Superchargers

I looked very hard at the Allen engine development company's eaton blower. They weren't very helpful in trying to arrange installation, so I went with KB.

I am VERY glad I went with Kenne Bell. It is EXTREMELY streetable. The only thing you notice is that you feel like your gas pedal travels about twice as far as it did before, or feels that way. When I put the pedal all the way down, I'm not sure who is scared the most, the nearby pedestrians and drivers, or me.

The KB blower is very quiet, I only hear a little gear whine at 2-3k, then my Bassani x-pipe and exhaust takes over.

John

To be honest... I like supercharger noise.. at least the noise of the Eaton blowers on stock 03 Cobras. Rev it up & it just sounds nice. I imagine it'd get a little old after a while... but I don't hear it all the time ;D. He put a 15psi pulley on there & jeezus it's loud now though.. his flowmasters don't cover it up even. Oh well... KB is the route I'm going as well. How much did your kit cost ya & how long did it take YOU to install it (so I can assume it'll take me at least 3x longer)? Thanks for replying, btw ;).

-Mike

I paid KB's list of $3799 + CA Taxes + 100 shipping.

It took me most of 3 days to put it in.

John

One other thing I haven't mentioned on my site, but probably will soon. It most likely doesn't pay to get the non intercooled system, because the extra price of octane over the long run will cost more than the intercooler. Unless you blow your engine in the first 10k miles, that is.

John

An intercooled kit is over $1k more expensive... is that worth it? What are aftercoolers & are they as efficient?

-Mike

Actual definition of intercooler and aftercooler -

Intercooler: A heat exchanger used between two compressors (turbos or superchargers), hence the prefix "inter". Typically used in diesel trucks with one turbo being used to drive the input of a second turbo. This lowers the operating temperature of the second compressor and/or the intake air temperature.

Aftercooler: The same heat exchanger used after the compressor system used to cool the intake air temperature.

There are two types - air-to-air and air-to-water. The water systems use some form of coolant to pull the heat from the air. Air-to-air are most common on street vehicles and OEM vehicles. Race vehicles sometimes use the air-to-water and fill the coolant resevoir with ice-water to chill the intake air temperature even more than with normal ambient temp coolant.

Basically, most companies (including OEM systems) erroneously call their aftercoolers "intercoolers." The two terms mean it's a heat exchanger, just one is between two compressors.

Aftercoolers have the benefit of allowing more aggressive tuning to be used,

There is usually a bit of fighting to get an aftercooler system hooked up, but it makes a mildly tuned blown car more reliable. This is the reason that Ford stuck an aftercooler on their T-bird SC (and of course called it an intercooler), and almost every OEM turbo or blown car has one.

The KB twin-screw states that the output temp of their kits is lower than most other kits, perhaps requiring no aftercooler, but if you wish to be on the safe side (or bump the power up in the future), it's probably in your interest to install it now. It can always be retrofitted later if you wish though.

Your choice.

JS

Ah... that helps. I think I am going to try 9psi intercooled (or aftercooled--whatever it really is) KB kit. Wonder if I'll be able to use 91 octane... 93 is extremely rare here & the next up is 101 octane racing fuel.

-Mike

I'd talk with KB for that. There is a chance that, with the aftercooler and the 9psi twin screw kit, you could get away with 91 octane with some timing retard. See what they recommend - they don't want you to blow up your engine either. I'd get this setup dyno-tuned when you're all done with it too... of course, I'd recommend that for any supercharger installation. You can either find hidden HP or keep from blowing up your engine due to a top-end lean out... in either event, you'll be happier. I figure it's relatively cheap insurance after a blower install.

The more I look at the KB kits, the more courage I'm building up to throwing one on my '97 DOHC. I'm just a bit worried about the high compression of the pre-03 DOHC cars and the cast bottom end...

That and finances are laughing at me... lol.

JS

LOL finances laughing at ya.. that's sucky, but still amusing how ya put it. Finances aren't kind to me either right now... but I've got a raise coming very soon so funds will be available to pay it in full in 6-8 months as I wanted to. Hopefully by then I'll know enough about my car to install the kit myself..

If I could get away with 91 octane I'd be very happy... and of course I'll have it dyno-tuned after the install.. I'm more worried about detonation than gaining HP from a dyno tune.

-Mike

Thanks, and please forgive me for using the phrase 'intercooler'.

John

Sure, it's a commonly used term and not really a pet peeve of mine that it needs to be aftercooler.. Mike asked what the difference was so I explained it.

Nice ride though, for sure. Have fun with your new toy. :-) In what part of the world are you located?

JS

I believe he said SF Bay area.

-Mike