writer: K.J. Jones
photographer: Bruce Hemminger
Bruce Hemminger is no stranger to nitrous oxide. The juice propels his '86 coupe to nine-second e.t.'s in the NMRA's Real Street class. He did all the legwork for us on this project by installing Edelbrock's Performer EFI Dry Kit on a stock '06 'Stang, conducting the dyno evaluation, and sending us the details on how it all worked out.
Horse Sense: While hype for supercharger systems (for '05-'07 'Stangs) seems to have subsided, and as Three-Valve turbo systems continue to flounder in the whirlpool created by the CARB-approval/smog-legal debate, it's been "steady-as-she-goes" for S197 nitrous systems.
As the S197 storms into its third year of production-order banks for '08 models are now open and quickly filling up-it pleases us to see that technology for Ford's newest Pony hasn't missed a beat. As aftermarket companies continue to develop new and cutting-edge performance products for the neo-retro 'Stangs, we, the staff of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, remain dedicated to letting you know everything we learn about them, through our installation and dyno evaluations.
Bruce Hemminger is familiar with our projects. He and his NMRA Real Street '86 coupe made their tech-story debuts last year as participants in our dragstrip testing of Racecraft's Fox 'Stang suspension system ("Off the Bumper," Dec. '06, p.108). Well, the opportunity must have given Bruce a mild case of tech fever or something, because it wasn't long after that report when he called us and inquired about our interest in testing a new, bolt-on and spray plate nitrous system for S197 'Stangs.
The bottle is mounted on the passenger side of the trunk. After inspecting below the car to ensure he will not be drilling through a fuel line, brake line, spot weld, or electrical wiring, Bruce removes the passenger-side muffler and drills four 3/8-inch holes to mount the bottle brackets to the trunk floor. The muffler is removed to make tightening the nuts and bolts for the brackets easier. He recommends leaving approximately 8 inches of space between the two bottle brackets, ensuring a good fit.
"New" is always an attention-getter when it's used to describe some sort of nitrous product for '05-and-beyond Mustangs. Various iterations of blower and turbo systems took the market by storm shortly after S197s hit the streets. Although nitrous kits for the new 'Stangs also appeared on the scene, the early systems debuted in the form of wet nozzle- style nitrous injection, which basically were no different from units designed for New Edge and earlier EFI 'Stangs. According to Bruce-who counts Edelbrock as one of the sponsors of his Real Street racing efforts-Edelbrock Corporation has changed that.
Bruce called and let us know he had the 411 on Edelbrock's new dry-shot plate kit (PN 70410; $596.07), and he was eager to share it with us. The system is called the Performer EFI Dry Kit and it's designed for '05-'07 Mustang GTs.
With a dry nitrous system, nitrous is supplied directly into the intake stream and the PCM makes all the calls in regards to adding fuel-via the injectors-by raising fuel pressure as necessary. As such, it's capable of boosting 40-80 additional horsepower into a new 'Stang's 4.6 without needing any tuning. This kit is a modern-day throwback to nitrous units used on early EFI 5.0s.
Bruce collaborated with Van Drunen Ford, the Homewood, Illinois, dealership where he works as sales manager, and High Speed Performance of Moline, Illinois, to install and dyno test Edelbrock's Performer EFI Dry Kit on a bone-stock '06 Mustang GT. The test was conducted with a simple 50 shot of nitrous, which, as you'll learn when you read further, performed like a champ on the new 'Stang.
After establishing a mounting location for the nitrous bottle, Bruce runs the nitrous-feed line from the trunk to the outside of the car by passing it through a rubber grommet on the driver side of the trunk. The line runs along the driver-side framerail and up into the engine compartment.
Once the air-intake tube and the air-filter housing are removed, and the electrical connections to the throttle body have been dislodged, Bruce unbolts the throttle body from the intake.