2019 2020 Silverado 6.2 Supercharger Build

[darkhorse220]

I've been watching the developments on superchargers and tuning since i have first driven my 2019 6.2. Not because it needs more, but because i want more. 

 

Either Whipple or ProCharger. I know there are pros and cons. What i havent decided is what other upgrades are needed. I like to make things as bulletproof as possible. What engine upgrades, driveline, etc are suggested? Please be as specific as possible. Id like to avoid pulling the motor, but everything else is fair game. 

 

 

[kodiakdenali]

3 hours ago, darkhorse220 said:

I've been watching the developments on superchargers and tuning since i have first driven my 2019 6.2. Not because it needs more, but because i want more. 

 

Either Whipple or ProCharger. I know there are pros and cons. What i havent decided is what other upgrades are needed. I like to make things as bulletproof as possible. What engine upgrades, driveline, etc are suggested? Please be as specific as possible. Id like to avoid pulling the motor, but everything else is fair game. 

 

 

Just run premium fuel and you're good to go. You don't need any other upgrades unless you plan to pulley down or have a custom dyno tune done instead of using the manufacturer provided one. I like that Whipple at least builds a good safety margin into their tune. procharger probably does the same. it could make a bit more power, but I much prefer the more conservative tune for safety. I asked my tuner if I should put in an AFR gauge and he said its really not necessary, their tune is very good and its not going to allow the engine to operate in dangerous territory.

[Silverado4x4]

Bolting on a charger and running down the road is not that simple. Going to have to get it tuned for the charger maybe upgrade the bottom end in the motor depending on how much HP you want to achieve,  you will have fun for a little bit until your tranny and rear say its not funny anymore and jump ship on you. Your looking at big money to do it right.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Silverado4x4

[darkhorse220]

7 minutes ago, Silverado4x4 said:

Bolting on a charger and running down the road is not that simple. Going to have to get it tuned for the charger maybe upgrade the bottom end in the motor,  you will have fun for a little bit until your tranny and rear say its not funny anymore and jump ship on you. Your looking at big money to do it right.

IMO, it is as simple as bolting it up and uploading a tune. It didnt use to be that simple. Tuning is exponentially more than it once was. Torque management can protect drivetrain, shafts; etc. 

Obviously upgrading the bottom end may be a good idea, but i dont think its needed. I also came here for ideas though. 

 

[kodiakdenali]

yes. get a vehicle specific kit and its got everything you need except possibly for the ECU exchange. tune included. both Whipple and Procharger's kits are designed for stock vehicles or nearly stock (exhaust for example). they're designed to be bolted on without all kinds of other mods needed. It uses the stock fuel system. I'm no mechanic, but my tuner has been in the business for a long time. I said I wanted power, lots of it, but that my top priority is durability and reliability, and I don't mind sacrificing a bit of the potential power in exchange for a setup that will run for 200k miles. We went with the Whipple 3.0L, right out of the box using the  Whipple tune.

It drives exactly like stock if you're driving casually. tons of power when you ask for it. exactly what I was looking for. this new supercharger is so refined, its actually astonishingly quiet. you can barely even hear a whine.

[TNTSilverado]

2 minutes ago, kodiakdenali said:

yes. get a vehicle specific kit and its got everything you need except possibly for the ECU exchange. tune included. both Whipple and Procharger's kits are designed for stock vehicles or nearly stock (exhaust for example). they're designed to be bolted on without all kinds of other mods needed. It uses the stock fuel system. I'm no mechanic, but my tuner has been in the business for a long time. I said I wanted power, lots of it, but that my top priority is durability and reliability, and I don't mind sacrificing a bit of the potential power in exchange for a setup that will run for 200k miles. We went with the Whipple 3.0L, right out of the box using the  Whipple tune.

It drives exactly like stock if you're driving casually. tons of power when you ask for it. exactly what I was looking for. this new supercharger is so refined, its actually astonishingly quiet. you can barely even hear a whine.

May I ask “in the ball park” what is the amount you spent in the supercharger kit and getting it to run perfectly for you from the tuner.  Sounds like a nice machine. 

[kodiakdenali]

Just now, TNTSilverado said:

May I ask “in the ball park” what is the amount you spent in the supercharger kit and getting it to run perfectly for you from the tuner.  Sounds like a nice machine. 

it was right around the 10k mark when all was said and done. including tax and all that kind of stuff. Unfortunately the tune adds a lot because of the need to do an unlock. I think the HPtuners credits were included in the kit but the ECU exchange is pricey. I also spent extra, my tuner was able to get me a new stock ECU to sent to hptuners for modification, so I've got my original ECU, completely unmodified, in a box. it makes me feel better if anything should happen that it can be just swapped right back out.

 

Its an expensive mod, but I'm loving every minute of it!

 

I am not really a truck person, I'm a sports car person. when I decided I needed a truck because with some of my hobbies it started getting ridiculous hauling lumber for woodworking projects around in my Corvette . I had a Silverado SS which I owned for several years and decided it was time to step up.

I started looking at the Ford Raptor, read the word "V6" and just closed the web browser...no way.

then the TRX came out and I went out to buy one, fully planning to. short bed only...what? walked out. I wanted extended cab, standard bed just like the SS. the cab I could live with a crew, the bed was a deal breaker, I actually use my truck, I haul stuff, not professionally, just for fun, but still a short bed won't cut it for me. so the factory performance trucks just weren't for me, plus they are both off road oriented vehicles, and I wanted a street performance truck that could still tow and haul and handle snow.

Ended up liking the Denali the best, went out looking for a dealership which would be willing to install a supercharger for me before I even picked it up. some were willing, some were not. by the time I found exactly the truck I wanted it wasn't an option (end of the model year, scarce availability), so I picked it up without, did my research, found a shop, and got it installed a couple months later.

[DarkSky20]

I’d guess you’d want to eliminate the cylinder deactivation for this. Is that possible? 

[kodiakdenali]

31 minutes ago, DarkSky20 said:

I’d guess you’d want to eliminate the cylinder deactivation for this. Is that possible? 

Whipple is actually rather protective about their tune. the main reason for that is their tune is certified in some way that as long as you use their tune with the kit, you're 50 state emissions legal (at one point they were still waiting for CARB to make it officially CA legal, but I think that's done now) so they encrypt their tune, because if sometime tampered with it it would not be technically legal anymore and (technically) the truck would no longer be legal to drive on public roads. so I actually have no idea if the tune changed the DFM stuff or not. my tuner doesn't know for sure. I will say this though, if my truck has DFM, I can't tell. I have a borla ATAK exhaust and even before the SC and tuning I could not hear anything at all change in the exhaust as I drove. after tuning same thing. so I don't know, but if it is still there it isn't bothering me. I do run my truck almost exclusively in sport mode. which if I understand correctly still allows DFM, but reduces how often it actually kicks in, at least in stock form.

[DarkSky20]

Good to know. Thanks for the info

[darkhorse220]

19 hours ago, kodiakdenali said:

yes. get a vehicle specific kit and its got everything you need except possibly for the ECU exchange. tune included. both Whipple and Procharger's kits are designed for stock vehicles or nearly stock (exhaust for example). they're designed to be bolted on without all kinds of other mods needed. It uses the stock fuel system. I'm no mechanic, but my tuner has been in the business for a long time. I said I wanted power, lots of it, but that my top priority is durability and reliability, and I don't mind sacrificing a bit of the potential power in exchange for a setup that will run for 200k miles. We went with the Whipple 3.0L, right out of the box using the  Whipple tune.

It drives exactly like stock if you're driving casually. tons of power when you ask for it. exactly what I was looking for. this new supercharger is so refined, its actually astonishingly quiet. you can barely even hear a whine.

Did you buy an extra ECM to prevent the truck from being down too long? Just wondering where to buy from.

Also, do you know if you had the TCM (transmission) tuned at all?

Thanks

 

 

[kodiakdenali]

1 hour ago, darkhorse220 said:

Did you buy an extra ECM to prevent the truck from being down too long? Just wondering where to buy from.

Also, do you know if you had the TCM (transmission) tuned at all?

Thanks

 

 

yes, the main reason was to prevent the truck from sitting in the shop unable to be driven. it took several days start to finish to do the exchange, around a week I think. I'm really glad I spend the extra to do it this way. My tuner got the ECU for me, I'm not sure what the vendor was.

as far as I know there was no transmission tuning involved. My tuner explained to me that the transmission tuning is torque based, I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it sounds like it will adapt to the increase in power without any modifications needed. In sport mode under heavy acceleration it gives me fast, sharp shifts much like my SRT in track mode. the whole setup seems to work very well.

[Descartian]

The whipple kit should be fairly plug and play. What transmission do you have?  There are not many upgrades for the 8 and 10 speed but the 6 speed can be built to withstand well over 1000whp. I haven’t seen numbers from the new Gen5 whipple on the 6.2 but I would assume 560-620hp at the crank. 

[kodiakdenali]

13 minutes ago, Descartian said:

The whipple kit should be fairly plug and play. What transmission do you have?  There are not many upgrades for the 8 and 10 speed but the 6 speed can be built to withstand well over 1000whp. I haven’t seen numbers from the new Gen5 whipple on the 6.2 but I would assume 560-620hp at the crank. 

[Descartian]

If you factor in a 18% powertrain loss that’s 640 at the crank.