3v R-Spec Supercharger Kit

Overview:

We started working on the R-Spec when we realized that none of the available blower kits were big enough to support the horsepower numbers that have become common place amongst the hard core enthusiasts and hot rodders. The Kenne Bell 3.2L just doesn’t get the job done. And they have major intake air temp and belt system problems. So, we decided to make our own kit based around the Whipple 3.4L Crusher which is an absolute monster capable of 1400rwhp.

Our first priority with the R-Spec kit was cooling. And we took a real hard look at this. These days it is not too hard to make boost, keeping the intake air temperatures (IAT’s) down to the point where they don’t hurt power on the other hand is the trick.

We did a massive amount of water flow testing (we’d wager more than the rest of the industry combined) with just about ever water pump available and ran intercooler water port sizes from .75”-1.5”. We came up with 1.25” being the ideal size. The miniscule gains that we saw at 1.5” were not worth the packaging nightmare of running that size. For frame of reference industry standard intercooler ports are .625” at their largest.

Then we started to look at other cooling solutions. The IAT’s are not completely a byproduct of the blower discharge temps. The IAT’s are also effected by the heat being soaked into the intake manifold from the cylinder heads which run at 200+deg and the engine coolant that runs through the intake manifold which is anywhere from 175-225deg. Additionally there is a lot of radiant heat in the valley of the motor which heats the bottom of the manifold (the “pan”). These three heat sources transfer a LOT of heat into the aluminum intake manifold. And the intake manifold heats up the IAT’s considerably. When you want your IAT’s at about 100deg it doesn’t do you a whole lot of good to run them through a box (the intake) that is almost 200deg.

During our testing/investigation of IAT’s we found that the intercooler (IC) was actually not only cooling the blower discharge temps which is its job, but it was also cooling the body of the intake manifold because it was getting so warm from the heat transferred from the motor. Which is not it’s job. You only have so much cooling “energy” at your disposal and you want to use that to cool the blower discharge temps, not the intake manifold.

Proven Design:

This design/combination is proven. There are a few other forced induction options out there that are not. Buyer beware. Just because something is for sale, doesn’t mean that it’s completely tested and proven.

We use Whipple superchargers. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said about that. Whipple has proven themselves in the performance industry over and over again. There is nothing out there that has higher quality standards than a Whipple.

As far as our stuff goes there isn’t much to prove. All we have done is design a few glorified adapters (that’s basically what a manifold is) and make them. A very nice, well thought out adapter, but an adapter none the less. There aren’t even any moving parts. That said the R-Spec design is a progression of our very popular and very proven GT450 manifold design. This isn’t our first rodeo.

The R-Spec intercooler is also a progression of our GT450 GenI manifold. Same basic design, machining and production principles, just refined for this application. The R-Spec and the GT450 GenII now both have 1.25” intercooler water ports.

The R-spec engine cooling changes are, to be frank, a rip off from the GT500. A prettier and more “custom” version, but a rip off none the less. The design principals were proven on the GT500 and our version proven out on our test car.

The belt system is based on our Kenne Bell 10 rib belt drive conversion kits. They have over 10,000mi of very hard testing on them.

We are exhaustive in our testing and product development. We do not use customers as our last step in our development process like some other manufacturers do.

Thermal Features:

Intercooler

The R-Spec IC uses a Bell core and our own billet tanks. Bell is one of the biggest names in IC’s and their cores set the benchmark for the industry. The R-spec core has exterior dimensions that are 11% larger than the GT500. You can only stuff so much IC into an intake manifold, so doing something like using a core that is 2-3x the size simply is not an option. That’s not a problem though, core size is not what holds most IC’s back, water flow is. It sounds wrong at first but the IC is not what cools the IAT’s, the water running through the IC is. It’s pretty simple really, no or little water gets you no or little cooling. The water is what soaks up the heat and removes it from the IC/manifold. So, on a basic level you run the largest/best flowing core you can stuff in the manifold then feed that sucker a LOT of water. And water flow is where almost every IC out there has its problems.

The other IC’s out there have .625” fittings/restrictions…..and some smaller. And all of the other ones out there have sharp bends, some times more than a few, in their system. These small passages coupled with sharp bends are horrible for water flow. Yes, a lot of them use 3/4” hoses, but 3/4″ hoses don’t make 5/8” restrictions bigger. The R-spec IC uses 1.25” fittings. Big deal right? 1.25” isn’t a whole lot bigger than 5/8”, is it? The answer is yes, a LOT bigger. A 1.25” passage flows up to 4 times the water a 5/8 passage does (depending on the pump used). That is a massive difference! And you want all that water flow. You may be thinking “But isn’t there a point where you are flowing too much water?”. The answer is no (with available/affordable pump technology). You can run more water speed than you need. But you can’t run too much. With 1.25” lines and our big water pump the R-Spec IC system will move 30gpm of water flow. The Bugatti Chiron, which can run flat out for 11min at 250+mph without getting hot moves the water through it’s IC’s at, wait for this………200gpm! A fire hose is 90-95gpm for perspective. That should put an end to the “you can move water too fast” crowd.

In simple terms the R-Spec IC has up to 400%+ more cooling capacity than the next best option. Mission accomplished!

The dirty little secret in the forced induction world is IAT’s. IAT’s are easy to keep under control on the dyno. So, people see their 500-600-700-800hp dyno graph and happily drive off into the sunset thinking that they have that power all the time. Reality is a lot different than that. In real life, when you are driving around “heat soaked” you have a LOT less power. The computer starts to pull ignition timing (and therefore power) starting at an IAT of about 100deg (there are other factors though like coolant temp, etc). At an IAT of 136deg the computer starts pulling lots of timing and the hotter the IAT’s get the more power is pulled. Most people don’t realize (I would say 95% of them) that when they are driving around their IAT’s are in the range where timing is already being pulled. When they make a “pass” they will see IAT’s in the 150-200deg range, and have no power left. It is not uncommon for a 600hp car to make 500hp in real life. And the more power that is made the more power is lost. A lot of the IC’s out there are so underdeveloped that even the drag race cars that start with a cool system (at the track) and run ice water through the IC during a pass will have IAT’s high enough at the stripe that they will be pulling timing. And the guys on the street don’t have any of those advantages.

We don’t have to “sell” you anything when it comes to IC’s. Just set one of your gauges, SCT tuner, etc up to read IAT’s and go drive around. You will be horrified that you almost never have full power.

Engine Cooling Modifications

The first job was to get the engine coolant out of the manifold so it wasn’t heating the manifold body up with 180-200deg water. We “broke out” the engine coolant by utilizing “cooling towers” at the front of the cylinder heads that are completely separated from the intake manifold. To accomplish this, we had to run an external thermostat housing/bypass (like a GT500). We would have liked to keep everything “internal” like the 2007+ 3v’s do so there was less going on in front of the motor (mostly for aesthetics) but it has to be external if you want that heat out of the intake. An added bonus is that the new external system will flow a lot more water and unlike the stock 3v engine cooling system the R-Spec engine cooling system runs both banks of cylinders at the same temperature. On every other 3v setup one bank of cylinders runs hotter than the other.

Creating An Insulator/Heat Barrier Between The Manifold And the Motor

A TON of heat is transferred from the cylinder heads into the intake manifold. To prevent this we made the “bottom” of the manifold out of a composite. Basically, the same stuff that Ford uses in their OEM composite manifolds. This composite barrier all but eliminates heat transfer from the cylinder heads into the intake manifold body. Additionally, it is lighter than aluminum. This was a big move and as far as we know no blower manufacturer has gone to these lengths to prevent heat transfer and heat soak.

We also have the “Pans” ceramic coated to greatly reduce the radiant heat being transferred from the valley of the motor into the manifold.

The above thermal modifications greatly reduces the amount of heat being transferred into the intake manifold and therefore the heat being transferred to the IAT’s.

Alternator Upgrade:

Fitting a 3.4L on a 3v is no easy task. The biggest obstacle was that there wasn’t enough room between the back of the alternator and the fire wall unless we raised the blower considerably. Which would have had it sticking through most hoods. Obviously not a good solution. The second option was to remove the A/C compressor and move the alternator to that spot. For those that want to retain their A/C, which is most people, not a great plan. Add to that the stock Motorcraft alternators are JUNK we went with a custom alternator we have been designing for a while. The stock Motorcraft is a 6G based design that is nothing but problems. They don’t make much power (135A) and when spun up they come apart inside. There are 200A 6G’s out there, but they have the same issue with coming apart internally and they are even bigger than the 135A units, which is a real-estate issue. Ford stopped using the 6G alternators in 2010 because of too many warranty claims. Working with a friend who owns a very large alternator manufacturing company we came up with a 4G based design that allows us to run a smaller alternator that doesn’t come apart at high RPM’s and makes 215A. We custom modify the cases and the alternator “shop” hand builds each alternator. The alternator is necessary because it has to fit in very tight confines and most cars running big HP power need the extra power (amps) to run all the additional pumps, fans, etc that come along with that big power. Alternators aren’t sexy, but in this case much needed.

Belt Drive:

Belt drives are a huge issue on PD blowers. Even the most basic ones require a high zoot tensioner. Up the boost and RPM’s and either an 8 rib conversion or a 10 rib dedicated belt system are needed. Both cost some coin. And when you are looking at spinning the bigger blowers hard and making some serious boost a 8 rib conversion is not enough to get the job done, it has to be a 10 rib dedicated belt drive to be 100% reliable. When playing with a 3.4L Whipple the only choice is to go with a dedicated 10 rib belt drive. So, we took what we learned from designing 10 rib belt drives for the Kenne Bell 2.6 and 2.8L blowers and applied it to the R-Spec. What you get is a bulletproof belt system that doesn’t slip, doesn’t chew up belts and for all intents or purposes is maintenance free. We even designed it around readily available belts that can be purchased at multiple sources. No custom belts involved.

Blower to manifold adapter plate:

Because we were starting from scratch we were not trapped into using a GT500 blower to manifold adapter plate bolt pattern which are absolute nightmares for getting the fasteners in and torqued. We designed or own adapter plate with easily accessible fasteners. This may not sound like much, but as GT500 guys with Whipple’s how much fun they are to get put on and how long it takes. It’s a mess. I’ve heard of some guys having their little kids get the fasteners started for them because they are the only ones with hands small enough. This is not something you have to deal with on the R-Spec.

Another nice “feature” is that you can remove the fuel rails and injectors while the blower is bolted to the manifold. In a lot of the big blower/big elbow combinations you have to remove the blower to get to the injectors/rails. That sounds like a nightmare!

• Up to 1400rwhp*
• Up to 36spi of boost
• Can run up to 1.25” intercooler lines/hoses. A first and only in the industry. The largest competition is .625”.
• The only supercharger system available with a composite heat barrier. Another first and only in the industry.
• 10 rib stand alone belt drive system
• Nearly unlimited flexibility. Can be upgraded to over 1400rwhp
• Billet construction
• No cutting or grinding on the engine block
• Optional boost levels
• Uses mostly GT500 parts for unrivaled reliability and parts accessibility
• Easy intercooler fitting/port access
• 1yr limited warranty

*This would be a max effort build on special fuel under ideal conditions

The 3v R-Spec Kit Includes

-R-Spec intake manifold. Billet and composite

-Blower to manifold adapter plate. Billet

-3.4L Whipple supercharger with Crusher inlet and custom snout built to Department Of Boost Specs by Whipple

-10 rib dedicated belt drive system. Billet

-Thermostat housing/bypass block. Billet

-Lower radiator hose water manifold/bypass. Billet

-215A 4G alternator with custom cases

-All required fasteners for items supplied

Kit Does Not Include:

-Injectors

-Fuel rails

-Fuel pump(s)

-Throttle body

-Cold air intake

-Heat exchanger

-Intercooler water pump

-Intercooler degass bottle/tank

-Fittings & hoses

-Etc.

This is a tuner kit. It would be impossible to put an entire kit together that would suit everyone’s goals, tastes, budget, etc. A fuel system for 650hp on gas is a whole different story than a fuel system for 1200hp on e85 as an example. And supplying every kit with entry level stuff (which is what all complete kits do) would not be good enough for most buyers. You will need to figure out the rest of your combo based on your needs. We will of course be happy to help with that.