Normally Aspirated 1988 Ford Mustang GT - Plug And Spray

Longtime readers may remember we covered Rick Anderson's pursuit of high-revving, naturally aspirated horsepower in our Oct. '02 issue ("Natural High," p. 55). Back then Rick had D.S.S. put together a ready-to-rev 347 with lightweight parts inside a Ford Racing Performance Parts Sportsman block. The package worked well, churning out more than 450 hp and revving well past 8,000 rpm! Combining the torque of a 347 with the rev-happy nature of a 4.6 Cobra, this engine has long been on our list of engine combinations to put in a car.

Of course, too much is always just about right, so we also wondered how such a combination might accept a bit of nitrous. Well, it seems Rick has been wondering too, especially with all those NMRA Real Street and Renegade racers flying on the sauce. He also saw it as an opportunity to utilize the flexibility of his favored Programmable Management System. He reasoned that dry nitrous systems are great for the street because you needn't muss with extra fuel lines and such, and there's a reduced chance for intake backfires. All you'd need is an appropriately sized set of injectors and a PMS to tune it all up.

From that thought process, Rick decided to develop some nitrous packages built around the concept of dry nitrous controlled and tuned by the PMS. The kit installed and tested here is the heavy hammer-an NOS direct-port good for 750 hp at the rear wheels. There are also several smaller single- and dual-nozzle systems available. These kits are less expensive and easier to install, but they don't offer the ultimate power potential and even distribution of the direct-port system.

As it turns out, once you install the kit, the tuning is actually quite easy. Rick will help you choose the right injectors and give you a base tune-up for the PMS. From there, it's just big power at the touch of a button.

It's hard to argue with the results of nitrous. Popping in the 150hp pills added 136.63 hp and 141.21 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels, while stepping up to the 250hp shot added another 78.62 hp and 89.15 lb-ft to the peaks. That's a total of 215.25 hp and 230.36 lb-ft added to the peak output of Rick's already impressive 347. Of course, Rick cautions that it's the average increases-not the peaks-that really get the car down the track. Those gains are obvious in the graphs we're presenting. Each nitrous pull picks the entire curve up a significant notch. Rick has been tempted to pop in the 350hp jets, but he's fearful his Sportsman block and lightweight internals might not be up to the task of 700-plus-horsepower at the wheels. Just remember, you can't put one of these systems on a stock engine and expect to hit it with a 350 shot and have it live.