What I did to the XR7 over the winter

racecougar

racecougar

Registered User
I figure it's time I disclose what I did over the winter. I had not really increased the power level of the car since mid-2007, and I was starting to get a little bored with it. As of the 2009 Shootout, it was running 12.7's @ 109 MPH, and it was producing 314 rwhp / 329 rwtq with 5 psi of boost and 12 degrees of total ignition advance. I decided to increase the boost by dropping down to the smallest blower pulley offered by Kenne Bell for my configuration, a 2.5" pulley, which would theoretically bump the boost up another 3 psi.

To do so safely, I decided to install a Snow Stage 2 MAF-referenced Methanol/Water injection kit. I installed the controller and a 2 1/2 gallon reservoir in the trunk.
reservoir.jpg


I placed the the pump in the spare tire well, where it is normally hidden by the subwoofer enclosure.
pump.jpg


I located the SafeInjection unit and the anti-siphon solenoid in the air filter box.
safejection.jpg


While I was at it, I crammed the largest filter I could in there, along with a SCT BA 2800 MAF.
filter.jpg


The SafeInjection is set up to retard the ignition by six degrees in the event of a malfunction. The SafeInjection also triggers a 1/2" red LED mounted in the underhood gauge panel. When the system is working correctly, a 1/2" green LED is illuminated. The red LED also serves as my low fluid level indicator.
warninglights.jpg


Based on Snow's recommendation, I'm running a 375 ml nozzle, installed in the inlet plenum of the blower. I've marked the injection point in this picture with a red arrow.
injectionpoint.jpg


I swapped the 2 7/8" diameter supercharger pulley for a 2 1/2" pulley. I also swapped out the Duralast (el cheapo) belt for a slightly shorter Gates belt (el not cheapo). A set of Motorcraft 12FM1 (Lightning) plugs went in, gapped at .034". While I was doing all of this, I rewired the electronics box under the hood, put an engine turned finish on a few more panels, installed the SS brake hoses that I've had here forever, etc., etc. The car received a fair deal of love over the winter.

3-19-10-1.jpg

caipanel.jpg


I tuned it on a local Mustang Dyno back in May. It's making more power, but I'm not finished just yet. Boost peaked at 9.7 psi at about 5000 rpm, but fell off during the run to just 9.1 psi by 6500 rpm. I have the AFR holding steady through the run at 11.9-12.0:1. Ignition advance is steadily around 15.5 - 16 degrees through the run. Testing was run from 4500 to 6500 rpm to ensure both that it wouldn't downshift into second gear and that I had enough reaction time to get off the throttle before the 7000 rpm redline. The numbers ended up at 328.2 rwhp @ 6500 rpm and 316.3 rwtq @ 4500 rpm, which would equate to roughly 377rwhp/364trwtq on a Dynojet. Prior to all of these mods, the car was producing 313.6 rwhp and 328.6 rwtq, as recorded on a Dynojet dyno. The torque peak occurs lower than the 4500 rpm starting point that we used in the tests, and the horsepower was still climbing at the 6500 rpm ending point of the tests. The ole butt dyno says there is definitely an improvement. ;)

All said and done, I believe that with a little bit of time on a Dynojet, I could get the car to show close to 400rwhp/375 rwtq. There is room to add a few more degrees of ignition advance safely. ACT's maxed out at 182 degrees and were fairly consistent from pull to pull, thanks to the methanol/water injection. There were no signs of belt slip during/after the dyno pulls. I haven't done any testing yet, but I believe that the intake tube and throttle body are the source of the disappearing boost above 5000 rpm. I haven't had a chance to get over to the track yet, but as the car sits, I'd expect it to reach the 12.2's in the quarter mile. If time allows, I hope to wring a little more power out of the current setup and shoot for 11.9's.

For the full modifications list, click here: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/garage.php?do=user_garage_view&id=9

That's all for now. :cool:
 
for some reason 314 rwhp seems low to me for a kenne bell supercharged 4 valve engine when the blue limited edition with a sohc 4.6 vortech is putting 615whp down?


it seems like it should be putting 500rwhp down or so
 
That's a nice productive winter! Very nice installation Rod, look forward to seeing it.

Ira
 
Give it a shot with the smaller filter. One thought regarding big filters in small spaces is limited available air. I'm guessing at a minimum, there will be no difference.

The ACT's are limiting you. Is your meth injection before or after the ACT sensor? What compression ratio are you running?

Very nice setup. I'm planning to move to a larger meth tank in the trunk and moving the pump for next year. Never got to it this year.
 
TwoToneThunder said:
for some reason 314 rwhp seems low to me for a kenne bell supercharged 4 valve engine when the blue limited edition with a sohc 4.6 vortech is putting 615whp down?


it seems like it should be putting 500rwhp down or so
Click to expand...

He is only running 9.1psi of boost and 16 degrees of timing. Due to lack of intercooler im sure. That car is very capable of what you are indicating. Very nice set-up on a very nice car. Your attention to detail is phenominal Rod...
 
TwoToneThunder said:
for some reason 314 rwhp seems low to me for a kenne bell supercharged 4 valve engine when the blue limited edition with a sohc 4.6 vortech is putting 615whp down?


it seems like it should be putting 500rwhp down or so
Click to expand...


314 rwhp was the old power number...non-intercooled, no meth/water injection, 5 psi of boost, and only 12 degrees of total advance. It was the "break-in" tune on the engine. Also, Chris' car is nowhere near an apples to apples comparison. He's running a centrifugal SC, 15 psi of boost, intercooled if I remember correctly, ported heads, and I believe he was still running a manual transmission when he dyno'd it. He's also running a more aggressive tune than I am currently.

I have no doubt that it is making more power than recorded, as the torque peak was obviously occuring below the start of the pull and the horsepower peak was occuring somewhere beyond the end of the pull. I may throw the car on a Dynojet sometime to get comparable numbers (since Dynojet numbers are what everyone likes to throw around), but I'm really not too concerned with what the dyno says. We'll see how it does at the track whenever I get around to taking the car over there. I'm still not really leaning on this engine, and I'm just going at my own pace. When I get bored with the power level, it gets bumped up. :)



Mike8675309 said:
Give it a shot with the smaller filter. One thought regarding big filters in small spaces is limited available air. I'm guessing at a minimum, there will be no difference.

The ACT's are limiting you. Is your meth injection before or after the ACT sensor? What compression ratio are you running?
Click to expand...

The old filter was pretty tired looking. I have considered a few ways to get more air to the filter, but I've yet to mess with it. The ACT sensor is located in the blower manifold (beneath/after the supercharger), while the injection point is in the inlet plenum (see pic in my original post). I'm running a 8.9:1 CR.

I will probably eventually put it back on the dyno to get more power out of it, but for now, I'm completely happy with it. I'd like to try bringing in the meth injection a little bit earlier and ramping it up faster, as it wasn't even running at full capacity on the dyno. I should be able to drop the ACT's a bit more. Either way, the current ACT's are lower than they were with only 5 psi (without meth injection).


Thanks for all of the compliments, guys.
 
Are you planning in the future to intercool it at all? Your car is also one of my favorites and Im not even a big Cougar fan. I am looking at going away from the MAF controlled injection. Dave D seems to feel I might be getting some feedback from the snow system affecting my Dyno pulls (electrical grimlins) so I am looking at going to a contoller that will run off an injector vs off the Maf sensor. My system now is a stage one and been on the car a long time. Time to upgrade. I like how you take your time upping the power. These cars always seem to be a work in progress;)

Ken
 
Is there a reason you can't use or adapt the same water to air i/c set up that a 03/04 Cobra has? I see not being intercooled is the only thing holding you back from producing some huge numbers due to needing more boost and more timing. By the way Ron, everything looks first class as usual.

I have a bad feeling that if we line up this year at the Shootout I'll be putting mine on the trailer............:rolleyes:
 
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Looks great Rod!

Glad to see you upping the ante a little on the power and the car looks spectacular as it always does.

Hope to see the car again this year.

Great Job!
 
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Just curious -- Did you have the converter locked during the pulls?

P.S. You probably have the fastest Cougar in the state now :(

P.P.S. Ever consider going centrifugal? I that blower may be holding you back.
 
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I still haven't given up on building a liquid to air IC setup for it, but developing it has been taking longer and costing far more than I had originally planned. I've been jonesing for a little more power for awhile now, so I went with a little chemical intercooling for now. :) As far as these cars always being a work in progress, I couldn't agree more.

The "B" heads (what I'm running) are quite different from the "C" heads (what the 03-04 Cobra has). If I would have had the extra coin back when I built the engine, I would have gone with a pair of "C" heads and an intercooled setup. I agree that not being intercooled is holding me back.

I know it seems like intercooling wouldn't be too difficult, but trust me, it isn't a simple deal. I'm not going to get into all of the constraints here, but there is a reason why it hasn't been done before with this blower and "B" heads. I do plan on eventually completing it, and I have a lot invested in the project.

The converter was locked during the pulls. I considered installing a centrifugal on the car back when I was still NA...then I took a ride in Neibert's 91...and I had to have a twin-screw.
 
Ignition advance is steadily around 15.5 - 16 degrees through the run.
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Rod,

I'm not very well versed on the 4.6 DOHC motor, but that just doesn't sound like enough timing. Shouldn't it be somewhere in the low 20s ?

David
 
David Neibert said:
Rod,

I'm not very well versed on the 4.6 DOHC motor, but that just doesn't sound like enough timing. Shouldn't it be somewhere in the low 20s ?

David
Click to expand...

Not with 180* IAT temps, or some c16. We run about 20* and 18 lbs of boost in the marauder with race gas.

Rod what were your IAT's at 5 psi?
 
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Even with that amount of boost now that you have the meth installed a new tune should brings those numbers up substantially. I have freinds with bone stock marauder/mach 1 motors making in that RWHP range with only bolt ones. I realize the heads are different but I think the misisng power has to bein the tune and lack of timing you had due to ACT's. You should definitely see where she is at now with a new tune and add some boost if your ACT's with meth will allow it
 
David Neibert said:
Rod,

I'm not very well versed on the 4.6 DOHC motor, but that just doesn't sound like enough timing. Shouldn't it be somewhere in the low 20s ?

David
Click to expand...

It's safe there. Yes, I could advance the timing further (mentioned that in the original post), but I'm taking things at my own pace.


BLOWN38 said:
Rod what were your IAT's at 5 psi?
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They were around 120 degrees over ambient by the end of a 1/4 mile run. Slightly higher on the dyno after heatsoaking the blower. In other words, they would reach upwards of 200 degrees pretty often.


XxSlowpokexX said:
Even with that amount of boost now that you have the meth installed a new tune should brings those numbers up substantially. I have freinds with bone stock marauder/mach 1 motors making in that RWHP range with only bolt ones. I realize the heads are different but I think the misisng power has to bein the tune and lack of timing you had due to ACT's. You should definitely see where she is at now with a new tune and add some boost if your ACT's with meth will allow it
Click to expand...

Damon, this whole thread is about the results of adding the methanol injection and upping the boost.


Guys, I'm happy with the car. Isn't that what matters? I'm not looking to run 10's or anything. Heck, I only take it to the track once or twice a year anyway. It's a fun street car, and it will never see a rollcage. I'll add more power at my own pace, as I always have. I'm not going to throw a radical tune at it, because I can't afford to build another engine for it. We all have different levels of funding here.

As far as the dyno numbers are concerned...I'm not too concerned about them. I could have changed a few things to show big impressive numbers, but all I was concerned about was using the dyno to get the tune right. The numbers I'll be interested in seeing will be the E.T.'s, and I have a pretty good feeling about them.
 
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