Through various combinations...
Through various combinations Anderson Ford Motorsport's mule test car, an '05 Mustang GT, has spun the rollers of the AFM Dynojet 746 times. That's a lot of testing! To hold up to the boosted D.S.S. engine combo on the dyno, street, and dragstrip the engine is backed by an AFM Stage V clutch (PN AF-11.0-S5-26-S197; $795), an AFM aluminum flywheel (PN AF-SLFW46-8; $329), and a ProMotion Transmission (PN 05-09 3650 26-spline; $1,650). So far the combo's been bulletproof while handling multiple 6,500-rpm, 20-plus-psi dyno pulls.
Such was the case when Rick Anderson at Anderson Ford Motorsport gave us a call about Vortech's air-to-air intercooler. He asked if we had ever tested a centrifugal blower configured with one of these charge coolers. We had not. Rick explained that the results, especially the air-charge temps from this setup were impressive. Sounded like a good story to us.
Making it even more compelling is that even as positive-displacement blowers and turbos have grown in popularity, Rick has steadfastly maintained that a properly tuned centrifugal will deliver a better performance at the dragstrip. "Centrifugals are linear," he explained. "You can put the power to the ground with a centrifugal. They are more tractable because as tire speed goes up horsepower goes up, so they don't fight the chassis."With that in mind, we wanted to see just how this intercooled combo responded to a variety of superchargers and boost levels to truly max out its potential on 93-octane pump gas. So we asked Rick if he'd be willing to run the AFM in-house mule, an '05 Mustang GT, with all the streetable Vortech blowers, so you could see how the power builds differently with each blower. Always game for some testing, Rick gladly agreed to strapping on Vortech's Si-, T-, JT-, and YSi-Trim superchargers to his boost-ready combo
From left to right are Vortech's...
From left to right are Vortech's Si-, T-, JT-, and YSi-Trim superchargers. You can see as you move from blower to blower that the volute sizes and impeller designs change for a given performance level. Vortech rates the Si-Trim at a maximum output of 22 psi, 1,150 cfm, and 775 horsepower. The T-Trim maxes out at 26 psi, 1,200 cfm, and 825 hp. Stepping up to the JT yields maximums of 27 psi, 1,450 cfm, and 1,000 hp; while the YSi-Trim tops out at 30 psi, 1,600 cfm, and 1,200 horsepower. The Si-Trim features a 3.5-inch inlet and 2.75-inch outlet, while the T-Trim shares the same outlet size; its inlet is 3.75 inches. Both the JT- and YSi-Trim blowers feature 4-inch inlets and 3-inch outlets.
Rick topped off the combo with a pair of AFM ported stock heads ($1,200 plus cores), stock cams locked in the fully advanced position, a stock intake, and a stock throttle body. This stout but stock-appearing combo is fed by a Vortech Si-Trim tuner kit (PN 4FU218-110SQ; $3,063), which served as foundation for a variety of different head units. This was augmented by the AFM Cool Kit (PK AAPP0506; $2,295), which includes a Vortech air-to-air intercooler, Anderson Power Pipe (PN AF-0134c), DBX85 mass air meter (PN AB-DBX85), adapter harness (PN AB-P03) as well as the optional Vortech Mondo bypass valve (PN V-8D103-001; $277).
AFM's Cool Kit, feeding the...
AFM's Cool Kit, feeding the various blowers in our test, offers an unrestricted inlet through an AFM Power Pipe, while the blower boosts through the Vortech intercooler, past a blow-through 85mm Abaco mass air meter. The blow-through arrangement allows for the most accurate mass-air measurement and great driveability with the side effect that Rick could read blower discharge temps right off the mass-air sensor. While you can't see it here, the setup is also configured with a Mondo bypass valve to handle the flow released by these big blowers when the throttle slams closed. Rick says this setup is really loud, so if you like that racy bypass valve sound, this deal is for you.
All told, this combo easily supported over 600 horsepower, which is impressive from a stock-displacement, stock-cammed Three-Valve 4.6 engine. To see how Rick got her past 600 and keep the discharge temperatures shockingly low, keep reading. We think you'll be impressed with the results.