Our T-top project 'Stang performed flawlessly in a workout on the dyno that would have scattered lesser engines. We made 15 6,000-rpm pulls with and without water-methanol injection, and the A.R.E. Performance small-block maintained consistent boost, power, and torque output at steady and safe air/fuel levels. The dyno flog also demonstrated the merits of our coupe's Performance Automatic AODE transmission and Precision Industries Stallion lockup torque converter, as both worked great throughout the session.
On the Dyno
Our combination of the A.R.E. Performance-rebuilt powerplant and Paxton Novi 2000 supercharger made a brief stop at 670 rwhp when we tested it just prior to leaving for our PINKS All Out experience (Lights, Cameras...Action!," Mar. '08, p. 128). A.R.E. Performance is formerly known as Big Terry's Engine Shop in Simi Valley, California, but still owned by Rocco Acerrio.
Those of you who paid close attention to the story (i.e., read Horse Sense) probably noticed that not long after our return from Las Vegas, our project T-top coupe's blown 350 (enough with the Chevy displacement" comments-it's just the way the math worked out) laid down a impressive, nonintercooled 811 horses (700 lb-ft of torque) on Extreme Automotive's Dynapack Evolution 4000 rear-wheel dyno.
Our goal since we installed the new engine has been to overcome setbacks we've experienced (fuel injectors) and to improve our engine's XFI tune. With Ford Racing Performance Parts' 150-lb/hr fuel injectors in place and Snow Performance's Stage 3G Boost Cooler being employed to bring inlet-air temperature down to a more efficient level for the engine's power and torque range, we're confident that we're now on the right track for achieving a solid and safe tune that will produce great performance.
The dyno chart in this report includes our pre-PINKS performance with 650cc fuel injectors. It also reflects the horsepower/torque positives that were achieved through Harv's mastery of XFI, as well as the larger (safer) tuning window that was created by installing the bigger injectors (duty cycle never topped 50 percent at any time during our dyno session) and using VP MS 109 E fuel. We definitely need to shout out props to A.R.E. Performance for an engine that stood up to 15 consecutive dyno pulls and remained consistent with its middle-800 peak horsepower and 700-plus lb-ft of torque output (with a whopping 830/727 on our first pull after lunch), when test variables (ambient temp, 0-6,000-rpm scale, cool down time, and so on) remained unchanged.
More important in this case is the fact that we learned there's also a lot of good that can be said about cooling supercharged inlet air with water-meth. Snow's new Stage 3G Boost Cooler system was easy to work with and calibrate, and it showed us considerably lower inlet-air temperatures than we previously had. The largest temperature drop we experienced was 44 degrees, from 184 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and one interesting discovery in our test is the 0.8 psi increase in boost at 3,266 rpm, when we put meth in the mix after the change to 150-lb/hr injectors.
While we realize the temperature decrease doesn't compare with the below-ambient levels that can be achieved with an intercooler (we'd love to have the condensation and all-out frost on the blower's discharge tube that a 'cooler or shot of nitrous can cause), we're impressed and we're fairly certain that deeper cooling can be gained with the addition of a second nozzle for the water-meth injection.
Sometimes, it's all about experimenting when it comes to making a 'Stang better. We plan to continue trying new parts and concepts in our ongoing effort to improve our project T-top coupe, and we'll definitely keep you posted on the results, good and bad, of all our doings.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL DYNO CHART FROM OUR WATER/METHANOL INJECTION TEST