Pro's and con's of a Kenny Bell -VS- F1A

50_Dave

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Roots/twin screw style supercharged cars are, "fun cars"

Dyno sheets are crap. You can easily solve the whole "well he has this much torque from 2500 till this rpm" hoopla with a properly picked set of gears for a centi driven car. From what i have seen dyno wise, all the twin screws stop being efficient past 6500/7000 rpms. The great thing about centri superchargers is that you can rev the hell out of them. 4v are built to rev, and that is why you will always see better track times out of a 4v with a cent over a twinscrew
 
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blowngt

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I called ATI (not that it means anything) and asked them why the F1A wasn't successful on the 03-04 platform. Basically, their answer was that the blower was being pushed beyond what it was engineer to do. They set out to make 600HP on a car that came stock with 390HP (more or less). It's when people start trying to go beyond what the blower was engineered to make (like going with a 3.0 pulley on a 6rib) that they run into problems and say the kit sucks.

Now please don't bash me as this is not what I'm saying, I'm simply repeating what the tech said. The reason why I was asking was because I'm going to install an F1A on my 4v conversion (00GT with a 2001 4v based motor) and was wondering what I should expect.

We can argue all day whether or not the ATI kit works on the 03-04 cobras. My opinion is that if they were able to engineer a kit that would minimize belt slip, it would be a kick ass set up. The real question is why would you switch supercharger systems (roots to centri) if you can make all the power you want with a much simpler/cheaper whipple/KB setup.

I'm staying with the centri, if not I would be doing the same thing. Spending more money to get basically the same result (albeit with more TQ). You have to decide how you ultimately want to enjoy your car and do the build keeping that goal in mind.
 

VENOMIZED03

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Damn these are the replys that I am wanting...Thank you very much. Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that the F1A's were making unbelievable power on stock 03-04 cobra's. I am talking like 700 RWHP. The numbers arent the reason why I am thinking of purchasing one. I just want something thats different. Everyone that upgrades goes to kenny bell or whipple. Dont get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a turbo, but I dont have that kind of money. More reply's please
 

blowngt

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VENOMIZED03 said:
Damn these are the replys that I am wanting...Thank you very much. Correct me if I am wrong but I thought that the F1A's were making unbelievable power on stock 03-04 cobra's. I am talking like 700 RWHP. The numbers arent the reason why I am thinking of purchasing one. I just want something thats different. Everyone that upgrades goes to kenny bell or whipple. Dont get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a turbo, but I dont have that kind of money. More reply's please


Depends on who you talk to. I'm still not real clear on why the 03 kits were not engineered to be more successful. They really kick ass on earlier 2v's and 4v's, but never really did that good on the 03-04's. I think these are the types of #'s you were refering to....



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50_Dave

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I also think it might have something to do with the cams. I may be wrong on this, but i dont think the cam set up on the 03/04 cobra is designed to spin as high as 7500 rpm which is where the F1 really takes off. Nor the pistons.
 

ESVEETEE

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do a junkyard turbo... all the pluses of the centri, with the torque of a KB (not lowdown, but it is massive torque on boost), and no belt!


you can fab it up pretty easily, just need some welding ability!
 

VENOMIZED03

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I cant be fabing up something for the cobra. I am VERY picky and I know if it doesnt look perfect I wont want it on there. What is the best "bang for the buck" turbo system for an 03-04 cobra?
 

tms217

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VENOMIZED03 said:
I cant be fabing up something for the cobra. I am VERY picky and I know if it doesnt look perfect I wont want it on there. What is the best "bang for the buck" turbo system for an 03-04 cobra?


There is no such thing as "bang for Buck" for a turbo system on a MOD car..
 

560Sl

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I think turbos are the way to go...pricey but you cant hit 800Hp efficiently on a blower without spray in my opinion
 

spyder1337

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Centri blower for the cheap 500/600 rwhp route.
Turbo if you want to exceed 600 rwhp on the same boost as a blower car making 500 rwhp.

I would like to have the F1 kit on my cobra just for the fact on 16 psi I would be making over 600 rwhp. I'm running the P1 right now and it's at the max as far as psi wise goes which is around 16 psi. If you have the extra 3 grand to spare just get the turbo system and be done with it.
 

91hatch

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personally i think most ppl go with a twin screw because of how easy of a swap it is. centri/turbos are alot of work on these cars and some require relocating the battery or a diffrent k-member. so most ppl just slap on a kb/whipple and are done with it and dont go the harder route
 

tms217

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91hatch said:
personally i think most ppl go with a twin screw because of how easy of a swap it is. centri/turbos are alot of work on these cars and some require relocating the battery or a diffrent k-member. so most ppl just slap on a kb/whipple and are done with it and dont go the harder route


Well I know if I was going to do the added cost of the turbo kit, since you have to drop the k-member anyway to install most of it I would do as much as I can while I was in there.
 

o3SnakeBite

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91hatch said:
personally i think most ppl go with a twin screw because of how easy of a swap it is. centri/turbos are alot of work on these cars and some require relocating the battery or a diffrent k-member. so most ppl just slap on a kb/whipple and are done with it and dont go the harder route

Thats a good point... You can get 600rwhp out of a kb or whipple, Thats enought for me... I personally wouldnt go through the trouble of running all those tubes and relocating parts to install the F1a
 

mpe331lx

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blowngt said:
We can argue all day whether or not the ATI kit works on the 03-04 cobras. My opinion is that if they were able to engineer a kit that would minimize belt slip, it would be a kick ass set up. The real question is why would you switch supercharger systems (roots to centri) if you can make all the power you want with a much simpler/cheaper whipple/KB setup..

There are two major downfalls of the procharger kit for the 03/04 Cobra,
The first and biggest is the intake set up, not only are you losing torque getting rid of the positive displacement blower, you are losing even more with their sh*tty sheetmetal box intake. Problem two would be what someone in an earlier reply mentioned, the stock camshafts are not designed to rev over 6500. Your getting a mismatched combo right off the rip. You would at least need some cams, but that intake just plain sucks. Get the kit and sell the intake to someone doing a turbo.

If I was going to do an F1a on a car that would be street driven, I would try to make the most power across the board. Take a nicely ported mach1 or 99/01 Cobra intake (or maybe a sullivan), a custom set of cams, and a large air to air cooler. Pulley that beast to make max boost at 6800-7000 rpm and go KB and whipple hunting (They may hunt me, who knows :rollseyes ).
 

CHINI

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Wow i raced a procharged cobra and i seriously didnt think he was going. Not even funny how low the torque is. He ended up making me go from a 65 roll and i still pulled on him. LOL
 

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