Update on Supercharged Trac

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:lol: Tempting, Tempting, Tempting.

I may be able to do it for free though, one of the guys I play poker with runs a new/used tire shop. I'll talk to him and see if he can give me a set that he's going to have to pay someone else to take and I'll post a great video here before I do sell/trade the truck. I know it'll do a pretty impressive burnout.
 
Alrighty, I just took the trac out for its first official run after the new plugs were put in. By the way, for those of you who haven't changed your plugs, it's MUCH easier to take the passenger's side tire off to change the plugs on the passenger side.

Anyway, 80 miles round-trip tonight, in 29 degree weather. The truck ran pretty good. Certainly better than it had recently, with my fouled plug. Running on all 6 cylinders is much nicer. hehe

I experienced no new problems, the truck runs nice at idle, part throttle and WOT. In fact, I was pretty pleasantly surprised when I floored it to pass a Dodge Ram, the truck took off quite well. Some of that was due to the new plugs, some to the nice cool air outside. I heard no detonation and no missing/backfiring. I am still hearing the "thud" at idle every once in a while, but not NEARLY as often as before. I am really lost about that noise.

On a more positive note, I drove the mustang GT tonight. It's damn fast, but I'm not sure it's quite as fast as I expected. I think the trac just might give it a run for its money up until about 70mph (the trac would lose, but it wouldn't be as far behind as I had thought). The mustang truly shines at highway speeds. Dumping it down into 3rd to pass someone makes for a VERY quick blast around a slowpoke.

Tomorrow...the GTO! :)



By the way, does anyone work at GM? If I go with the Ford, I can get an xplan from my brother's father in law (if he's in a good mood), but I really don't know many people who have worked or currently work at GM. Do they even HAVE a program like the x-plan?
 
Baron, Sorry to hear about your misfortune but I dont think its something simple like plugs or wires. It sounds as if you have internal damage. broken ringland or possible bent valves. You should always go to a cooler plug when going from a naturally aspirated vehicle to a poweradder. Your intake temps in the combustion chamber went from around 10-15 degrees above ambient to prolly 50-100 degrees above ambient with the Supercharger. When this occurs you need 2 things, higher octane fuel and colder plug to reduce odds of detonation. I would personally stay away from the Denso plugs, they are very finiky in regards to detonation and the porcilen will crack, it $15-$20 a plug that becomes expensive real fast. Also stay away from Platinium plugs, platinium retains heat and will also increase odds of detonation. Yes Denso plugs will produce power but just be warned you will replace them as soon as you get the slightest bit of detonation. My suggestion to you is go to autozone and purchase a gauge that will check cylinder compression, check all cylinders and make sure compression is same. Ive been a performance nut for a very long time, you always see supercharged vehicles die when the air 1st gets cool for the year. If your tune isnt perfect, the cooler air produces more power causing the vehicle to lean out and then detonate, this will break ringlands on pistons or even chuck a rod out the side of the block. Good luck and I hope it all works out for the better.



John M



www.skittlesracing.com





On a side note:



Those saying the kit is new or it was the kit, its not the kit. Our STs were designed to make around 200HP, you increase power on any stock engine and its going to show you your weak link. While the kit is new, the compressor(Blower) is used on between 25-50 different model cars stock. The Eaton is a very nice compressor, the problem is roots blowers produce extreme intake temps. Most Eatons are innercooled, ie. Ford Lightning,Mustang Cobra, Pontiac Gran Prix. In the racing world there is a saying, You gotta pay to play. The faster you get the more crap that breaks, your stressing parts beyond there designed intentions.
 
Just read the update. Lucky it was only a plug. Have extra fuel programmed into your tune and take a extra degree or 2 of timing out. The Detonation will eventually expire your engine.
 
I'm going to baby it until I can get the GTO or Mustang GT, which ARE built for speed/power. This time I will try to be a bit more sensible with power adders by building up the internals of the engine BEFORE adding a supercharger. There are so few options out there to make the trac strong enough to handle the 250+ horsepower, that I didn't have a whole lot of choice. I should have just gotten the performance car to begin with. Maybe a couple of years down the road whenever Ford releases the Adrenaline, I'll buy another trac. I love my trac, it's given me three great years and performed everything I've asked of it without whining, complaining or breaking (too much). Being able to shove well over 250 horsepower through this engine/drivetrain that wasn't designed for it is rather impressive. My next vehicle will be bulletproof before I add anything that nearly doubles the horsepower output to the rear wheels. I guess I've learned a fairly expensive lesson.

By the way, I went with autolite double platinum plugs, because nobody had the denso iridiums in a cooler plug, one place in town had 'em and they were HOTTER than stock, so there's no way I was going to go that route.
 
well, I think they COULD. Why they're choosing NOT TO is another story entirely. Honestly, I think these sport tracs that we all own shouldn't have come out with anything less than 280 horsepower to begin with...280 REAR WHEEL horsepower. With 280, they wouldn't be a speed demon, but they would be a heck of a lot more fun to drive. The supercharger puts the trac right where it needs to be. Instead of being just another truck, it has the potential to be a fun-to-drive truck. 170 rear-wheel horsepower just doesn't cut it.
 
Gavin,



What were the Lapanese getting out of thier engines in 1990's? Nissan was getting 200 HP with a supercharger. Ford did it without a supercharger. Nissan gets 305 HP out of thier 5.6L V8 compared to Ford getting 300 HP out of only 5.4L.



Toyota is getting 29 more HP out of 4 litres, but they are running a DOHC setup with 4 valves a cylinder. Nissan is getting 265 HP out of 4 litres and they are also running a DOHC setup with 4 valves a cylinder.



Imagine what Ford could do with just three valves a cylinder. I bet the 4.0 could be pushing 275 HP, but why should they? They will have a V8 in the Trac. Why offer a V6 with as much power as the V8?



Our 460 CI V8 in our motorhome is only like 235 HP. The Nissan has 265. Think it can haul 20,000 LBS up a hill at 70 MPH? Our Motorhome can.



Honda has started uning the new formula computing HP in thier vehicles. Using the new formula, they are loosing HP number. GM, on the other hand, is gaining. Are the numbers misleading?



I am looking foreward to when all auto makers will start using the new formula for computing HP numbers. I wonder what the real numbers will be.





Tom
 
HP isnt everything, TQ plays a big factor into the entire equation. Sure Honda,Nissan and Toyota can make 300HP in a 2500# car but why will that car only do 14-15 seconds in the 1/4 mile ? It doesnt make any tq. A Domestic 300HP 3200# will run 12-13 seconds in the 1/4 mile, its the Tq that is the difference. A V8 will always have a flatter HP,TQ line than a 4 Cyl or 6cyl, the high HP 4cyl or 6cyl might make big hp at 6500RPM but at 4000 it doesnt make much. Now so you understand what Im say, How often are you driving at 6500RPM ;)
 
I love having the utility of a truck, since I usually have a lot of stuff to carry which will not fit in a trunk. However, for the first 10 years of my driving life, I never had a car under 300 horsepower. I guess once you start with stuff like that and get accustomed to them, you're always left wanting if you're driving anything with sub-standard performance. Something like the Adrenaline, if Ford ever decides to produce it, would be the PERFECT vehicle for me. All the room I need as well as tons of power. I suspect it'll be well over $40k though, probably approaching $50k, so they won't be the big sellers that we're all hoping for.

I am going to look at a couple more cars this afternoon most likely. I don't know if I'll actually trade off my truck or not.
 
Gavin,



They are about the same. Honda, Nissan, and Toyota all get the same MPG then the Trac does. The only one that does the best is the Colorado.



Try again.





Tom
 
Our motorhome has less power then a Toyota or Nissan has.



It will push 20,000 LBS down the highway at 70 MPH.





Tom
 
Your motorhome probably has about 3-4x the torque that any of the hondas, toyotas or other trucks have though. It's torque that makes the big difference when you need to haul a heavy load. That's why diesels have relatively low horsepower but mega-high torque.
 
Thats my point.



We are comparing apples to oranges. Ford was producing way more hp and torque then the imports were before they went through thier redesign.



It is unfair to say a Toyota truck is so much better then a 1970 F-100 because that Toyota engine has so much more power and it rides better. The vehicle was designed in 1970 for crying out loud. Nissan could not even get the power of Ford's 4.0L SOHC with them pushing a supercharger. Get real! Ford did it without a blower.



Many now think Ford failed with the 4.0L SOHC engine because the new 2005 engines produce so much more power then the sorry 4.0L does. Back when Ford designed our engine, it had the imports beat hands down. it was faster and stopped better.



My 45 year old brother can run faster then your 80 year old grandmother can. He can lift more weight too. Your grandmother sucks! Sound absurd? You bet it is! That is essentially what everyone is saying when they complain about the HP output of the 4.0L SOHC engine.





Tom
 
I'm taking the trac to the Pontiac dealership tonight, most likely to trade it off (before it manages to start spitting engine pieces out the tailpipe) on a GTO.

The idiots at the dealership didn't CARE if it had a supercharger on it or not, but they gave me what I wanted for it, so it'll probably be gone tonight. If there's anyone out there who wants a supercharger and you're also a mechanic, I bet they would sell the supercharger to you if you took it off (I'm also returning all the stock parts to them with the truck). I'm taking my HIDs off, my DVD player out and a couple of amps, other than that, it's all going away (not that there IS much else though...). If anyone wants to try to buy the s/c from the dealership, send me a message and I'll give you their number. I'm sure the dealership will do whatever they can to get as much money out of the vehicle as possible.
 
pass... :lol:



Good luck with the Goat! How about some smoky GTO burnout pictures in a few days? ;)
 
Once it gets broken in I will. Breaking in most cars generally means farting in the seat, but with any new performance car I also take it kinda easy for the first thousand miles or so. I promise a nice, long, smoky burnout soon though. :)
 

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