Will Putting On A Supercharger Shorten The Life Of The Motor?

[MI2QWK4U]

Can anyone here give me the pros and cons of a roots type blower? I know I will lose the drive train portion of the warranty, but I am curious to know if using a supercharger will cause tremendous wear and tear on the engine and shorten it's lifespan. Any feedback from experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance....
Dave

[Logan]

The roots blower's are great. I absolutely loved my roots equipped 99 Lightning... They make absolutely gobs of torque down low, which is exactly where this car needs it. They're also maintenance and hassle free.

I drove my 99 Lightning for over 70000 miles before getting a 02 Lightning to replace it, which then got turned in for the Marauder...

I don't think there's any current supercharger offering that isn't completely appropriate for the marauder, they're all great. What's really nice is that there are so many vendors beginning to come out with kits to make it a reality.

[beemer]

Hi Dave:

All in how you drive it. Anything with moving parts is subject to breakage. At CVN we have a guy who has Vortech'd his 1998 PI, made many track runs on a high-mileage tranny, and the car is still together. He went fast enough to get a feature article in Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords magazine. I've ridden in his car, and it is a load of fun. A high 12's car can open your eyes a bit.

In your case, again, do you drive like you stole it, or save it for the right time? As you add boost, you also add more stress to the motor. Your driving habits will certainly affect the lifespan of the entire drivetrain.

Myself, I want a blower as well, and am watching carefully what is about to hit the market, and also I'll be watching as owners who install such items comment on their experience, good or bad.
Time will tell exactly what I buy, and from whom.

Best,

Paul:D

[Logan]

I think it's important to note that the 4.6l 32v motor is a tried and true performer when it comes to supercharging on a stock long block. The bottom end is plenty strong enough to handle through 450rwhp easily for the life of the car...

[SergntMac]

I was just going to add that, Logan...

The history of the 4.6 DOHC motor is long, tried and true, and LM knows that. I also suppose this is why LM backed off the SC version for production, thinking that those who want it to supercharge, will build it themselves, safely too Those who do not want their MM supercharged, still get a great road and muscle car.

LM predicted rather accurately, who the buyers would be, and all things considered, they were on the money. The one thing they could not predict, is how much of our muscle car hearts would really be willing to jump back into it, one more time.

Sadly, if not for the shifts in the economy, the start-up and welcome would have been better, and more popularity would spell more aftermarket options. Nonetheless, it's still a lick-a** start. Build her or not, any way you wish. Who here can complain? My MM is more automotive fun than I ever expected to have a chance at again.

Oh...yeah...that "sable" dude...Well, there's always one in every crowd...

[WolfeBros]

Originally posted by SergntMac
Who here can complain? My MM is more automotive fun than I ever expected to have a chance at again.


I agree Sarge. I haven't tinkered and modded on a car like this for 20 years. This beast is fun to own, fun to drive and fun to work on. With the various go fast goodies coming to market we can each make our cars as individual as we want. Add some now.......add more later. This car sure awoke a passion in me that had been sleeping for years. I never thought I would put a supercharger kit on a car but sign me up !!

[MI2QWK4U]

To Wolfe......I second your emotion! Until I drove the supercharged car, I wouldnt have considered it...and with all the positive feedback you guys are giving me, its a safe thing taken in moderation. I am waiting to get mine as soon as the kit becomes available. And I hear that some new news is just over the horizen......it only gets better from here.

[looking97233]

This was touched on awhile ago. My .02 on the subject. I'm not a physics major but, I know force=mass x velocity squared. What this means is as the RPMs go up the the velocity of the rotating assembly goes up. So, the stresses on the motor at 6000 rpm are 4 times what they are at 3000 rpm. My opinion is that if adding a supercharger, you are adding to the stresses on the motor greately, and thats okay. But you should consider also limiting the PRMs of the motor. When I talked with the Kenne Bell folks on the phone awhile ago, he explained this at length. He refered to turbo buicks making 400+ rwhp on stock engine internals, and said the ones that live long lives are limited to 5500 prm or less. He went on to say that when they work on a kit for the Marauder, they will most likely set wot shifts at 5800, with the engine speed limiter set to 6000. Mabye even a little less.

[SergntMac]

Thanks, Looking, I agree. Funny though, I noticed on my first dyno test after adding the Reinhart chip, that my max power peaks at 5750 RPM, and Dennis has the shift points set there, with a 6000 RPM limiter behind it. That was last september, talk about forward planning...

I believe all my mods, with possibly an excpetion to the 4:10 gear, will enhance a future SC addition down the road. If I have to change gears, I will, but I'd like to think that I have not wasted my money on the other stuff. Your opinions, gents?

[SSMOKEM]

Any of you guys worried about longevity, the best thing you could do for your supercharged car is add an intercooler. Keeping intake temperatures down is a sure-fire way to prolong engine life.

My buddy had a 6psi Powerdyne and his intake temps were over 200 degrees. A good recipe for detonation.

In my own car, when I hit the N2O button, my intake air goes down around 70 degrees from ambient, if it's 70 outside, my intake goes down to 0!! I credit this with keeping my stock bottom 350 together, pushing 600+hp. In 3 years of use, I've NEVER had detonation, which is the most common cause of engine deaths.

As a matter of fact, my knock sensor is inactive at WOT :D

[Accufab Racing]

It's not the supercharger perse that causes additional wear. It's the additional horsepower. If your engine is good for 300 HP now and you bump that to 450 with a blower, AND YOU ARE ON THE THROTTLE ALL THE TIME, there will be additional wear. The weak link on the 4.6L are the cast pistons. Cast pistons do not handle severe detonation nearly as well as forged pistons, and because a supercharger (or turbo) heats up the intake charge as it compresses the air, detonation is the big killer. Watch for that (reading the plugs) and you should be OK for a long time. Also, keep the boost levels sensible for pump gasoline.

[johnjamis]

mi2qwk4u,

Keep us posted on the progress of this supercharger installation. Many of us are interested in the Roots setup. I am waiting for a kit that I can install to save some dollars.
Thanks, John

[Matt Johnson]

Anyone else heard any info on progress of Lidio's Eaton Roots blower kit?

I PM'd mi2qwk4u, but have not heard back. Also, I know that the specific thread was closed due to violation of vendor rules. This is the set-up I'm interested in - what's going on with it? Does anyone have contact info for Lidio?

[TAF]

He's a member here. Go to "Memberlist" and send him an email direct.

[MI2QWK4U]

Anyone else heard any info on progress of Lidio's Eaton Roots blower kit?

I PM'd mi2qwk4u, but have not heard back. Also, I know that the specific thread was closed due to violation of vendor rules. This is the set-up I'm interested in - what's going on with it? Does anyone have contact info for Lidio?


Hello Matt....Sorry, I didn't mean to appear as if i wasn't answering you, but I was just respecting Logan's wishes on not getting into details untill they were an official sponsor to the web. Trilogy Motorsports is who Lidio is working for and they got onboard as a sponsor as soon as I informed them of the interest in this forum. So I expect a lot of information to start to appear about the Eaton Roots Blower pretty soon. I can tell you this...I am in the front of the line for getting mine.... I am told to expect it in May...so stay tuned!!

[Matt Johnson]

Got it. I've contacted them already...I'm the guy behind you in the line.