Department Of Boost
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Department Of Boost
R-Spec manifold
2005-2010 Mustang with 4.6L 3v
Make 650-1400rwhp!
Group Buy Is Open!!!!
R-Spec manifold
2005-2010 Mustang with 4.6L 3v
Make 650-1400rwhp!
Group Buy Is Open!!!!
Overview:
We started working on the R-Spec when we realized that none of the available blower kits were big enough to support the horsepower numbers that have become common place amongst the hard core end of enthusiasts and hot rodders. The Kenne Bell 2.8L just doesn’t get the job done. The most we have ever seen one make is 844hp and that was on e85. That was it, the blower had no more. On pump gas we have never seen one make over 700hp. Big numbers yes, but in this day and age that is not at the top of the spectrum and to get those numbers the Kenne Bell is all maxed out and not real happy. Additionally the Kenne Bell has serious belt problems (which can be fixed with one of our belt kits, but that costs some coin), they run very hot (which can not be fixed without some serious custom fabrication) and we were never happy with the packaging of the Kenne Bell kits in general. So we decided to make our own kit based around the Whipple 3.4L Crusher (2.9L, 4.0L and 4.5L are options) which is an absolute monster capable of 1200+hp.
We have made 776hp on pump gas on our test car (octane limited) at 19.5psi and 981hp on race fuel at 24psi. Our test car’s motor is really not set up for this combination either. It is still a 4.6L, Stage I heads, Comp 127350 cams, 1 5/8” headers and 2.5” exhaust. If the motor were a 5.0L or a 5.3L Big Bore, had Stage III heads, 127550 cams (or custom), 1 3/4” headers and 3” exhaust it would make well into the mid 800’s on pump, well over 1000 with race fuel and probably as much as 1200 on e85. And the blower is still not being spun to its maximum RPM. If you want something you can make big power with on pump gas it doesn’t get any better than this. And if you want to make STUPID power on race fuel or e85 it can do that too.
Our first priority with the R-Spec kit was cooling. And we took a real hard look at this. These days it is not too hard to make boost, keeping the intake air temperatures (IAT’s) down to the point where they don’t hurt power on the other hand is the trick.
We already had the most efficient, best flowing, best cooling air to water intercooler (IC) designed and manufactured for the S197 Mustangs in our GT450 manifolds. So we took that design, made it even better, and ran with it.
Then we started to look at other cooling solutions. The IAT’s are not completely a byproduct of the blower discharge temps. The IAT’s are also effected by the heat being soaked into the intake manifold from the cylinder heads which run at 200+deg and the engine coolant that runs through the intake manifold which is anywhere from 175-225deg. Additionally there is a lot of radiant heat in the valley of the motor which heats the bottom of the manifold (the “pan”). These three heat sources transfer a LOT of heat into the aluminum intake manifold. And the intake manifold heats up the IAT’s considerably. When you want your IAT’s at about 100deg it doesn’t do you a whole lot of good to run them through a box (the intake) that is almost 200deg.
During our testing/investigation of IAT’s we found that the intercooler (IC) was actually not only cooling the blower discharge temps which is its job, but it was also cooling the body of the intake manifold because it was getting so warm from the heat transferred from the motor. Which is not its job. You only have so much cooling energy at your disposal and you want to use that to cool the blower discharge temps, not the intake manifold.
1st mockup of the final production unit
Proven Design:
This design/combination is proven. There are a few other forced induction options out there that are not. Buyer beware. Just because something is for sale, doesn’t mean that it’s completely tested and proven.
We use Whipple superchargers. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said about that. Whipple has proven themselves in the performance industry over and over again. There is nothing out there that has higher quality standards than a Whipple.
As far as our stuff goes there isn’t much to prove. All we have done is design a few glorified adapters (that’s basically what a manifold is) and make them. A very nice, well thought out adapter, but an adapter none the less. There aren’t even any moving parts. That said the R-Spec design is a progression of our very popular and very proven GT450 manifold design. This isn’t our first rodeo.
The R-Spec intercooler is also a progression of our GT450. Same basic design, machining and production principles, just refined for this application.
The R-spec engine cooling changes are, to be frank, a rip off from the GT500. A prettier and more “custom” version, but a rip off none the less. The design principals were proven on the GT500 and our version proven out on our test car.
The belt system is based on our Kenne Bell 10 rib belt drive conversion kits. They have over 10,000mi of very hard testing on them.
We are exhaustive in our testing and product development. We do not use customers as our last step in our development process like some other manufacturers do.
Thermal Features:
Intercooler
Our GT450 IC (in the GT450 manifolds) is already the best performing intercooler you can get for a positive displacement S197 blower. But the R-Spec is something that we wanted on the cutting edge so we kicked things up a notch and designed an intercooler that absolutely CRUSHES everything else out there.
The start of this design process was to build a IC test rig with a “configurable” IC. The rig allowed us to test different IC designs, different restrictions, different pumps, etc. It was very, very educational. As far as we know no one has ever done this.
Right now the best performing IC available for a S197 aside from our GT450 is the stock GT500 unit which is a good benchmark. The Kenne Bell, Whipple, Roush TVS, Eforce, Saleen, etc IC’s range from “almost as good” as the GT500 to “not even close”. The GT500 IC’s are pretty good, but most of these guys have IAT problems still. So that is what we benchmarked our R-Spec IC against.
The R-Spec IC uses a Bell core and our own billet tanks. Bell is one of the biggest names in IC’s and their cores set the benchmark for the industry. The R-spec core has exterior dimensions that are 11% larger than the GT500. You can only stuff so much IC into an intake manifold, so doing something like using a core that is 2-3x the size simply is not an option. That’s not a problem though, core size is not what holds most IC’s back, water flow is. It sounds wrong at first but the IC is not what cools the IAT’s, the water running through the IC is. It’s pretty simple really, no or little water gets you no or little cooling. The water is what soaks up the heat and removes it from the IC/manifold. So, on a basic level you run the largest/best flowing core you can stuff in the manifold then feed that sucker a LOT of water. And water flow is where almost every IC out there has its problems.
The GT500 IC (and most others) have 5/8 fittings/restrictions…..and some smaller. And all of the other ones out there have sharp bends, some times more than a few, in their system. These small passages coupled with sharp bends are horrible for water flow. Yes, a lot of them use 3/4” hoses, but 3/4" hoses don’t make 5/8” restrictions bigger. The R-spec IC uses 1.25” fittings. Big deal right? 1.25” isn’t a whole lot bigger than 5/8”, is it? The answer is yes, a LOT bigger. A 1.25” passage flows up to 4 times the water a 5/8 passage does (depending on the pump used). That is a massive difference! And you want all that water flow. You may be thinking “But isn’t there a point where you are flowing too much or an unneeded amount of water?”. Yes, there is a point way out there where you are not getting any more returns on your water investment. But that is a long way off. You would have to run a fitting size/hose that is so big that it would literally be too big to get in/out of the IC core. So running too much water is effectively impossible.
In simple terms the R-Spec IC has up to 400%+ more cooling capacity than the next best one out there, the GT500. Mission accomplished!
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