Supercharger Performance and Engine Performance Parts

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Technorati Tags: boost, CFM, compressor map, header, Intercooler, N2O, Power Calculator, RPM, water injection

I ran into this great article on a performance rebuild for a 289 ford engine (and similar sized Small block fords), and thought about what I would change to prep the motor for a nice dose of boost.

The engine build in the aritcle inculdes an:

Flat topped pistons hugging their bores...

• Eagle/Arias stroker kit bring up the displacement to 297 ci
• Holley Systemax aluminum heads with 1.90″/1.60″  intake/exhaust valves
• Weiand action plus dual plane intake manifold
• Holley 670 CFM action carburator
• Comp cams Dual Energy split pattern cam with 265*/273* intake/exhaust duratio and 110* Lobe Seperation Angle

The setup as-is should be capable of around 440horsepower at 6000 rpms making it a great crate engine type build for a 289 engine. However if you’re looking for even more performance through a supercharged application here are some recommendations during the enigne build.

Pro systems blow through carburator ...

• The use of a stroker kit is great for increased displacement and low end torque, but comes at the cost of higher static compression which ultimately limits your peak boost and peak timing at whatever octane gas you have available.
• The use of aluminum cylinder heads is great for increased cylinder head cooling and reduced cylinder head temperatures (which makes for less head distortion, better head gasket stability and seal, and more stability at higher power figures).
• The use of flat topped pistons (or even domed if possible) is great for quench; quench helps create a better swirl inside the combustion chamber giving a better air fuel mixture. This results in increased volumetric effeciency (more power per displacement) and also has the added benefit on a supercharged car in preventing any lean pockets in mixture (especially around weak parts such as the piston rings and ring lands) because the increased swirl will help even out the air fuel distribution in the cylinder.
• To lower the compression ratio, while keeping good quency and swirl dynamics in the cylinder, the use of a larger CC engine head can be beneficial, so swapping to a Holley 300-575 (Aluminum heads with 2.0″/1.60″ valves and a 63 cc combustion chamber) will bring the static compression down from to about 8.6:1.
• For a camshaft, using a split pattern cam with more lobe seperation angle would be advisable to reduce valve overlap and help increase our utilization of our supercharger (by preventing boost from leaking out of the cylinder during overlap). A better camshaft for this application would be the comp cams nostalgia camshaft with 266*/273* duration and 112 degree lobe seperation angle.
• Now that we have a nice compression ratio to work with, we can easily run a safe and reliable 14 to 18psi on this motor, we can expect to make at least 715 hp at 14 psi and up to 780hp @ 18psi.
• Obviously at this point stock like I-beam rods rated to 500 hp are going to be stretched beyond their design limits, they may survive but not for long, a better approach would be to utilize eagle’s H-Beam rods to make sure the assembly stays put together under boost…
• Every 1.5 CFM is equivalent to roughly 1hp depending on the volumetric effeciency of the motor and thus a 650cfm carb is only capable of around 433hp. This makes it a great match for our original crate build but a poor match for our supercharged build. If we’re looking at a modest supercharger build around 630 hp then the holley supercharger draw through carb is capable of 950 cfm and is a good match for a roots style supercharger setup. The carb has an additional fuel enrichment vacuum reference that adjusts fueling based on the vacuum trapped in the region between the carb and the roots supercharger sitting below it. This vacuum is proportional to the overall flow rate and boost pressure of the motor and so it is used to regulate carb’s additional enrichment.
• However, if you’re looking for more than 630hp or looking at using a centrifugal supercharger for boosted top-end power, then there are two options:
  • Use a blow through carb setup such as the pro-systems blowthrough carburator which can be setup in blow through setup (after the supercharger) and is capable of adjusting fueling based on barometric pressure changes and boost pressure changes. The carb is capable of fueling upto 1800 hp depending on your requirements.
  • Switch to different style intake manifold such as a weiand single plane M9424-C82S, which comes with untapped injector bosses. Drill out the bosses go with a full blown EFI setup that is neither limited by carb CFM or jet changes… equipped with some 1000 cc injectors you will be able to support either a centrifugal or twinscrew supercharger upto the target of 780hp @ 18psi with this setup.
• Typically with the use of a supercharger (or any form of forced induction) we may need to retard the ingition timing event depending on the octane level and boost level we are running at the time. Since we have dropped to a very safe and fairly low compression ratio of 8.6:1, then this it is less stringent that we retard the ignition timing. However if we needed to, it would be good to have that facility available and so I would (on my personal car if i were to build this motor) swap the distributor for a pertronix street/strip HEI distributor which comes equipped with a vacuum advance as well as adjustability for base and mechanical (Rpm based) advance. Thus we can have better fuel effeciency and throttle response with advanced ignition timing timing at low loads and low rpms, and as that vacuum reference sees less vacuum (and more boost) the vacuum advance is elimiated giving us a more retarded peak timing curve.
• Finally, the hydraulic dampener would probably have to be changed to match whatever supercharger you use (belt setup or cog setup) and to be geared to the proper supercharger drive ratio to reach your target peak psi and peak power goals.

For the complete original article please visit:

Mustang Monthly

Our last articles about combining supercharger performance with turbocharger top end seems to have found some online appreciation. So, I’ve decided to write up a step by step on how to do the math for twin-charging your own car.

I’m going to start with a typical compact car engine, such as the Toyota Celica 2.2 liter 5sfe engine. The engine makes 135 hp at 5200 RPMs with a 6200 RPM redline.

For starters, every horsepower requires about 1.5 CFM of air (depending on the air density).

So 135 naturally aspirated hp requires a flow of 202 CFM at pressure ratio of 1.

The pressure ratio is the ratio of turbocharger or supercharger boost pressure divided by atmospheric pressure. Each 1 atmosphere is equal to 14.7psi of pressure… thus:

PR = (14.7 + Boost pressure)/14.7

So for a normally aspirated car: PR = (14.7 + 0) / 14.7 = 1.

Supercharger calculations:

Using 14psi as our target boost (and the maximum safe boost we’d want to extract out of a roots style supercharger) we get the following pressure ratio:

PR = (14.7+14)/14.7 = 1.95

New expected horsepower level: old HP * pressure ratio

New HP = 135 * 1.95 = 263 HP

New CFM = 227 * 1.5 = 395 CFM.

So now, we have our supercharger flow requirements, we need a supercharger able flow 395 CFM at a pressure ration of 1.95 (or 10psi).

Going through different Eaton supercharger maps I had available I find one available option:

1-      The third generation M62 or the fourth generation MP62 are capable of producing 395 CFM @ 1.95 PR @ 13,000 RPMs.

My final expected hp is going to be less than the original estimate263 for two reasons:

1-      The supercharger requires 35 hp to drive it at 13,000 rpms.

2-      The outlet temperature (if not managed through a proper intercooler) is going to be 88*C higher than the inlet temperature, and with every 13*C by rule of thumb costing us 1 hp of power, then 88*C would equate to a power loss of 7 hp.

Our final supercharged power figure (with no intercooler and no other bolt-ons) is

Final hp = (original hp * pressure ratio) – supercharger drive power – (delta T (Centigrade) / 13)

Final hp = 263 – 35 – 7 = 221 HP

Supercharger Dynograph:

14psi Eaton M62 on a Toyota 5sfe

More power can be made between 5000 and 7000 RPMs with bolt on modifications designed to shift the power peak to the right, mainly cams with longer duration, and properly designed headers.

With this graph it is clear that the power of superchargers is mimicking a 95% larger motor by providing linear boost across the entire RPM range. This makes the engine feel like a much larger engine which is great for OEM applications.

Turbocharger:

As we’ve seen in our previous calculations, it takes 35 horsepower to drive our M62 to maintain 14psi of boost on our motor. Because of this horsepower requirement, we find that with superchargers there is a point of diminishing returns when talking about higher boost and flow levels.

Now if my ultimate horsepower goal is 320 horsepower for this motor, then let’s do the math:

Pressure ratio = 320 hp / 135 hp = 2.37

Solving for boost: 2.37 = (14.7 + boost)/ 14.7

Boost = (2.37*14.7)-14.7 = 20 PSI

CFM requirement = target hp * 1.5 = 320*1.5 = 480 CFM ~= 33 lbs/min

(Some turbocharger compressor maps are graphed in CFM vs PR, some are in lbs/min vs PR, 14.47 CFM = 1 lbs/min depending on air temperature and density).

So to find a turbocharger that will give me my target HP goal, I need to find a turbocharger that has the point 480 CFM of flow at a 2.4 pressure ratio on its map.

Now I’ve done this search before so I know that the best turbo for this engine is a T3/TO4E 46 trim…

VERY IMPORTANT: Other trims of this compressor such as a 50 trim a 54 trim a 60 trim or a 60-1 trim, although they do have more CFM flow capacity, they cannot produce those CFM’s at the pressure ratio that I’m looking for. This is why you REALLY need to check your engine demand and flow requirements on your turbocharger compressor map. If your engine needs cannot be plotted on your compressor map then it’s not a proper turbo for your motor and it may never spool or create boost. A smaller turbo with a taller map (rather than a wider map) that produces less peak CFM, but at a higher pressure ratio, may be more adequate for your sized motor. Bigger is not better you really have to choose the right turbo for your application.

By starting with 2.4 PR and plotting my flow requirements at that pressure ratio on my compressor map I find that this motor is a good match for my engine, it will be fully spooled to 20 PSI by 3000 RPMs! It is also capable of supporting my peak power requirement of 480 CFM @ 2.4 pressure ratio at its peak efficiency of 76%. This means that the turbocharger outlet temperatures will be acceptable, since it is working within its peak efficiency and thus should be most power friendly.

Note: Again, I already knew this was a good turbo for this motor because I’ve been through this process before, if you’re doing this for the first time you want to plot your engine demand requirements on several different compressor maps, and compare both spool (the minimum RPM that the engine will make your peak boost at) and your compressor efficiency at peak demand to make sure that the turbo you choose will spool early and give you good power efficiently at higher rpms.

Now for the three rpm points that are not on my compressor map, I iteratively reduce my pressure ratio, recalculate my CFM flow requirement at that pressure ratio, and look to see if I can plot that point on the compressor map. Essencially I am trying to find the maximum boost that chosen turbocharger can support at that engine RPM.

Here are my results:

One thing to note here, my turbocharger can no way produce any boost for this motor below 2000 RPMs. At those lower RPMs the turbo is more a drag on the engine trying to spin itself up to its operating RPM to produce enough CFM to pressurize the engine. In a typical turbocharged application it is good to use a bi-directional bypass valve (rather than a unidirectional blow off valve) because the valve will bypass the turbocharger at lower RPMs feeding the motor directly from the intake system. This will prevent the unspooled turbo from choking the motor, and also help the motor produce more horsepower at lower RPMs which will help spool the turbocharger faster by providing more exhaust gasses to the turbines side of the turbocharger to spin it up.

As you can see the major difference between our supercharger and turbocharger is that our supercharger was able to produce boost at any rpm, but did not shine at higher RPMs where it’s efficiency and required drive power increased. On the other hand, our turbocharger is unable to produce any power boost (but rather a power drag) at lower RPM’s trying to spool up, but it shines at higher RPM reaching its peak efficiency at our power peak.

Once the turbocharger is fully spooled, the wastegate begins to open bypass the turbine restriction on the exhaust, which means there is virtually no horsepower loss driving the turbocharger at this point. As far as thermal losses are concerned, I went and factored in the turbocharger efficiency and outlet temperatures, and if the system is un-intercooled, the turbocharger is only costing us 9hp at peak power due to its outlet temperatures.

So the final HP figure = original hp * pressure ratio – temperature loss

Final HP = 135 * 2.4 – 9 = 315 hp.

Turbocharger Dyno Graph:

TO4E 46 trim @ 20psi on a 5sfe motor

As you can see the turbocharger produces a non linear power graph that is heavily weighted towards higher RPMs providing us with no power advantage at lower RPMs.

The thing to note here is that I started with a car with a low redline of 6500 RPMs and a great turbo for it. As the engine’s peak rpm gets higher and as our peak power target gets higher into 400 and 500 hp range, the choice of turbo to support those power figures will be larger, and naturally the power graph as well as the first RPM that the turbocharger will spool at will all shift to the right another couple of thousand RPMs.

The higher your HP goals, the more need there will be for twin-charging, because you will be using a larger turbocharger that takes more RPM and more exhaust gas to be able to spool and create positive boost for the motor.

Twin-charged:

Now if I overlay the two charts on top of each other we can see the potential benefit of twin-charging:

Twincharged 2.2 litre engine

As you can see, until the turbocharger has spooled, the supercharger provides us with 15 more horsepower and possibly more if the engine were not completely stock, or we had higher power aspirations and used an even larger and later spooling turbocharger.

The other advantage will not show up on a dyno chart, if you’re doing 50mph in top gear (5^th or 6^th gear) then the amount of time you spend going from 1500 to 2500 RPMs may be a very long time at such a long gear, even though it seems like a small part of the dynochart posted above compared to the 3000 RPM’s of turbo goodness above 3500, it will be a significant disadvantage during a quick passing attempt where you are left without any boost. Now being twincharged, no matter what the RPM and what the situation, when you stop the gas you will get a power boost to help you pass. If you stay in the gas (to go from a pass to a full on drag race) then the RPMs will rise, the turbocharger will come online and carry you through impressively to your redline in a flash… This is also a huge advantage on the track coming out of corners in the wrong exit gear.

Now do this for your own cars… if you need help with it leave me a comment.

You can easily find compressor maps for your chargers using google image search…

Other twin-charger articles:

The Twin-Charged Hyper Car

Twin-charged Performance

Technorati Tags: boost, compressor map, pressure ratio, Supercharger, turbocharger, twincharging

The ferocity of running circles around the competition can be further enhanced in the Cayman S through the use of engine performance parts and supercharger performance:

Cayman n. [From the language of Guiana: cf. Sp. caiman.]

The South America alligator.

The Porsche is Cayman S is a great package of performance, handling, and comfort. Being a Cayman in nature, the car sometimes requires an increase in its element of surprise and in its ability to grasp its prey with an un-escapable grasp followed by the infamous alligator ‘death roll’.

Naturally Aspirated Option:

If you’re an interested in a good increase of your Cayman’s performance, without the added complexity and cost of a supercharger system, then the following engine performance parts are available and proven for your car:

Intake components:

The Evolution Motor Sports V-Flow intake installs “in the factory location and utilize the OEM “ram air” fresh air ducts for lower air intake temperatures and added power. Additionally, [the] systems also incorporate a custom cotton air filter and a 6” injection molded Venturi” to improve airflow.

Dyno proven for 6 to 8 hp

Road Sport Supply (RSS) deliver two complimentary and proven products for the Cayman Intake system: The first is a

RSS IPD intake plenum

 high-flow intake plenum to improve airflow into the engine, this part alone is proven for a power gain of 23 hp @ 6300 RPMs. Additionally RSS has just released a complimentary 82mm ported throttle-body initially taken off a 997GT3. The addition of the throttle body has in some dyno tests shown an improvement of 11hp @ 6200 RPMs!

Dyno proven 23 to 34 hp

Exhaust components:

On the exhaust side of things, FabSpeed offers a complete exhaust solution for your Cayman including:

High flow performance headers featuring:

o   Equal length runners

o   A highflow merge collector

o   A 200 cell spun cell high flow catalytic converter.

o   Shifts peak power from 6200 RPMs up to 7000 RPMs producing higher peak power as well as a wider power band

A cat-back exhaust system featuring:

• Manderel bent tubing for smoother air flow
• Fabspeed Exhaust
• 10 lbs weight reduction over the factory system
• Eliminates the secondary catalytic converters reducing back pressure
• Fully compatible with the stock computer system
• Balance tube between the mufflers to equalize flow between both cylinder banks
• Dyno proven for 9 hp

Camshafts

                Schrick de & Doctor Schrick have been producing performance camshafts for European and especially German power cars since 1969. Schrick makes available for the Porsche 3.6 liter engine two sports cams:

                282 degrees of duration with 12mm of lift (Suitable for an 8000 RPM power peak)

                292 degrees of duration with 11.5mm of lift (Suitable for an 8600 RPM power peak)

Shifting peak power from 7000 RPMs to 8000 RPMs has a potential power increase of 14% or over 28 HP for your Cayman

Tuning & Support

Iridium spark plugs:

NGK offers the BKR6EIX-11 spark plugs for your Cayman, Iridium plugs give better and more consistent performance to your car and also improve idle stability and fuel efficiency.

GIAC Chip-tuning are the GO TO Chip tuner for euro car performance tuning and have tuning options for your car no matter what level of performance and what engine modifications you have performed on it. Their tune for a stock engine with only an added high flow air filter is dyno proven for 13 hp gain @ 6400 RPMs.

The combination of the above mentioned modifications will easily propel your Cayman over the 310 hp mark and extend your power band out over 7000 RPMs.

Supercharger Performance

If this kind of performance is still not satisfactory, then we need to change the plan a bit:

VF Engineering has been supercharging the Porsche 3.6 liter since it was introduced in the Carrera C2 and C4. Their supercharger kit will boost your engine to 6 PSI and provide a 40% increase in power over all other modifications. The kit is comprehensive and includes:

VF-Engineering Supercharger Kits

• Vortech V2 SQ supercharger.
• Vortec Chargecooler.
• Bosch high flow water circulation system.
• Porsche OEM water radiator kit.
• GIAC chip tuned with larger Bosch injectors.
• Top speed governor removed.
• Bosch pressure relief bypass system.
• High temp molded polymer pipework
• K&N induction filter.
• 1 year unlimited mileage warranty on supercharger kit parts.
• Made in California, USA

The kit includes its own intake kit to feed air to the supercharger, as well as its own performance tune from GIAC, so the Evolution Motorsports V-Power intake is no longer needed and neither is the GIAC chip tune recommended earlier. Also, it is advisable when adding more than 50hp to a vehicle to switch to a 1 step colder spark plug such as the NGK BKR7AIX-11 or Denso IK24. So bear this in mind when deciding your ultimate power goals for your Cayman as it is wasteful to spend money on parts only later to replace them when you supercharge the car.

With the following modifications:

RSS Plenum & 83mm Throttle body, the Fabspeed Header and Catback Exhaust, and the GIAC tuned and K&N Fed VF Engineering supercharger kit you can expect to reach over the 420hp with your Cayman S. Serious bite from a serious car!

Technorati Tags: Cayman S, engine performance parts, EVOMS, FabSpeed, GIAC, Road Sport Supply (RSS), Schrick, Tuners, VF Engineering, Vortec, Vortech

I was browsing my favorite automotive news sites today and three different articles seemed to jump at me. For 2010 three manufacturers have turned up the heat bringing mind boggling performance figures based on the supercharger performance concept.

The first article I ran across was the introduction of the all new Range Rover Sport LR4. I’ve always been a big fan of the range rover as it has traditionally combined all out off-road performance with seemingly contradictory ‘luxury’ amenities. Being also interested in audio equipment, the last Range Rover I’ve been in back in 2007 had the most amazing 10 speaker system I’ve ever heard in an automobile.

The new Range Rover Sport LR4 dons is powered by:

“All-new 5.0 liter supercharged LR-V8 for Range Rover and Range Rover Sport

• 510 bhp and 461 lb.-ft. torque
• Conforms to stringent ULEV2 emissions regulations”
  

What’s even more impressive is that:

“The new 5.0-liter supercharged engine produces 29 percent more power and 12 percent more torque than the outgoing 4.2-liter supercharged engine, yet fuel consumption is not increased.”

I think this new upgrade to the range rover line will be much appreciated by the hundreds of thousands of true brand loyal follower of ranger rover, especially in the presence of steep competition in the luxury SUV markets from the likes of the BMW X6 M-series which is rumored around 555 bhp as well as the Mercedes sport SUV the ML63 coming in at 503 bhp and 465 lb.-ft of torque from a larger 6.3 liter V8 engine.

The other car I ran into was a good old American muscle car from Detroit. Even with all the economic slowdown and stimulus drama going on in the news, Detroit is still able to put out a select number of cars that really keep us passionate about the American Automotive Industry.

For 2010 Roush has raised the bar with their new model Roush mustang:

“For $43,051, you can opt for the Roush 427R Mustang, which uses a Roushcharger (supercharger) to boost the 4.6-liter V-8 engine to 435 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque from its stock 315/325 figures. Roush engineers have made extensive revisions to their supercharger system, eliminating the long air induction tube, more than doubling the size of the intercooler reservoir, moving that intercooler up and out of the way of road debris and employing molded rubber hoses.”

What’s more enticing for aftermarket performance enthusiasts like myself, is seeing OEM modifiers like Roush using the tricks of the trade that we usually perform on the cars AFTER we buy them from the manufacturer such as the revised intake system, relocated intercooler and better charge piping… These types of modifications are typically the first things on a modders’ ‘to do’ list once he gets a performance car. The fact that the manufacturers are going the extra step to improve the performance of their cars really elevates the quality of the product. Of course we all know a big part of why manufacturers are paying more attention to these details is that they are after higher efficiency, which results in both higher horsepower figures and more importantly to everyone lower power losses and thus better emission and mileage figures.

If you think this ‘win/win’ of power and mileage is some e-blog over-dramatization check this out:

“As the top rung of the Mustang ladder, the GT500 eschews the Mustang GT’s 315-hp 4.6-liter V8 for a supercharged 5.4-liter version. This engine has been around for while, but thanks to less exhaust back pressure, a cold-air intake, and a subtle recalibration, the motor now makes 540 horsepower—30 more than before. Despite the extra power, the GT500 is slightly more fuel efficient, garnering a 2 mpg improvement on the EPA highway cycle, to 22 mpg. For sure, it’s still a thirsty car (The base price includes a $1000 gas-guzzler tax), but this much power doesn’t come for free.”

Again another relative of the base model mustang, using supercharged power to increase performance (per cubic inch of displacement) and using tried and proven tricks of the automotive performance scene with a high flowing intake, exhaust and a matching tune to not only improve horsepower but also reduce fuel consumption (and thus increase mileage and reduce emissions). Very cool J work ford, hats off! At this rate, ford will probably have to re-label this beast as the GT550 in a year or two.

Of course FORD never operatives in Vacuum J. Where there’s innovation from FORD, there’s always a response from GM. So it comes as no surprise to find that Hennessey has announced their 2010 HPE550 Camaro. Just a wild guess that the 550 in HPE550 stands for horsepower figures ?

“At the heart of the beast is a supercharger system added atop the LS3 V8 making 6 psi boost combined with a Corsa stainless steel exhaust system and custom engine management calibration from HPE. This upgrade system results in 562 bhp and 557 lb-ft torque. Rounding out the package, HPE adds a set of light weight 20 inch wheels, Hennessey’s cam-Aero ™ body upgrades include: Rear lip spoiler, carbon side rocker panels and front splitter, Hennessey graphics package and premium floor mats.”

I guess the only thing left to say is here (after picking my jaw up off the floor) is that when I first got interested in cars as a teenager some 13 years ago Lamborghinis used to need all of their 6.5 liter 12 cylinders to make just over 500hp, were barely streetable at those power figures, and got nowhere near 22mpg. To hear about 500+ hp SUV’s running 0-60 times in sub 6 seconds, and to see approachable and definitely purchasable and livable cars like the Camaro and the Mustang being delivered by OEM or OEM affiliated firms as brand new model year cars, backed with OEM warranty, safety, emissions, and quality standards is truly amazing.

2010 Range Rover Sport LR4

2010 Roush Mustang lineup

2010 Mustang Shelby GT500

2010 Limited Edition Hennessey HPE550 Camaro

Technorati Tags: Hennessey, OEM, Range Rover, Roush, Shelby, supercharger performance, Tuners