scott r
Well-Known Member
Alrighty, now I've had time to calm down and really DRIVE the supercharged trac, instead of RACING it everywhere. I went on a 150 mile trip last Tuesday. I used approximately 6.8 gallons of fuel (I filled it COMPLETELY up before I left, then filled it COMPLETELY when I returned, but still, that's an estimate). That equates to about 22mpg, which is only about 1 mile/gallon worse than I was getting BEFORE the supercharger.
Actually driving was a much greater pleasure. I didn't find myself shifting down as much on those large uphill climbs as long as I was going 55+ mph. If I was going 70+ mph, I could usually even accelerate, thanks to the higher RPMs and more boost! I did have to watch my speed in the 55mph zones, almost ANY pressure on the gas pedal caused you to accelerate on flat ground if your RPMs were around 2000, which is where mine is at 55mph. I don't mean bone-jarring acceleration just from touching the accelerator, but it's noticeable and you'll find yourself breaking the speed limit quite often.
The torque is nothing short of spectacular. You can tell it's got a boatload of torque whenever you are going up a hill and don't have to shift down, it just keeps on pulling throughout the entire RPM range.
I have a limited slip rear-end, so traction really isn't that much of an issue. If you put a supercharger on a 'trac without a limited-slip or posi, I'm pretty sure you would have a problem or two with traction...even on dry pavement. There is NOTHING that is going to keep you from positively roasting the tires on wet pavement. Even a limited-slip can be a LOT of fun if you heat the tires up a bit before takeoff, via a bit of a brake torque. I roasted the tires all the way through first and well into second with an automatic transmission.
So needless to say, if you want to get crazy, you could go through a set of tires pretty quickly if you wanted to.
The engine does run HOT with the supercharger, but that's mainly due to the temperature of the air being forced into the engine by the roots-type supercharger. When I turn the engine off, you get the "rice krispy effect" for a minute or two, but I don't see where it's caused any damage, nor do I expect it to cause any damage. I haven't managed to turn my exhaust manifold red/orange/yellow yet, so I think I'm still within safe operating temperatures, even though the outside temp varied from 68 on Monday to 95 on Friday. I do think an intercooler or a boost cooler from snowperformance dot net would help significantly. I am designing a custom ram-air kit (read, redneck ram-air) for it as we speak, so that should also cool down the intake temps a bit too.
Since I still have truck tires on the 'Trac (well, it IS a truck, after all), I haven't taken it over 100mph yet, but I can tell you that even at 90-95mph, the truck is still pulling VERY hard and I have no doubt that it would do 120 (where the speed limiter kicks in). When I get my new tires/wheels, I'll make sure it'll do 120. The way that the Trac pulls at 90mph is just awesome, it feels like it has MORE power at higher speeds than it does at lower speeds, which is understandable since it's getting a LOT more air.
Passing power is just amazing. If you're behind a slow-poke and you mash on the pedal, you will TAKE OFF and be around the guy, and subsequently be at 80mph before you know it.
I haven't done any handling/braking performance mods up to this point, but I think it should be offered as a kit along with the supercharger because you WILL need it. I have the "upgraded" brake pads/rotors from auto zone (which probably aren't much better than stock) and the brake fade is pretty bad. After a bit of road racing or hard driving, you're going to be hard pressed to stop. So make SURE to upgrade your brakes to some very good pads/rotors along with the supercharger. I am also going to be getting a sway bar as well as the 1 3/8 inch lowering/handling kit from EE soon because
Actually driving was a much greater pleasure. I didn't find myself shifting down as much on those large uphill climbs as long as I was going 55+ mph. If I was going 70+ mph, I could usually even accelerate, thanks to the higher RPMs and more boost! I did have to watch my speed in the 55mph zones, almost ANY pressure on the gas pedal caused you to accelerate on flat ground if your RPMs were around 2000, which is where mine is at 55mph. I don't mean bone-jarring acceleration just from touching the accelerator, but it's noticeable and you'll find yourself breaking the speed limit quite often.
The torque is nothing short of spectacular. You can tell it's got a boatload of torque whenever you are going up a hill and don't have to shift down, it just keeps on pulling throughout the entire RPM range.
I have a limited slip rear-end, so traction really isn't that much of an issue. If you put a supercharger on a 'trac without a limited-slip or posi, I'm pretty sure you would have a problem or two with traction...even on dry pavement. There is NOTHING that is going to keep you from positively roasting the tires on wet pavement. Even a limited-slip can be a LOT of fun if you heat the tires up a bit before takeoff, via a bit of a brake torque. I roasted the tires all the way through first and well into second with an automatic transmission.
So needless to say, if you want to get crazy, you could go through a set of tires pretty quickly if you wanted to.The engine does run HOT with the supercharger, but that's mainly due to the temperature of the air being forced into the engine by the roots-type supercharger. When I turn the engine off, you get the "rice krispy effect" for a minute or two, but I don't see where it's caused any damage, nor do I expect it to cause any damage. I haven't managed to turn my exhaust manifold red/orange/yellow yet, so I think I'm still within safe operating temperatures, even though the outside temp varied from 68 on Monday to 95 on Friday. I do think an intercooler or a boost cooler from snowperformance dot net would help significantly. I am designing a custom ram-air kit (read, redneck ram-air) for it as we speak, so that should also cool down the intake temps a bit too.
Since I still have truck tires on the 'Trac (well, it IS a truck, after all), I haven't taken it over 100mph yet, but I can tell you that even at 90-95mph, the truck is still pulling VERY hard and I have no doubt that it would do 120 (where the speed limiter kicks in). When I get my new tires/wheels, I'll make sure it'll do 120. The way that the Trac pulls at 90mph is just awesome, it feels like it has MORE power at higher speeds than it does at lower speeds, which is understandable since it's getting a LOT more air.
Passing power is just amazing. If you're behind a slow-poke and you mash on the pedal, you will TAKE OFF and be around the guy, and subsequently be at 80mph before you know it.
I haven't done any handling/braking performance mods up to this point, but I think it should be offered as a kit along with the supercharger because you WILL need it. I have the "upgraded" brake pads/rotors from auto zone (which probably aren't much better than stock) and the brake fade is pretty bad. After a bit of road racing or hard driving, you're going to be hard pressed to stop. So make SURE to upgrade your brakes to some very good pads/rotors along with the supercharger. I am also going to be getting a sway bar as well as the 1 3/8 inch lowering/handling kit from EE soon because
