??? with Piggyback Replacement Kit

[01TahoeSS]

I have a 5.3 Whipple charged Tahoe.I have not been happy with a constant predictable performance with the system.No codes or light flashes from the WMIL or the oe MIL. I have a custom tune from Diablo for the fuel,timing,torque management,speed limiter,ect(not a stock program they sell) and the trans and rear have been modified from stock. (blew them out after supercharging and program) I want to go with the marine injectors becuase I feel it is too lean as it pings at times under boost when 75 deg or warmer outside. A?F at tail pipe id 11.8 ,but that is after cats so I must be lean.I have even tried methanol injection in the air stream before the blower,but it will bog at initial boost even with the irridum plugs. Do I need the kenne bell kit or just the injectors and another custom tune for them? Thanks

[Durkin]

01TahoeSS:

 

What you really need is a Radix, but you knew that!

 

Seriously though, post your questions here: http://www.superchargersonline.com/forum/f....asp?FORUM_ID=7

Someone will likelybe able to help you, the Whipples seem to have lot's of these sorts of problems.

 

Regards,

 

Durkin

[The SPEEDY]

How about a water or alcky injection system? Set it to activate at a boost level that it won't bog down at.

[01TahoeSS]

Hey Speedy-I am already running a water/meth injection system due to the higher boost levels,etc.

 

Durkin-

Radix was not out when I bought my Whipple.

What boost and what are you dynoed at with the Radix?

I am custom programmed for my mods , not a shelf program.

The reasons I have these issues is thay I am going above the level of the Radix or Whipple on a stock motor with a bolt on kit .

They were designed for mild street gains.

Thats why I blew the rear and trans out

Thanks

[Durkin]

Folks:

 

Here i my latest:

 

2003 Tahoe Z71 5.3L Rear wheel Dyno Results

HP %Over Stock Torque % Over Stock

Stock 207 0% 275 0%

Magnacharger Tune 335 62% 401 46%

Magnacharger Tune 350 69% 384 40%

Wester's Tune 354 71% 425 55%

Wester's Tune 373 80% 410 49%

 

Tables are impossible here!

 

The stock run was at 90 MPH and 3,950 RPM; the first Magnacharger Tune and Wester's Tune were at 102 MPH and about 4,400 RPM and the second Magnacharger Tune and Wester's Tune were at 111 MPH and about 4,780 RPM. All runs were at 50 feet above sea level and about 65 degrees F. on the same dyno.

 

At this point, 373-207=166 rear wheel horsepower has cost about $50 per added HP; if you back solve for flywheel horsepower of about 500, then it is about $33 per HP.

 

A few other points in response to questions others have asked:

- The Supercharger absolutely is worth the bucks and you really do not need to do all the stuff I did to get great results.

- You have to use the highest octane gas you can find and mine runs great on 91 octane which is as high as you can get in California.

- I had mine installed by Arizona Speed and Marine; if you are good with a wrench you can do it yourself in a day (but if you install the sound deadening foam, give it a day to set up and harden or it will get sucked into your air box and filter.

- My gas mileage for mostly city driving is about 12.3 MPG.

- The Magnusson Radix Supercharger has only positive effects on drivability and the fit and finish of the kit are OEM quality; wish I had gotten the polished version, though.

- The Roots blower does make a bit of noise under any level of boost, but is silent at cruise; for a heavy truck, it is the way to go.

- If you are in California, for the GM 4.6/5.3/6.0 liter engines your supercharger choices are limited to the few that have a CARB exemption.

- The Wester's tune makes the engine more responsive and it idles better (there was nothing wrong with the tune provided via the Superchips handheld that comes with the Radix).

- The 4X4 transfer case eats up a lot of power even in 2WD; a 2WD truck will put more power to the rear wheels.

 

Since the dyno runs added Comp Cams Magnum Pro Aluminum 1.85 Ratio Roller

Rockers, Pushrods, Springs, Etc, a O4 Escalade Platinum Guage Cluster, Billlet Grille, SilverStars, and a billet grill. Do not know if the rockers made any HP difference yet, but the valve train should be bullet proof.

 

Just dropped the truck 5.5" at the rear and 1" at the front using Eibach Springs on the rear and torsion bar adjuster at the front. It is completely level now. The 5.5" drop is because a Z71 is 2.5" higher than a stock Tahoe at the rear. Also added Eibach sway bars. You gotta get a real good alignment after because the camber is WAY off after the drop, While I was waitng on a the alignment a set of Toyo Proxes 305/50 VR 20's got stuck on each axle; and now it corners like a big car! O yeah, nobody mentioned this to me, but whenyou lower one of these things, you have to get your headlights aligned.

 

Regards

 

Durkin

[frdfandc]

Your 11.8 A/F is correct. When I had my mustang dyno'd (S-trim'd 302) I was almost at 11.5 A/F. This was measured at the tailpipe. Sounds like you are either running too much timing or not enough octane for the timing. Alot of power can be found/lost with the way the tune is set up.

[01TahoeSS]

Here is some info from super chargers Online that may question your HP gains-The oe stuff is rated at max 350HP at flywheel...

 

A Supercharger kit is the single best power upgrade you can make to your vehicle. Every supercharger manufacturer goes through extensive design, prototyping, testing, tuning, and qualification of each system before it can ever be brought to market. Most kits are tuned to be installed on otherwise factory-equipped engines. Power levels are specifically tuned not to exceed the critical thresholds of the OEM drive train components. An example of the Supercharger industry’s engineering confidence in their products' effect on powertrain lifespan is MagnaCharger’s 3-year/36,000 mile limited powertrain warranty.

 

 

 

I am well pass that with theses mods and more...

 

As explained, a supercharger kit installed to the manufacturers' specifications will not exceed the factory power train’s capacities. Problems will start to appear as other engine parts are upgraded to increase power even more. There are a few upgrades that will have an adverse affect on the drive train when combined with the supercharger. Here are some examples:

 

1. High-Stall torque converter. A torque converter multiplies torque from the engine to the transmission by a factor proportional to the rotational speed difference between them. Basically, a higher stall converter alone will cause the transmission to experience momentary input torque levels much higher than a stock converter would.

 

2. Boost Upgrade. Installing a smaller pulley on the supercharger is an easy way to get more power if detonation can be controlled. This extra power may be in excess of the drive train’s capabilities.

 

3. PCM Reprogramming. A popular performance modification to the PCM is to remove the Torque Management subroutines that reduce power in favor of drive train preservation.

 

4. Wider or larger diameter tires. From a drive train’s perspective, larger tires or wider high-traction tires have a similar effect when launching from a stop. Either tire upgrade will reduce wheel spin. Wheel spin actually reduces stress on the entire drive train once it begins. Increasing traction with a tire upgrade will increase driveline stress if the previous tires were able to break traction before.

 

These upgrades are so effective that together, with the supercharger, failure of a major drive train component is just about guaranteed to happen sooner or later if these components are not also upgraded to handle the additional torque.

 

Thanks for the info

[Durkin]

01TahoeSS:

 

Well as you can tell from my signature, it ain't stock and the dyno doesn't lie and the thing is holding up well. The the factor that is most telling int drive line failure is the frequncy that your foot turns to lead at a dead stop.

 

As for the 350 HP OE rating... there are lots of cars and trucks that never get those messages and do just fine without a lot of beefing up.

 

Nonetheless, will be going to 4:56's and a Yank TT 3000 converter and some tranny mods(maybe a lot of tranny mods)!

 

Regards,

 

Durkin