Supercharge the GT350?

[B Gordon]

Is there enough information out yet to discuss the possibility of supercharging the GT350?

At 500 hp the flat frank engine is pretty stout right from the factory but I can guarantee the first thing some will want to do is put on a supercharger or perhaps twin turbochargers to ramp up the performance.

Rampant speculation at this point, but any guesses how much power the engine and drivetrain will stand for before leaving a trail of parts on the road?
Is any of the engine design close enough to the present 5.0 to allow us to know the specific configuration that will work best?

How will the extra weight effect the handling?
It is a good bit of extra weight right up front to change the weight distribution.

Just doing some bench racing here so don't castrate me for considering stuff that is still a year away.

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[sjd]

I wouldn't be interested. I love high revving natural aspirated engines and since I would actually use my GT350 on the track 500 horsepower would be enough.

 

[cp5899]

I'm on board for forced induction.

 

[Cruzinaround]

The compression on that FPC is going to be very high. You'd have to invest in the parts and the time to swap to a more docile cam set to lower it then choose your options for boosting.

Or if you do boost on the OEM FPC.... its not going to be an aggressive amount.... maybe 5lbs would be safe. Anything else as bolt ons and you're gambling on lots of engine bits in your face.

--

 

[IGJoe2192]

Forced induction was mentioned in another thread and here is my argument against it. This engine is made for high RPM operation and it highly tuned to be N/A, as such the pistons were made very light to accomplish these RPMs. Take one look at the ring landings and then realize the compression ratio will probably be near or in the 12:1 ratio. These pistons are already under a lot of stress as is, they weren't built for boost.

For comparison I have provided pictures of the Diamond Racing Trinity Piston built for boost and the Voodoo Piston.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I agree with the above 2 posts, but I'm sure people will try. It's the Mustang mentality. I could see a mild turbo setup surviving. I don't see a blower setup being practical on this car for the reasons outlined above, and because a blower would probably not fit under the hood, which was specifically lowered for aerodynamic purposes. Sure, you could put a raised aftermarket hood on it (if someone manufactures one). With either setup, you probably couldn't very run much boost on stock internals, and would likely need to lower the RPM's accordingly. But at that point you've defeated the purpose of the car, and some of it's most unique features. If I was buying a car to play with forced induction, I would either get a GT500 (which I have), or get a GT with a coyote in it. Either one would serve as a far better starting point for forced induction, IMO.

 

[Cruzinaround]

A Procharger setup could fit. But then... just get turbos.

Either way... the NA setup is still ideal for this car.

I'd wait for a crate engine option with direct fuel injection or a direct FI conversion kit over boosting for this motor.

Or..

a Twin turbo Direct FI crate engine for it with the compression ratio and internals refitted for that application.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Something else that hasn't been mentioned is that the larger bores in the 5.2 likely means that the cylinder walls are thinner, given the bore spacing is unchanged from the standard 100mm. Thinner cylinder walls don't hold up as well to forced induction. The large bores can also make it more difficult to get the head gaskets to seal. These are some of the reasons the LS7 has never been a popular option for forced induction in the GM engines. The smaller bore LS9 and now LT4 were chosen for that application. The 5.8 Trinity had a bore that was enlarged over the 5.4, however some guys running custom Trinity builds for high boost actually install sleeves that decrease the bore size.


In regards to the drivetrain, the TR3160 that will be in the GT350 does not appear to be as robust as the TR6060 found in the GT500's. For the purpose Ford had in mind for this car, it doesn't need to be. It might not hold up well to the torque of a forced induction setup.

Once again, I think if you're looking for a car to slap some forced induction on, there are far better options than the GT350.

 

[Trackaholic]

Something else that hasn't been mentioned is that the larger bores in the 5.2 likely means that the cylinder walls are thinner, given the bore spacing is unchanged from the standard 100mm. Thinner cylinder walls don't hold up as well to forced induction. The large bores can also make it more difficult to get the head gaskets to seal. These are some of the reasons the LS7 has never been a popular option for forced induction in the GM engines. The smaller bore LS9 and now LT4 were chosen for that application. The 5.8 Trinity had a bore that was enlarged over the 5.4, however some guys running custom Trinity builds for high boost actually install sleeves that decrease the bore size.


In regards to the drivetrain, the TR3160 that will be in the GT350 does not appear to be as robust as the TR6060 found in the GT500's. For the purpose Ford had in mind for this car, it doesn't need to be. It might not hold up well to the torque of a forced induction setup.

Once again, I think if you're looking for a car to slap some forced induction on, there are far better options than the GT350.

Regarding cylinder walls, wasn't the GT500 engine also bored out and coated using the same PTWA process? Maybe the walls aren't a limiting factor?

Transmission certainly could be.

As far as FI goes, I'd hate to put turbos on and ruin the exhaust note. A PD blower would probably not fit under the hood. Therefore a centri setup might be a good option. The torque also comes on more softly than a PD blower, which might help the drivetrain reliability.

I would personally take the 500+ and stay naturally aspirated.

-T

 

[Doc Holliday]

Regarding cylinder walls, wasn't the GT500 engine also bored out and coated using the same PTWA process?

Correct, the 5.8 Trinity was. However, since the 5.2's stroke is reportedly unchanged from the coyote, it's bore should be even bigger than the 93.5mm of the Trinity. My math puts the Voodoo bore in the neighborhood of 94.5mm. The 2011-12 GT500 5.4 aluminum blocks were also ptwa coated, though with the standard 5.4 bore diameter.

 

[Hack]

Nice to keep the factory warranty when you're already stretching to afford the car plus you are one of the early adopters of an engine that the manufacturer admits took a lot of extra engineering to overcome different problems. If I need more than 500whatever HP I'll probably trade for the newest best thing that comes out in 2020 or something.

 

[MagneticMan]

It'll be supercharged by the aftermarket, maybe Rousch, Saleen, Shelby, whoever. Maybe even Ford Racing themselves. Supercharged models will be shown at the SEMA show. Not like the aftermarket performance people/tuners are going to say "well, it's perfect nothing we can do" and walk away

 

[908ssp]

Some of the guys in the market for this car can drop another 20k to have different pistons, rods, crank put in hell I wouldn't surprised to see different blocks with those heads and flat plane crank just to SC. But none of that is practical or will be common.

 

[Cruzinaround]

These people will then immediately devalue the car. Kissing any type of collector value away. It would be better for them to invest this money into a crate engine and keep the stock one in storage. Or even just get a GT and have fun with conversions using the FPC. There will likely be a few junkers within the first few months of buyers who wrecked their GT350's (seen it already with just the GT PP's).... pull the wrecker parts and refit it into a GT PP and..boom.

Still better than devaluing the original car with no form of return potential at all.

Or if they just want to piss it all away.... have at it.

 

[V00D00]

4.0L V8 8600 rpm, 12.5.1 Compression, 8.5 PSI owner here 160rwhp over stock ( with catless exhaust)

its all in what the internals are made of, and then of course tuning

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