[WEAPON-X]

We've been in talks with Whipple since last summer on the release of their latest LT4 bolt on supercharger. After a few months of "patiently" waiting on one, we finally got the green light that Whipple was ready to send us the first beta test unit to get on the LT4 wet sump. It just so happened that we were right in between having a couple of large builds on CTS V's come in, so I called Rockey up to see if he wanted to be a tester still. He was eager to drop it off and we were eager to get our hands on it.

STOCK LT4 & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WEAPON-X.700 PACKAGE
Jeff's previous mods were a Stage 1 lower pulley, WEAPON-X Stage 1 intake, and our 6 gallon trunk tank system. With these mods he had a nice jump in power already.

This was a peak gain of +31whp and +23wtq.

IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a105/bherndon2/Stock20vs20CAI20and208.620lower_zpsn4ds4i01.jpg[/IMG]
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________________

STOCK LT4 & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WHIPPLE 3.75" & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake
Next up, we took this back to the stock lower pulley and did all of the comparisons with our intake on so we'd have an apples to apples comparison. Due to the limitations of the stock air box, we left our intake on, and left the trunk tank connected but didn't ice it. The Whipple went on with the wagon wheel 3.75" upper pulley. As you can see, this lost a little mid-range torque but picked it back up over 5100 RPM. This is mostly due to that big Whipple being off the bottom of the efficiency map.

This was a peak gain of +35whp but a peak loss of -9wtq; however, there was a torque gain close to your shift point of approx +25wtq.
Boost started at 14psi and ended around 16psi
Timing was around 17*
Manifold Air was hot starting at 144* on this one, but ended at 142* as twin screws don't gain a ton of heat from start to finish when the efficiency range.


__________________________________________________ ____________________________________________

STOCK LT4 & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WHIPPLE 3.5" & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake
We were pretty eager to put the next pulley on to get this blower up into it's efficiency range. The intake has to come off to get to the tensioner for the belt swap, but other than that, you're only about 30m to move it up. As you can see below that torque band jumped up a LOT over the 3.75".

This was a peak gain of +81whp and +46wtq.
Boost started at 14* and saw a max of 17psi
Timing was still around 17*
Manifold Air started at 116* and ended at 122*


__________________________________________________ ____________________________________________

STOCK LT4 & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WHIPPLE 3.5" & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WHIPPLE 3.25" & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake
Next up, was the 3.25" upper pulley swap! Torque continued to jump up a lot, but we were seeing a couple of issues once we reached this. The cats were getting hot, timing was more limited as a result, and the car was hot already at this point, despite the outside air being in the 30s.

For the 3.25"
This was a peak gain of +90whp BUT +98wtq.
Boost started at 15psi and ended at 19psi
Timing saw a max of 14*
Manifold Air started at 125* and ended at 128*


__________________________________________________ ____________________________________________

STOCK LT4 & WEAPON-X Stage 1 Intake VS. WHIPPLE 3.25" & WEAPON-X Stage 2 Intake, 103mm TB, and cat delete
At this point, fuel was on the jagged edge, cats were getting hot, and timing was less, so we did a cat delete on it. We also jumped up to the 5" intake and all of these changes really brought in the power but fuel pressure was faltering somewhat and that can be seen on the graph. Once you get over 5.5ms on the injectors being open, fuel doesn't spray and combust as well. On the street, we soon found out the rail pressure was dropping severely with the 3.25" upper pulley, so we went back to the 3.5" till we address the fuel on this particular one.

This was a peak gain of +90whp BUT +98wtq.
Boost started at 16psi and ended at 20psi
Timing was a max of 14*
Manifold Air started at 136* and ended at 138*


__________________________________________________ ____________________________________________

CONCLUSION:
The 2.9L Whipple is a fantastic power adder. For $6500 including the intake tested, you're basically bolting on 75whp easily. A few other mods like headers and fuel pump, and this can be a +100whp setup over stock without cracking the motor open and plenty of room in the future for growth. We have released these results to Whipple for their evaluation and they will advise what changes need made if any and these should be shipping in the very near future!

The drawbacks in stock trim aren't really much different than the V2s when modding. The car was limited due to stock heads/cam being too restrictive for that size blower pushing through them. Also, the heat exchanger system and fuel system needs upgraded with big power goals. The recovery time on the manifold air temps are really slow just like in stock trim. Times were cut by 75% with out Triple XXX cooling kit! I will also share with you that we were a WHOPPING 5,000RPM off of Whipple's max "recommended" blower range, which means most will be about 7,000 RPM off haha and this is making 20psi with VERY manageable Manifold Air temps, so ideally on an LT4 car with bigger heads/cam/headers/"good" fuel, this car will be an all out monster. Would it hit 1,000whp??? I'm not too confident, but a solid 900+ I think is very doable right now considering how far off the max we're spinning it now.

Houdini's V3 is getting shipped here in two weeks to further this with our X1000 package and gonabite's 388 LT4 will be finished and going back in the car soon too.

[Ron_Robinson1]

Love the time and work you guys put into this, but kind of disappointed at the results.

[93oh]

I don't think 100 rwhp and torque are disappointing.. but I'd be curious if you put on set of long tubes and address fuel what this will do..

[Ron_Robinson1]

Originally Posted by 93oh

I don't think 100 rwhp and torque are disappointing.. but I'd be curious if you put on set of long tubes and address fuel what this will do..

For 6500$ to net 100 rwhp after spinning the blower to 20 psi is really disappointing to me.

[WEAPON-X]

Originally Posted by Ron_Robinson1

Love the time and work you guys put into this, but kind of disappointed at the results.

I'm guessing you didn't read the Conclusion section carefully. I realize there is a lot of data in there, but as an Engineer, I try to be as thorough as possible.

You're not going to bolt on any big supercharger and make much more than 100whp on an otherwise stock car. These direct injection (DI) motors are very sensitive to fueling since the fuel is delivered during the compression stroke of the motor at nearly 3,000 PSI. The technology is not new, but in this high HP gas aftermarket world, it is, so there aren't many options for addressing that fuel currently. As time passes, more players will enter the market like the diesel world and the cost will come down. Even the OEM LT4 injectors are around $600 so that shows you they CAN be made cheaply, it's just a matter of getting someone to reasonably make them like this.

That being said, I've turned out many LT4 CTS V's making mid 700s on 93 octane. The DI pump is driven off of the cam's fuel lobe. This lobe is often sized differently to increase the lobe lift to over 7.5mm which overdrives the fuel pump, thus delivering over 30% more fuel. This is what I've done on my LT1 427 C7 for 3 years now without any issues. That car is a beast making 612whp on E85 and over 900whp with nitrous.

So, if you're just looking at the supercharger as a failure, there isn't anything on the market that would be any different, even on a gen 4 car. The engine is nothing more than a big air pump, so the more air you have, the more fuel you need to mix with it at the correct stoich values for the fuel, and the less restrictions aka cam/heads/headers/cats etc the better!

If you want 100whp bolt on with lower temps due to 64% more air compressed per revolution... then this is your blower!

If you want to make 900whp with the rest of the supporting mods like our X1000 package, then this is your blower!

If you're just looking for a small bump in power, then I'd recommend our X750 package with our intake, heat exchangers, pulley and a tune!

Options are endless, but considering the last gen ZL1 and CTS V's with the LSA didn't have any off the shelf blower options, we're ECSTATIC that this platform was one of the first on Whipple's list!

Originally Posted by 93oh

I don't think 100 rwhp and torque are disappointing.. but I'd be curious if you put on set of long tubes and address fuel what this will do..

bingo!

[jasonz28camaro]

You disappointed guys act like it's not impressive but it is. The car already has a supercharger and it's just getting replaced with a better one, your looking for NA to blown results.

The car also has stock heads, cam and fuel. Start changing out the top end with this blower and compare the same mods with the stock bower and you will see the difference.

[MetallicMatt]

Is the 900hp doable without opening the motor? my understanding is 650ish rwhp is the ceiling until a few things are upgraded.

[Ron_Robinson1]

Originally Posted by jasonz28camaro

You disappointed guys act like it's not impressive but it is. The car already has a supercharger and it's just getting replaced with a better one, your looking for NA to blown results.

The car also has stock heads, cam and fuel. Start changing out the top end with this blower and compare the same mods with the stock bower and you will see the difference.

Thanks for information...I had no clue why I was disappoined from the results... well that is until you explianed it to me..

[BooSSted]

I'm disappointed , instead of Whipple results the thread should be titled Weapon X's package results. Real world results of the stock LT4 blower in contrast to the Whipple with no other weapon x additions would have shown a true indication what the blower itself is going to add for potential buyers.
At $6,500 for the blower plus the needed accessories to support this theoretical number of 900whp. I'll stay tuned to see a solid 875-900whp daily dependable car.
At least the CTSV and ZL1 crowd have a option to turn to until a turbo or centri kit is released (if ever). I know the Z06 crowd will be disappointed with this buyers may run to Procharger who have plenty of cars pushing 900+whp with no claims of poor flowing heads, through stock exhausts.

[kttxz06]

Originally Posted by Ron_Robinson1

For 6500$ to net 100 rwhp after spinning the blower to 20 psi is really disappointing to me.

Glad you said it and not me. Shit, LMR got me 100 hp from the same block with just an AFE intake, pulley swap on stock blower and a tune.

[Stephen12ZL1]

looks like a cooling upgrade with the stock supercharger and pulley swap with a CAI is the winner for the $

[WEAPON-X]

Originally Posted by jasonz28camaro

You disappointed guys act like it's not impressive but it is. The car already has a supercharger and it's just getting replaced with a better one, your looking for NA to blown results.

The car also has stock heads, cam and fuel. Start changing out the top end with this blower and compare the same mods with the stock bower and you will see the difference.

This guy gets it!

Originally Posted by MetallicMatt

Is the 900hp doable without opening the motor? my understanding is 650ish rwhp is the ceiling until a few things are upgraded.

Time will tell but we were seeing 20psi with the stock heads, cam, and fully catless exhaust, so while long tubes would help, I think it's going to need heads/cam.

Originally Posted by BooSSted

I'm disappointed , instead of Whipple results the thread should be titled Weapon X's package results. Real world results of the stock LT4 blower in contrast to the Whipple with no other weapon x additions would have shown a true indication what the blower itself is going to add for potential buyers.
At $6,500 for the blower plus the needed accessories to support this theoretical number of 900whp. I'll stay tuned to see a solid 875-900whp daily dependable car.
At least the CTSV and ZL1 crowd have a option to turn to until a turbo or centri kit is released (if ever). I know the Z06 crowd will be disappointed with this buyers may run to Procharger who have plenty of cars pushing 900+whp with no claims of poor flowing heads, through stock exhausts.

You're saying not using the stock restrictive intake skewed the results? I doubt many are going to spend $6k on a supercharger and run the stock intake when stock cars pickup over +25whp with an intake change.

How will Z06 buyers be disappointed? To make 900whp it requires everything this would require as well and the procharger kit needs a manifold which is $2k putting your F1A kit around $3000 more than this and you still have to address fuel supply etc and 900whp Z06s with stock exhaust? Do share the videos...



Come on fellas, comparing a big blower that can out power a stock ZL1 by 400 HP vs the cost of 100hp gain with the stock blower is like buying a ZL1 and talking about how to get the best gas mileage. To get the LT4 blower to even 200hp over stock (if you're lucky) requires the same mods and this will make twice as much of a gain with the same mods. Plus you can get around $2K for your stock 1.7L blower with all the LT1 cars doing swaps. We're wrapping up one of those LT1 cars right now as well and those are gaining popularity as well.

We have a couple more LT4 cars in now getting modded with this and the rear of the needed parts to show the superchargers true potential!

Anymore questions, keep'em coming

[BooSSted]

Originally Posted by WEAPON-X

This guy gets it!



Time will tell but we were seeing 20psi with the stock heads, cam, and fully catless exhaust, so while long tubes would help, I think it's going to need heads/cam.



You're saying not using the stock restrictive intake skewed the results? I doubt many are going to spend $6k on a supercharger and run the stock intake when stock cars pickup over +25whp with an intake change.

How will Z06 buyers be disappointed? To make 900whp it requires everything this would require as well and the procharger kit needs a manifold which is $2k putting your F1A kit around $3000 more than this and you still have to address fuel supply etc and 900whp Z06s with stock exhaust? Do share the videos...



Come on fellas, comparing a big blower that can out power a stock ZL1 by 400 HP vs the cost of 100hp gain with the stock blower is like buying a ZL1 and talking about how to get the best gas mileage. To get the LT4 blower to even 200hp over stock (if you're lucky) requires the same mods and this will make twice as much of a gain with the same mods. Plus you can get around $2K for your stock 1.7L blower with all the LT1 cars doing swaps. We're wrapping up one of those LT1 cars right now as well and those are gaining popularity as well.

We have a couple more LT4 cars in now getting modded with this and the rear of the needed parts to show the superchargers true potential!

Anymore questions, keep'em coming

Good deal! I think the "superchargers true potential" is what needs to be shown. The numbers posted aren't impressive, sorry.

[93oh]

2.9 is whipple's bread and butter supercharger. Weapon X will figure out the right combo they are right now I'm sure sorting it out. He's giving you his data and it looks promising wait a bit for the fuel mods and the headers next get the right recipe on the tune and you're looking at over 750 rwhp all day. Now if you just want 100 rwhp and no room to grow spin the 1.7 harder and get a tune or leave blower alone get the arh or kooks, tune it and throw on an intake that should get you legit 75 plus hp.. it is good to have choices. That's what he's giving you.