HwyCruiser
05-28-2005, 11:21 PM
Just got back from washing off week-old bugs from the Cedar Falls trip and taking #3 out for a spin. Pulling into the garage I looked at the odometer and my oil change sticker and realized I just put 1,000 miles on her since she was supercharged two weeks ago. She also just rolled past 36,000 miles total. Man how the miles fly. Since I’ve had a few recent requests for feedback on the kit so far I thought I’d share with everyone now that I’ve hit this first milestone.
Just over 700 of those 1,000 miles were put on last weekend, when I averaged 19.5 mpg for the trip with a best of 21 mpg with the a/c on automatic between the last two fill-ups. That's a drop of only 1-2 mpg on the highway. I did worse with the 4.10 gear swap. Her performance on the highway was great. At 74 mph / 2500 rpm she was at 10 to 20 inches of vacuum, depending on the cruise control, and sailed smooth as silk. The only time I noticed I had a supercharger were while romping up the highway ramps.
The Predator tuner has had me fascinated since it allows me to view and log real-time data. The Intake Air Temperature has been my particular fixation. The IAT sensor is relocated from the MAF harness to the cast aluminum throttle body transition after the air-to-air intercooler as part of the install. The aluminum transition retains some heat, so if anything it seems like it would cause the IAT to read a little higher than it actually is.
At highway speed, the IAT reading is 15-20° above ambient and climbs to 30-40° above ambient at idle and after short acceleration bursts. Cruising at 35-45 mph the IAT drops quickly to 20-25° above ambient. I have yet to see it rise much more than 40° above ambient at idle or stoplight-to-stoplight driving in the heat of the day. The air-to-air intercooler seems like it is doing its job as advertised.
I haven't had a chance to log what the IAT does at WOT, well, because WOT is a pretty darn scary thing to do in the car now. I've only played around there for a few fleeting seconds off of a roll with a clear shot up a highway ramp and even then the BFGs can get a little squirrelly. From a dead punch the 4.10 gears and 3000 rpm stall Stallion torque converter allow the engine to rev into the boost before the car gets going very far and then the tires just call it quit. I'm definitely going to have to look into other tire / wheel options.
I've laid off the 100/92 octane mix since the first half-tank after the install. Running 92 octane BP Amoco Gold seems to be just fine on the street. I've had no hint of detonation with the Diablo tune. The Predator shows the timing pulling down to 14 degrees of advance when getting into the pedal. The shift points and torque convert lockup schedule are different from what I had with DR’s N/A tune, but they are plenty functional and are starting to grow on me. The only thing I would change is to get something closer to Jerry W’s torque converter lockup schedule that I used to have.
I’m going to try to schedule a dyno test / tune with a Diablo tuner out of Springfield, MO, sometime this summer but I’m in no real hurry right now. Besides the minor irritant regarding the torque converter lockup schedule, I have no other complaints with how the base tune is performing. It sure would be nice to get rear-wheel numbers though.
Other mods I’ve been thinking of since the s/c install, besides tires / wheels of course, is Ford Racing dual-mode mufflers because she’s way too loud with the Magnaflows (always has been) and an enclosed airbox for the “bling” factor. I’ve also been researching an electric fan setup for the intercooler to help with the temperature rise at idle. There seems to be a bit of promise of additional performance gains there for a relatively minor investment.
I can’t tell you how much fun it is getting into positive manifold pressure. Even getting just over 0 psi at fairly light pedal is satisfying when pulling away from a stop light. 3 to 5 psi has been my usual range when I want to get into it and even at that low of boost she feels like the binds have been removed as she runs like the wind. Light to moderate acceleration is very smooth and well mannered. Exuberant acceleration on the open road results in a grin that is hard to shake.
The whistle at idle reminds me of a rattlesnake’s warning and has seemed to tempered the enthusiasm of several would-be foes. Just tonight I had a Monte Carlo / Impala with full length checkered flag graphics swoop up from behind me at a stop light that then tippie-toed off the line once he sat beside me listening to the blower for awhile. Nothing like walking softy and carrying a big stick. :D
That’s about it until I get her on the dyno. BTW, changing out the break-in blower oil was a lot easier than I had anticipated. The kit comes with three bottles of blower oil (6 ounces each), recommended to change out at every 6,000 miles. The blower has a oil level dipstick for routine checks but it didn’t appear to have lost a drop of the break-in oil anywhere.
Just over 700 of those 1,000 miles were put on last weekend, when I averaged 19.5 mpg for the trip with a best of 21 mpg with the a/c on automatic between the last two fill-ups. That's a drop of only 1-2 mpg on the highway. I did worse with the 4.10 gear swap. Her performance on the highway was great. At 74 mph / 2500 rpm she was at 10 to 20 inches of vacuum, depending on the cruise control, and sailed smooth as silk. The only time I noticed I had a supercharger were while romping up the highway ramps.
The Predator tuner has had me fascinated since it allows me to view and log real-time data. The Intake Air Temperature has been my particular fixation. The IAT sensor is relocated from the MAF harness to the cast aluminum throttle body transition after the air-to-air intercooler as part of the install. The aluminum transition retains some heat, so if anything it seems like it would cause the IAT to read a little higher than it actually is.
At highway speed, the IAT reading is 15-20° above ambient and climbs to 30-40° above ambient at idle and after short acceleration bursts. Cruising at 35-45 mph the IAT drops quickly to 20-25° above ambient. I have yet to see it rise much more than 40° above ambient at idle or stoplight-to-stoplight driving in the heat of the day. The air-to-air intercooler seems like it is doing its job as advertised.
I haven't had a chance to log what the IAT does at WOT, well, because WOT is a pretty darn scary thing to do in the car now. I've only played around there for a few fleeting seconds off of a roll with a clear shot up a highway ramp and even then the BFGs can get a little squirrelly. From a dead punch the 4.10 gears and 3000 rpm stall Stallion torque converter allow the engine to rev into the boost before the car gets going very far and then the tires just call it quit. I'm definitely going to have to look into other tire / wheel options.
I've laid off the 100/92 octane mix since the first half-tank after the install. Running 92 octane BP Amoco Gold seems to be just fine on the street. I've had no hint of detonation with the Diablo tune. The Predator shows the timing pulling down to 14 degrees of advance when getting into the pedal. The shift points and torque convert lockup schedule are different from what I had with DR’s N/A tune, but they are plenty functional and are starting to grow on me. The only thing I would change is to get something closer to Jerry W’s torque converter lockup schedule that I used to have.
I’m going to try to schedule a dyno test / tune with a Diablo tuner out of Springfield, MO, sometime this summer but I’m in no real hurry right now. Besides the minor irritant regarding the torque converter lockup schedule, I have no other complaints with how the base tune is performing. It sure would be nice to get rear-wheel numbers though.
Other mods I’ve been thinking of since the s/c install, besides tires / wheels of course, is Ford Racing dual-mode mufflers because she’s way too loud with the Magnaflows (always has been) and an enclosed airbox for the “bling” factor. I’ve also been researching an electric fan setup for the intercooler to help with the temperature rise at idle. There seems to be a bit of promise of additional performance gains there for a relatively minor investment.
I can’t tell you how much fun it is getting into positive manifold pressure. Even getting just over 0 psi at fairly light pedal is satisfying when pulling away from a stop light. 3 to 5 psi has been my usual range when I want to get into it and even at that low of boost she feels like the binds have been removed as she runs like the wind. Light to moderate acceleration is very smooth and well mannered. Exuberant acceleration on the open road results in a grin that is hard to shake.
The whistle at idle reminds me of a rattlesnake’s warning and has seemed to tempered the enthusiasm of several would-be foes. Just tonight I had a Monte Carlo / Impala with full length checkered flag graphics swoop up from behind me at a stop light that then tippie-toed off the line once he sat beside me listening to the blower for awhile. Nothing like walking softy and carrying a big stick. :D
That’s about it until I get her on the dyno. BTW, changing out the break-in blower oil was a lot easier than I had anticipated. The kit comes with three bottles of blower oil (6 ounces each), recommended to change out at every 6,000 miles. The blower has a oil level dipstick for routine checks but it didn’t appear to have lost a drop of the break-in oil anywhere.