Supercharger – Car of the Day

527 – Rear Wheel Horsepower

garythepowers — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:10:00 +0000

This fall I took the plunge and supercharged my GTO. It is incredible!

Here’s the video of the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_J521ZqkE

A big thanks to East Texas Muscle Cars for the great build.

The car now has 620hp measured at the crank if you factor in a 15% drivetrain loss.

600HP for $25k

garythepowers — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:37:07 +0000

So the 2006 GTO has resurfaced as my “Car of the Day”. (COTD) The 2006 GTO received the same 6.0 liter engine from the Corvette.

With a stock 400hp and 400lb-ft of torque it is has some pretty stout performance out of the box.

However, under the twin scoops of the hood, sits a very tunable motor. The LS2 engine has a lot options to get even more horsepower out of it. The GTO is a great platform to handle more power.

One of the easiest and most cost effective ways to really “boost” the horsepower is a supercharger. There are plenty of supercharger systems designed specifically for the GTO. They are relatively low cost, around $5,000 and can add as much as 200hp to the GTO. All a supercharger really does is simply push more air into the engine. More air = more power, it is that easy.

This can be very appealing to speed freaks out there and would allow a person to keep a relative stock feeling to car without modding the engine to the edge of reliability. A supercharger with a low psi on this engine would have little to no effect on reliability.

In fact, a lot of manufacturers are supercharger their cars from the factory or including a supercharger dealer option. Companies like Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Chevy, Saturn, Toyota, Ford and Lotus just to name a few are all have or are currently offering supercharging options.

One of the problems with boosting the horsepower on cars is the reliability problems. This isn’t a problem with the GTO and one of the kits made specifically for the Pontiac. It is being done a lot out there, so watch out for any GTOs that seem to have a little extra whine. They could be sporting a 600hp boosted engine.

Reliable, powerful, and a good deal, what more could you want? This makes a GTO an even more appealing option. At 400hp the GTO is fast, at 600hp it would be a real sleeper capable of running with nearly anything.

If a GTO lands in my garage it wouldn’t stay stock for long and is a big reason the GTO is the COTD. I’d be looking for a power boost.

The Supercharged Mustang Bullitt is the COTD

garythepowers — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:27:36 +0000

Ford’s top of the line Mustang is the GT500 it is the 500hp supercharged 5.4 liter V8. However, this comes with the nearly a 500lb weight penalty. Sure, its the fastest factory Mustang, but there is another Mustang that has pretty close performance numbers, especially when you add the Ford Factory Racing Supercharger to it.

You can’t buy the Bullitt supercharged from the factory, but you can get a Ford supercharger added. And that will add all the performance of the GT500 and then some, without the penalty of the 500lbs that the GT500 gets because of its iron-block engine.

The Bullitt is real muscle car and sleeper at the same time. The Mustang also has a strong after market to support the quest for more power. And there are all the Ford Factory Racing parts that you can add to your Mustang.

Today’s COTD is a supercharged Mustang Bullitt. The Bullitt is special and the supercharger takes it to next level of performance. The level of my former COTD a Mitsubishi Evo with a Vishnu tune.