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Experience with kenne bell
- Thread starterblueberry
- Start date
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Check @Fabman ’s build thread. That’s where he started.
I don't have 1st hand experience with Kenne Bell, but have a Roush supercharger on my coyote. Any supercharger will add weight to the front of our already front-heavy cars.
I'll point out that the intercooler system that Roush provided is barely adequate for the street. It didn't take very much prolonged wide open throttle to overwhelm the intercooler and produce heat soaking, when inlet temps rise to the point where the engine will self-protect by detuning, and much of the added power is lost until temps can recover. To get enough flow through my system to better keep up with the heat of track driving, I increased the plumbing diameter throughout the system from 3/4" to 1-1/4", added a better flowing intercooler (both inlet air & coolant flow), a much higher capacity pump, and an enormous heat exchanger. While this greatly reduced heat soaking and recovery time, it comes with an added weight penalty.
Any supercharger system will produce a lot of intake heat and will need to mitigate it effectively.
Because I don't track my car competitively (officially!) and do a lot of street driving too, I'm OK with the weight compromise. I think that most of the guys who are more track focused would rather seek out naturally aspirated power.
I'll point out that the intercooler system that Roush provided is barely adequate for the street. It didn't take very much prolonged wide open throttle to overwhelm the intercooler and produce heat soaking, when inlet temps rise to the point where the engine will self-protect by detuning, and much of the added power is lost until temps can recover. To get enough flow through my system to better keep up with the heat of track driving, I increased the plumbing diameter throughout the system from 3/4" to 1-1/4", added a better flowing intercooler (both inlet air & coolant flow), a much higher capacity pump, and an enormous heat exchanger. While this greatly reduced heat soaking and recovery time, it comes with an added weight penalty.
Any supercharger system will produce a lot of intake heat and will need to mitigate it effectively.
Because I don't track my car competitively (officially!) and do a lot of street driving too, I'm OK with the weight compromise. I think that most of the guys who are more track focused would rather seek out naturally aspirated power.
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Fabman
Dances with Racecars
If you are going to do a super charger, get an e85 tune.
- Thread starter
- #5
I was waiting for you
That's my intensions, but how did it work. Cooling etc.
The e85 runs much cooler and no knocking problems.
This too.
E85 and boost complement each other quite well. The latent heat of vaporization that e85 brings to the table will help somewhat with IATs. More power will mean more heat to manage overall though.
Fabman
Dances with Racecars
I did a max effort build regarding cooling mods and it worked ok for track days. (I wasn’t doing w2w with it yet but the car was fully race prepped) Had a 6 gallon IC tank in the trunk, 1’ lines, big pump, big radiator, no A/C condenser, ducting, e85 etc. It was stupid heavy and complicated. It overwhelmed the brakes, tires and suspension. I pulled that 700/700 stroker 3 valve and installed a near stock gen 2 coyote and went 2 seconds faster. At this point I am going over 4 seconds faster.I was waiting for you
That's my intensions, but how did it work. Cooling etc.
The e85 runs much cooler and no knocking problems.
Moral of the story, there is more speed in the suspension than there is under the hood.
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The GT500 pulls it off stock in Florida heat on 93 even at a pretty good pace. It’s even better on E. Solid engineering and a lot of work to do yourself- but it’s not a momentum car by any means.
I am struggling with the truth Fabman is spittin here because I know I should pull the blower off my RTR but I just love horsepower.
I am struggling with the truth Fabman is spittin here because I know I should pull the blower off my RTR but I just love horsepower.
Fabman
Dances with Racecars
It’s definitely a drug. In the end it’s up to the user to decide on which way to go. Both are possible.
I have the opportunity to put mine off while transferring my goodies to my salvage project.
Came up with a hard NOPE!
Ultimately I’d like to put turbos (and methanol fuel instead of E though the track orgs don’t like it) but I should probably just start with a CJ intake and quit with the delusions of grandeur.
blacksheep-1
Epic Contributor
I ran a kenne bell on my 99 4.6@10psi.
It worked great, customer service was pretty sketchy depending who you got on the line. It was pretty mild, about 370hp, but the great thing about KBs is that it came all in right off idle. This was on 93 gas.
It worked great, customer service was pretty sketchy depending who you got on the line. It was pretty mild, about 370hp, but the great thing about KBs is that it came all in right off idle. This was on 93 gas.
Boone
Professional Thread Killer
I went down this road with Sal's blower, heads, and cams. It is a thrill, but a lot to manage. Take a look at my build thread, and feel free to ask me questions if you're trying to keep your car on the street. Frankenstang is a great story on the race car side of things, and Sal is one of the best human beings I've ever met. Lots of info here, and all decisions have compromises. Decide what compromises you're willing to live with and enjoy the ride!!!!
Fabman
Dances with Racecars
That's about the nicest thing anyone's said about me all year.
Something to think about is where the car will be tracked.
Here in Norcal the HP advantage isn't as pronounced.
Laguna Seca really only has one good high speed straight away but it dumps into a tight 180* turn.
Sonoma has an even shorter straight with a similar turn at the end.
Thunderhill has one long straight and a couple shorter straights, all with hard braking at the end.
I see tracks in other parts of the country with many long straights where big power is king.
Around here there is more to be gained in the suspension/brakes.
So once again the answer is: "It depends."
Additionally, when I removed my Blower I weighed all the components and it was 150 extra pounds on the nose of the car.
That 6 gal IC tank I initially ran in the trunk was heavy too but at least the weight was in the right place.
All making it even harder on the suspension and brakes....and boy did I burn up brakes.
- Thread starter
- #15
How much the kit weights in total ??That's about the nicest thing anyone's said about me all year.
Something to think about is where the car will be tracked.
Here in Norcal the HP advantage isn't as pronounced.
Laguna Seca really only has one good high speed straight away but it dumps into a tight 180* turn.
Sonoma has an even shorter straight with a similar turn at the end.
Thunderhill has one long straight and a couple shorter straights, all with hard braking at the end.
I see tracks in other parts of the country with many long straights where big power is king.
Around here there is more to be gained in the suspension/brakes.
So once again the answer is: "It depends."
Additionally, when I removed my Blower I weighed all the components and it was 150 extra pounds on the nose of the car.
That 6 gal IC tank I initially ran in the trunk was heavy too but at least the weight was in the right place.
All making it even harder on the suspension and brakes....and boy did I burn up brakes.
I watched the back camera video and it kinda puts a little grin to my face.
I will have to make decisions now because the summer is coming fast. Mayby I'll go kbsc way, but you can always go back to Na
And thanks everybody for the answers haven't had time to write anything before today.
Fabman
Dances with Racecars
It was 150 pounds with a small IC tank. The 6 gallon tank was about 60 pounds with all the hose's full of water.
Yes, a ton of good information.
I use their Titanic heat exchanger & POWA pump. I'd have the intake manifold too but CA emissions.....
If you are going to go SC, the DOB kit is really solid, especially with max effort intercooler, lines and pumps. I did this last year and while it hasn't gone smoothly, none of this is really the fault of the DOB kit. When you make a change like that, there's a lot of secondary systems that need to get beefed up to support it and you are adding a bunch of weight to the front of the car. You also changing the handling characteristics of the car pretty substantially due to the way the power comes on. I'm still running slightly slower lap times despite the additional power because I'm fighting for traction in places where I could go flat out before and I have to change gears more often.
SC cars for drag racing or cruising on the street can live with some of the short cuts most people take with adding a SC to these cars because they don't run full tilt for very long. Since upgrading, I've had to upgrade my alternator, radiator, add an oil cooler, replace my fuel lines, and add hood louvers. I had to rewire my fuel pump, alternator and radiator fan to higher gauges to support more amps. It's also likely that clutch and transmission are not long for this setup - they are rated for 300hp and are probably seeing closer to 450.
Jason has a good overview of the various KB kits (biased of course) but it does discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of the kit. The big concern I'd have with the stage 2 kit is the IC and pump but both have better replacements that just bolt on.
SC cars for drag racing or cruising on the street can live with some of the short cuts most people take with adding a SC to these cars because they don't run full tilt for very long. Since upgrading, I've had to upgrade my alternator, radiator, add an oil cooler, replace my fuel lines, and add hood louvers. I had to rewire my fuel pump, alternator and radiator fan to higher gauges to support more amps. It's also likely that clutch and transmission are not long for this setup - they are rated for 300hp and are probably seeing closer to 450.
Jason has a good overview of the various KB kits (biased of course) but it does discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of the kit. The big concern I'd have with the stage 2 kit is the IC and pump but both have better replacements that just bolt on.
- Thread starter
- #20
Usually when sc is installed everybody wants max HP and torq. I don't want much HP but I want lot more lower end torq.
The ideal power for my track use is around 420 at wheels.
I need the torq when coming out of the corners and same time track is running uphill.
The ideal power for my track use is around 420 at wheels.
I need the torq when coming out of the corners and same time track is running uphill.
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