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Lidio
09-25-2003, 07:44 AM
I finally made an effort to sit down this week and make some post here about my new MM, and the Ennis trip as well.

I also thought it was time to give a decent update on the Trilogy blower car number-1. The reason I say number one and two now is that Trilogy has aquired a second MM for development work as well. For now it’s a totally stock MM that has nothing more then the Trilogy 9.5 psi intercooled blower kit. Since Trilogy has acquired a second MM he has given me an opportunity to get a little more aggressive with the number one car that’s been the development car for about a year now.

The number one car started out with 1800 mile on it when the project began. It now has seen some serious abuse with the blower over the last seven months and still absolutely no problems at all with the original motor, trans and axle. It now has over 21K miles on it just from the past few months. And it was driven to and from Ennis this past weekend with a more aggressive set-up then all summer. Plus its been to the track over 20 times this summer.

Most of this past summer the # one car was completely stock with the exception of the Trilogy blower kit making about 9.5psi of boost. The exhaust, trans and 3.55 gears where stock. In the warm air it would go 13.30 to 13.45 at the ¼ mile at about 104ish. When I managed to get to a track in the early spring when it was under 65 degrees and the traction was perfect it would run a bunch of 12.95’s and lots of 13.00’s at about 107mph ish. It really likes it when its under 65 degrees. This is all with the stock rear tiers as well.

About mid summer we had the factory rear wheels widened 1.5” and installed a popular Nitto drag radial designed for the current Ford Lightning. The size is 305-45-18”. Its an absolute stellar looking set up. This cased a slight problem though. Te he new drag radial is slightly taller then the factory rear tires by about a ½”. This slowed the car down a little which already was under-geared with the 3.55’s as it was. It lost about a ½ tenth over all. We left it alone and continued through the summer with this set up.

Recently Trilogy let me do a few extras to the # one car and I thought I’d go into that:
First we installed 4.10 gears, then bumped the boost from 9.5 to 11.8 and then I wanted to keep the car sounding taste-full and relatively quiet but wanted some what of a noticeable roar over stock. With all the experience we have with the Supercharged ’03 Cobra’s we found that the stock exhaust is pretty efficient till about 430+hp at the rear wheels. So I made the decision to only change the MM exhaust from the back of the last set of cat’s till the muffler’s. This requires custom exhaust work. Theirs no bolt-on for this. The factory exhaust on the MM is 2-1/4” from the manifolds till the back of the last two cats. Then from their its 2” until it comes out of the muffler where the rest of the system is 2 and ¼ again. So from the back of the cats we had it custom done with an X-pipe in 2&1/4” and went into two FlowMaster mufflers called “50 series delta flows”. For those who are some what familiar with the Flowmasters these are what used to be called 3-chambers but the “delta-Flow” feature was supposed to make them a little quieter and not drone as much under cruise loads. Any way these muffler produce and exceptional roar that is littlerly the stock type exhaust note thats just slightly exaggerated. The tail tips are also still ungutted and will remain that way for now.

Although the biggest difference with the new mufflers is instead of sounding like a air compressor at full throttle or a rush of air because of the blower on it… it sounds like a very healthy V-8 when the car fly’s by at WOT. Also this exhaust work was only worth about 12 HP at the rear wheels even after we upped the boost to 11.8. For now the number one car is making 402 at the rear wheels. It would have been about 425hp but it lost almost 18 at the rear wheels when we went to the 4.10’s in the axle. Don’t let this number at the rear wheels fool you into thinking its not that big… This package makes a ton of low-end and mid range grunt because of the roots type blower, plus it pulls quite hard until 6300rpm. Infact it absolulty does not require a torque converter change what so ever. Had we not had the bigger drag radials in the rear it would be redicullas at how traction limited it would be with the Trilogy blower and 4.10’s only.

I feel that Trilogy has developed the finest blower package for such a heavy car. Its packaged and fitted second to none, quiet and almost unusable low end torque even with the stock gears and torque converter on a cool day!

I am responsible for all the tuning and calibration work on the Trilogy blower cars and I feel I’ve achieved a very safe and responsible HP level that will work with 92 octane but we recommend 93 or 94octane. The trilogy number one car has had no TLC with the throttle pedal since its compleation and over 19K miles with the blower and no problems at all with the power train. Even the automatic trans with its not so harsh 1 to 2nd shift has had no issues at all. For those looking to do potentially one major bolt-on… look no further then the Trilogy intercooled blower kit. With only it, a stock Marauder will go from an average of mid 15’s in the ¼ mile to mid to low 13’s. And you’ll never know its there till you step into it. By retaining the stock torque converter the “around the town” drivability is very, very stock like and sedate.


Jerry will be in Bowling Green Kentucky this weekend for the NMRA finals. He will have car number one there. The temps are supposed to be in the mid 60’s. His car should run comfortable 12.70’s rather then the 12.90’s it ran at Ennis in the heat. I think it will eventually go 12.60’s very soon with the good fall weather coming. Unfortunately my shop wont let me get out this week end.




Thanks

SergntMac
09-25-2003, 08:17 AM
Great update, Lidio, thanks!

Menace
09-25-2003, 09:32 AM
:up: :burnout:

Papabear
09-25-2003, 10:13 AM
Lidio,

I have a question about the rear tire size you are running on the car. Are there any clearence or fitment issues with a tire/wheel of that size in the rear of the car? Any suspension or body clearances that are too close to the tire? Also are you correcting for the tire size in the chip you are running? Any idea if the wider wheels will be sold by Trilogy? Thanks for any answers you can provide.

John..

Jerry Barnes
09-25-2003, 11:45 AM
PapaBear,

We have no problems with clearance using these tires and the car has had the rear suspension ride height sensor changed to drop the car down about 1 1/2 inches. So, you won't have a problem at all. In terms of getting the wheels, please contact Lidio or myself about any purchase information. We are still working out the details regarding an exchange program or new wheels purchase, etc. Both Lidio or myself can help in this area.

Our SEMA car will also have widened front wheels with street tires. I will keep you posted on the details and post some pictures once they are completed.

Thanks!

gonzo50
09-25-2003, 12:45 PM
The whole Trilogy Motorsports crew is awesome, :banana2: thanks for all the info and updates, and especially the hard earned miles on car #1 and #2. :up:

Mike M
09-25-2003, 12:57 PM
I was planning on the Nittos 55r size 305, and I did not plan on widening the rims. Will it work? What effect will it have on the shift points and speedo calibration?

Lidio
09-25-2003, 07:51 PM
The 305's are what we have and they are just under a 1/2" taller then the stock tire when installed on the rims that are widened 1.5". The tire is right at home on the now 9.5" rims. Their are no clearance issues what so ever. Just bolt on the wider rim and tire combo and go. The handling seems to be perfect and the shift point and speedo effect is minimal. The look from behind and a rear 1/4 view is awesome.

Thanks

MI2QWK4U
09-25-2003, 08:08 PM
Here is a link to pictures of the rims Lidio is talking about. They make the car look nice and agressive!

http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=252