Engine life with boost

[Udet]

Ok, I've heard both sides of this story for quite a while now... but now its decision time for me.

I'm trying to decide between juice or boost, and have concerns for both. I want the availability of power on tap that the blower will give, but I'm worried about engine life. I would be willing to keep it at a conservative level (yah right). How long could I expect to keep my stock engine intact? (2001 Cobra) I realize the 3650 tranny would be gone in moments..oh well, I wanted a t-56 anyway.

What type of blower combos are out there that might service my needs? and where would I go to get the best price?

How much would I gain from a conservative psi and how long would the stock block hold up?

Any light you all could shed would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Booyah]

There is no answer to the "how long will my stock internals hold up" question. You can slap a centrifical blower on the car and never see boost if you drive it that way and have a long and properous life, or so you would think. Or you could bang on it everyday at every stop light and still might have no problems. Most longevity lies in the tune and the way you drive it(how often you boost).

As far as your needs. Well you haven't stated what you want out of it. And not knowing what you are looking for ties into which type of blower and power levels you can expect to achieve.

Give us a little more info and we can help.

 

[Udet]

For the aforementioned reason of staying out of boost 70% of the time, I would assume a roots blower is out. That being said I'm looking for decently rated blower with about a 3 year warranty. For this reason I'm looking at a V2-SQ or perhaps a Novi. The vortech seems pretty well rated and reliable. For a person who gets on it on the street every once in a while, and has maybe a dozen or so passes at the track a year it seems like the way to go.

My only real concern would be too much low end torque and driveability. I don't want to wheel hop and light them up all the way until 3rd.

 

[Bling]

Honestly I'd go for one of the intercooled kits (Procharger, Paxton)
Look at Ross' old Cobra, it's never been driven lightly, has hundreds or passes on it, dyno runs etc and still runs like a top. Spend the extra dough on the fuel system, tune and do a live axle swap;-) and you'll be must fassster.

 

[Booyah]

Originally posted by Udet
For the aforementioned reason of staying out of boost 70% of the time, I would assume a roots blower is out. That being said I'm looking for decently rated blower with about a 3 year warranty. For this reason I'm looking at a V2-SQ or perhaps a Novi. The vortech seems pretty well rated and reliable. For a person who gets on it on the street every once in a while, and has maybe a dozen or so passes at the track a year it seems like the way to go.

My only real concern would be too much low end torque and driveability. I don't want to wheel hop and light them up all the way until 3rd.

Lowend torque isn't a huge problem with a centrifical style blower. Depending on how much you want to spend you can get a V2 SQ Vortech for around $3500 or so and can look to put a little over 400 to the wheels. Torque will be coming in around 360 - 380 depending on how well your car takes to the out of the box tune. But I suggest spending a little extra on some bigger injectors and fuel pump, drop the FMU and get a custom "safe buf fun" tune. Also step your gears up to around a 3.73 or so and you'll be happy.

You can also go with the intercooled ATI for around $4000 it will give you a better rwhp and ft lbs. torque gain out of the box. But they do have some problems with their seals going out. But with that being said the seal on my V2 went out on my '98 and it was due to not having a big enough BOV. So that could be the same problem for ATI.

Sticky tires with or without gears are going to be a must with a poweradder period. You can get away with all weather tires in stock form but even with stock gears you will be hard pressed to keep them from breaking loose at the top of gears without some sticky tires.

 

[01cobrakid]

VORTECH!!!!!!! sounds like what your looking for.
Personally i like mine and am happy with it but if i had to do it over again i would probly wait for a twin screw blower. Theres absolutely noooo torque down low other than first gear. (obviously) If your gonna race someone you better make sure you launch the s.o.b. properly without obliterating the tires and make sure its a long race.(so you can wind out the gears and get up into the rpms) keep in mind if your car is loud its going to be veryyyy loud. I have really mixed emotions about it but overall i love it. The vortech application isnt ideal for what i was looking for though actually none of the centrifugals were what i was looking for.
Safety wise/engine longevity its all IN THE TUNE!!!!!!!! (period)
You need a good reputable tuner who will provide real world #s not what looks good on paper, Proper a/f ratios, etc.
8-10lbs and you should be ok for quite a while but there is absolutely nooooo guarantee on anything.

increase wise hp-tq
440rwhp
380 torque
nothing like it on 8lbs.
and the sound it makes at idle is SIMPLY JAWDROPPING AMAZING.
@ about 1800rpms rolling sounds like a jet taxing down the runway.



Mike

 

[Udet]

Thanks for the great info (good to see you around Mike

I already have the 4.10s thrown in as well as some KB springs and nitto DRs (should help that low end grunt a little bit) Sounds like I was right and the V2-SQ is the way to go. Are there any other must have mods that could be beneficial if I'm going the forced induction route? Anything internal to the 01 engine that should be addressed before I even consider running boost through it?

Thanks again both Mikes and Booyah

 

[Booyah]

Originally posted by Udet
Thanks for the great info (good to see you around Mike

I already have the 4.10s thrown in as well as some KB springs and nitto DRs (should help that low end grunt a little bit) Sounds like I was right and the V2-SQ is the way to go. Are there any other must have mods that could be beneficial if I'm going the forced induction route? Anything internal to the 01 engine that should be addressed before I even consider running boost through it?

Thanks again both Mikes and Booyah

Regardless of how safe your tune is your stock ring landings are going to take a beating. They just aren't made for boost, so in the long run you'll probably end up popping one of them but it's not that big of a deal. I popped my number seven ring landing at about 12k miles on the blower. Completely my fault and wasn't really unexpected.

 

[Mustang_Racer]

I have a Vortech v1. I drive my car to and from work 30 mines one way m-f i dont get into boost except on weekends as a general rule. I have 20,000 miles on my supercharger and i bought it used to begin with. hope that helps.

 

[Udet]

Any thoughts on where to pick up a V2-SQ? How about recommendations on tuners? I'm in Vegas

Thanks for all the good input. You all helped me more or less put my mind at east as far as some of the consequences I was worried about

 

[kb97]

I have a 97 Cobra with a kenne bell, full boost(10lbs)at 2200rpm's, but it will not go into boost unless I go wot, so just because I can get full boost doesn't mean everytime I go above 2200rpm's I'm in boost. I've had the kb on for almost 3 yrs., got a compresion test 6 mos. ago and all 8 cylinders were still above 170. With a cent, you really have to wind your engine to get boost, so I belive that is harder on your engine. Like previously stated, it's all in the tune. I have a TwEECer on mine which gives you the option of getting 4 diff tunes with a flick of the switch. Pics at www.msnusers.com/97cobra

 

[George Wax]

Bottom line anyone with a power adder play's russian roulette..I agree a safe tune is a must, and when racing a couple of gallon's on 100 unleaded should be added..Some people blow right away while other's go for a very long time...I also agree stock piston's are crap, and will go (especially number's 7 and 8 ringland's)..
Be prepared to eventually go with a forged block...if not do not put a power adder on your car...A built Cobra long block will cost you anywhere between $6,000 and $9,000 a lot of money..Know what you are getting into and go from there..Do your research and keep asking question's that is what message board's are for..

 

[kb97]

When my goes I plan on just dropping in an 03 Cobra motor, allready forged and after the new 'stangs come out will probably be about the same price as a rebuild.

 

[blown01cobra]

i have a 01 cobra with a D-1SC procharger on it and it runs great it has been tuned by jms and i also did the live axel swap and 03 cobra pumps and tank.

 

[Udet]

Thanks everyone for the great input! I know this will sound like treason...but oh well. I'm starting to look at the KB blower. The twin screw design should yield some pretty good results at a fairly low and safe (as safe as it can be anyway) boost. Any thoughts on the proposed KB kit?

 

[1slosnake]

Originally posted by Udet
Thanks everyone for the great input! I know this will sound like treason...but oh well. I'm starting to look at the KB blower. The twin screw design should yield some pretty good results at a fairly low and safe (as safe as it can be anyway) boost. Any thoughts on the proposed KB kit?

The KB will actually be a little worse in your case, due to the fact of creating boost very quickly. When it starts getting really hot out (110 degrees) you wanna try to stay out of immediate boost, especially with really high intake temps.

There are several reasons why I would recommend the procharger and because I used to own isn't one of them ;-) . Number 1 it is self contained makes things alot easier, Number 2 it comes intercooled.

When you are just driving around normally the bypass valve is open until you reach about 85% throttle then it closes and forces boost into the motor, so you don't get uncontrolable torque just driving around. With your setup and a live axle in your car it could go 11.20's with tires and a little man driving :burnout: It all boils down to what you want but I would just stick to a recipe that works. Tuning wise I would recommend Dan, he has tuned all of my cars and has done an exceptional job. My 02 cents

Ross

P.S. I only went through 1 T-45 in my car with the blower on, it was in for about 4000 hard miles. It went through alot of powershifts and took it like a champ.... :bash: