Per the tuner at KB, I added some octane this morning.. he was thinking the same thing, that maybe the gas is crappy.. They are allowed to put up to 10% ethanol in here, and who knows what you really get out of the 91 octane pump.. I have been running 91 for a year now, previously with a Brenspeed tune, and never had a problem.
Anyway, this morning I went to the autostore and got some Lucas octane boost (didnt have the Torco, and KB suggested Lucas or Torco). Haven't pinged yet, but...
The ****ing IC pump lost prime again... I noticed power was dropping off, and it's like 85 outside, so I popped the hood and opened the reservoir and no flow..
I just got done fixing it, I hope for good. I didn't have to take the bumper off this time. What I did was remove the plastic cover to the left of the radiator (the flimsy thing that redirects air to the radiator instead of through the 2" gap to the left of it). Then I was able to reroute the pump intake hose so that it never dipped below the pump level. Soon as I got it 100% above the pump, the air bubble came out and the pump started pumping. I cut about 10" off the hose the gave me and re-attached it to the reservoir. I added the proper amount of Water Wetter and dumped the rest into my coolant for the engine, and in a few minutes I will go out and get her hot again and see how she performs. Should be an improvement since when the IC pump wasn't running, the engine heat would heat up the intercooler and actually INCREASE the intake air temp...
Once I verify that it's running good again on the top end, I will test some 1500 rpm WOT pulls and see if its pinging with the octane boost. When it pinged before it would pull timing, giving my low end horrible performance.. this morning when the engine was cold, the bottom end was noticeably different. As long as it doesn't pull timing and the IAT is staying low, it should perform better across the whole range.. We will see.
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2006 GT Premium Vert, 5 spd, Tungsten Grey Show: Painted gloss black stripes, Street Scene Gen 1 body kit, side and hood scoops, CDC light bar, sequential tails, purple underglow, 8" shorty antenna, redline hood struts, Steeda Ultralights, 20" Chrome Killers, S.O.S. pillar & 3 gauges. Go: J&M LCA's & Adj. UCA, J&M Adj. Panhard, CHE LCA reloc brackets & torque limiters, 3.73 gears, Kenne Bell Stage 1 2.6l supercharger.
...440rwhp/401rwtq
I just got back from a drive.. temp is dropping a little outside but it is still above 80, and I got the engine good and hot and made some pulls.. seems to be holding power nicely.. I put a half bottle of octane boost in (about 12 gals in tank - burned a quarter tank in 38 miles!), and after it was hot I did 2 pulls from 2k rpm, and the real test, a 3rd gear pull from 1500 rpm. Now even NA, WOT from 2k is like trying to push a rope, so I didn't expect much power, but the thing is, I didn't get any pings.. So I think all is well. The fuel I got must not be quite 91 octane, so I will have to try Exxon fuel next.. I guess they are not putting any ethanol in theirs, so I know what I am getting. Their refinery is here too, so I know the fuel hasn't been sitting in some storage tank somewhere for six months either. Funny how gas prices are going up but the refineries have more gas than they can sell right now..
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2006 GT Premium Vert, 5 spd, Tungsten Grey Show: Painted gloss black stripes, Street Scene Gen 1 body kit, side and hood scoops, CDC light bar, sequential tails, purple underglow, 8" shorty antenna, redline hood struts, Steeda Ultralights, 20" Chrome Killers, S.O.S. pillar & 3 gauges. Go: J&M LCA's & Adj. UCA, J&M Adj. Panhard, CHE LCA reloc brackets & torque limiters, 3.73 gears, Kenne Bell Stage 1 2.6l supercharger.
...440rwhp/401rwtq
I've been following your journey since you received the goods. You are a better man than me. I would have had to have the car dropped @ a shop several times. Glad you stayed with it and congrats. I hope I can get one next year. Are you satisfied and was it worth the $$$.
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Faster & Faster until the fear of death out weighs the RUSH!!
Wooohoo! Congrats man! I win! I was right! Bad gas!
I'm actually a little disappointed from this thread. It sounds to me like you're not that impressed by the KB... Please elaborate? I might be better off going Whipple then?
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All show... So far. Exterior: Roush Front Fascia w/o chin spoiler, Black Billet Foglight Delete Grille, hidden smoked foglights, GTS Blackout Panel, smoked tail lights, WebElectric Sequential tail lights, MUSTANG 3rd brake light, 14" Shorty Antenna. Interior: Red piping, RVinyl Aluminum Dash Kit, CDC Aluminum Pedal Covers.
I wouldn't say at all that I am not impressed with the KB. The kit was really fantastic, and I loved the challenge of putting it all in. None of the steps were overly difficult, just a few left me scratching my head trying to figure out what they were thinking. The parts that were difficult were the areas they made changes. If each part had been broken down into more distinct sections with a synopsis at the beginning telling you what the goal of each stage was, it would have been incredibly helpful. That way, the supplements could have been section specific and explained why it was different or what changed from the original. Bottom line: if you can change a timing chain or maybe even just a water pump, you could install this supercharger.
The two biggest changes from the regular instructions were the intercooler heat exchanger and pump, and the o-ring gaskets on the supercharger. The pump part ended up biting me big time and I plan to submit the necessary changes to KB. The o-ring was discussed in a supplement but only for the mating of the supercharger and manifold, not for the throttle body too, which leaves you confused. A little inginuity and some perserverance and you can get past it and on to the next step.
As far as performance, I think two things happened here: One was that I built up in my mind that the power from a supercharger would be mind-blowing, inflating my expectations. The other was that I went from 4.10's to 3.73's a day before starting the supercharger install. I never had time to get used to the taller gears before going FI, and it really affected my perception of the sub 3k rpm range.
The problems I had affected my perception as well, having very low power when the intercooler was not functioning. Once I got to run it when the air was cold and the heat soak hadn't triggered the timing to be pulled, my attitude changed.
One other thing affected my perception as well, and that was comparison driving. My brother has a C6 vette with an STS twin turbo, making about 570 rwhp in a car 600 lbs lighter than mine. Driving that is insanity in comparison, and thinking of even getting close without a complete engine rebuild is a pipe dream. It takes more than ~450 rwhp to make a 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. That vette keeps up with crotch rockets, and sometimes beats them! I would have to spend a lot more to get even close to that in a mustang. I can't compare apples to oranges. Heck, he's running 345's in the back with a 19" wheel that weighs some 10 lbs less (each) than my 20's.. talk about traction.. The only advantage I have over him is about $20k less in dollars out the door.. I could buy a second Mustang GT and still have spent fewer dollars. (plus he can't drive very well.. I could probably beat him at the track)
I can't honestly answer the $$$ question on the supercharger kit, because the nature of the deal I got skews things dramatically. I was prepared to pay full price (about $6500), and quite frankly I think just given that I don't break the sound barrier, I would have been unhappy having spent that much with ANY brand. It has to do with the whole expectation build up vs reality. I know for fact if I had bought the E-Force I would be in a bad mood.. 400 rwhp (in optimal conditions) just simply would not have been worth almost $7k.
I can truly understand how people get to 700 rwhp with these cars and still want more. I won't stop until I am afraid to drive it. I just have to wait a LONG time before I can start dumping money into it again.. At least until I have given my wife a new kitchen and bathroom anyway. I have already started looking into built short blocks and started turning things over in my head. Before I get to that point though, I would want to do clutch and drive shaft at the least.
So what's next? I would have to say that aside from gauges (probably fuel pressure, but possibly an aeroforce instead), Lower control arms, adjustable upper control arm, and relocation brackets are next. Camber bolts so I can tweak the front camber are needed in the near future as well. From there, I don't know.. so many things, so little money. I was a pro audio installer for almost 10 years, and I have been wanting to do an audio system in this car since I got it, but when I do it I will go first class, and that will cost $$$ again. I figure I have another $10k to go before I am satisfied, and then of course I will want something else.
Overall, it has been a great experience, and one more thing I can check off my "bucket list"..
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2006 GT Premium Vert, 5 spd, Tungsten Grey Show: Painted gloss black stripes, Street Scene Gen 1 body kit, side and hood scoops, CDC light bar, sequential tails, purple underglow, 8" shorty antenna, redline hood struts, Steeda Ultralights, 20" Chrome Killers, S.O.S. pillar & 3 gauges. Go: J&M LCA's & Adj. UCA, J&M Adj. Panhard, CHE LCA reloc brackets & torque limiters, 3.73 gears, Kenne Bell Stage 1 2.6l supercharger.
...440rwhp/401rwtq
Overall, it has been a great experience, and one more thing I can check off my "bucket list"..
And they all lived happily ever after. Congratulations.
As for the bad gas your state weights and measures department is supposed to check not only for correct volume of gas sold but also the octane rating. If you have doubts file a complaint.
I know what you mean about horse power; too much is not enough.
It's not good to hammer on it at 2k rpms when you're in a high gear. I was getting some pinging with my setup when I would cruise in 5th at 60mph then hammer the throttle 3/4 way down. My tuner basically told me to stop doing that. lol...
Congrats on the self install. Once you get the bugs lined out you'll be glad you did it yourself. I know I am.
It's not good to hammer on it at 2k rpms when you're in a high gear. I was getting some pinging with my setup when I would cruise in 5th at 60mph then hammer the throttle 3/4 way down. My tuner basically told me to stop doing that. lol...
I try to only do that when I'm over 130mph.........
J/k I haven't been over 100mph in my car.
lies.... Its like me telling my mom that I wanted a GT cause it had better breaks and not the 100 extra HP
Not like I actually used that line... Just told my dad i needed to be able to keep in the same county as his 700 hp twin turbo audi r8. Results- i still become a speck on the horizon quite quickly... turbos here i come....
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USNA Class of '13
09 Dark Candy Apple Red GT (whipple HO S/C)
456 rwhp
436 ft/lb torque
Please elaborate? I might be better off going Whipple then? 
