runner, and cylinder pressure sensors to properly dial in each cylinder and evaluate things like how well the stock knock sensor work ect.. Its a different kettle of fish. 
Tuner dont typically use widebands  and thermocouples in each cylinder runner, they just poke a wideband sensor up the exhaust. They certainly cant measure cylinder pressure and balance them out or evaluate if the knock sensor is doing a good job or not. 
For me the defining decision to go Cosworth was the tuning. Yes most people are happy with dyno or road tuning but for me I wanted the real deal OEM engineered solution. 
 
If I were choosing now, I would be on the fence a bit for some of the reasons Will has given and the fact that Cosworth are getting out of the game. Matt@cosworth still gives excellent support and he isnt likely to leave Cosworth any time soon as he is very well respected there, but you never know....
 
 

I agree with some/most of the bits Will is saying but I will add a few (try to be non biased) to that.
Design c. I am not aware of anyone needing to cut a section, but yes you may need to put a small dent using a ball peen hammer.
Design e. Due to it compactness the intake runner lengths are not tuned properly. They are too short. This is one of the reasons why the Cosworth running 0.5bar makes the same power as the harrop running 0.7bar boost. The other reason is the bigger more draggy TVS and the tuning to balance cylinder pressure which can only be done with incylinder pressure sensors (standard tunnig with OEMs and serious motorsport).
Performance e. Its a fair point the most powerful Cosworth is their dev car running ~330hp. However, I am not aware of high power 400hp harrops that use pump gas? All E85 which help massively with high IATs. General advice I see is 12psi max on pump and you need E85 if you go for more boost due to heat and pulling timing. 
Cooling: Yes at 280hp both are fine, but running high power is where is were the nearly twice as good cooling (Coswroth is +15iat, harrop +25iat, Edlebrock +30iat) would come into it. Where the Cosworth could be +35iat @400hp, the Harrop will be +60C and the Edblebrock +70C. 
Tuning: Here is my main disagreement. The Cosworth was tuned on an engine dyno and it specific to that kit. You cant take things Matt has done differently with their SC kit and apply them to the other kits. Its not just the engine dyno tuning either, they use widebands in every exhaust runner, and cylinder pressure sensors to properly dial in each cylinder and evaluate things like how well the stock knock sensor work ect.. Its a different kettle of fish. 
Tuner dont typically use widebands  and thermocouples in each cylinder runner, they just poke a wideband sensor up the exhaust. They certainly cant measure cylinder pressure and balance them out or evaluate if the knock sensor is doing a good job or not. 
For me the defining decision to go Cosworth was the tuning. Yes most people are happy with dyno or road tuning but for me I wanted the real deal OEM engineered solution. 
 
If I were choosing now, I would be on the fence a bit for some of the reasons Will has given and the fact that Cosworth are getting out of the game. Matt@cosworth still gives excellent support and he isnt likely to leave Cosworth any time soon as he is very well respected there, but you never know....
 
 

Its a proportional thing. The Cosworth Kit runs +15C over ambient on track. The cooling system is specified for 380hp, hence being so low iat. 
The smaller pulley adds 0.1bar boost, raising it to 0.6Bar of boost. ~20hp. Its so small that you are hard pressed to see the difference in intake temps. 
Running 380hp would mean 1bar boost and +30C intake temps, roughly doubling them over the normal stage 2 setup. 
 
On the whine, since adding the smaller pulley mine has a subtle whine. With the normal pulley that comes with the kit, it wasn't noticeable for me even with stock exhaust.
 
The Edlebrock and Harrop spin slower and unlikely to whine. 
 
On the issue of rods. 
Even the few rods the guys at Cosworth tested would work at cylinder pressures that would be approaching 350hp, but then they used their data from OEMs to set the 280hp point to allow for manufacturing tolerance.
In essence if you tested a large number of rods from multiple batches, you would get a normal distribution around the mean strength. The way you set the power, is such that the probability of one failing is within acceptable limits. e.g. had they set it at 320hp, they might have found 1 in 10 cars eventually would fail. Unacceptable and dial it back until the probability of failure is lower. 
On top of that, if they ran the car at the max pressure the rods could take and somehow it develops knock bye bye rods. So setting it at 280hp gives headroom taking into account all the variables in manufacture and possible failure modes when installing or tuning the kit.  
This is why OEMs make stock rods that a typically capable of much more than stock power... typically. A dodgy Friday afternoon batch with a massive crack inside might not handle  190hp...
So yes you can take a gamble and run 350hp but there are plenty of blown FA20s on less power than that on the ft86club. 
 

Not anymore, been in house for a while. Iirc by someone who used to work for JP