Guys: I figured I would share out my first impressions of the VMP Gen II TVS blower. First of all, working with VMP has been absolutely fantastic. Before I bought, I was speaking to BJ by email and just shocked by how quick he responded. After the sale, the communication speed remained far beyond expectations.
Keep in mind, I bought this car promising myself (and my wife) I would not mod it at all... that lasted for a month. Then I decided to do the pulley, thermostat, plugs, and tune (the usual). When contemplating, several of you told me to just get an upgraded blower and save the time/money of the pulley's.... I really wish I had listened
. I bought this car largely because my father had kidney cancer and was a car enthusiast and street rod building his whole life, anyway, another story... fast forward to now:
I was trying to decide between a used 2013-2014 GT500 TVS blower, and came really close to a few deals. After reading about the Gen II and speaking to BJ, decided to take the plunge. Because of my job and 3 young kids, I have almost zero "spare" time. Basically, I try to use Sunday afternoons for stuff like this... The VMP Gen II arrived when I was out of the country for work, and i was stoked the entire 14+ hour flight home looking forward to opening the box.
Was not disappointed, it was beautiful! Had to wait a week or so to line up the time and a friend to help. I also swapped out the injectors for 2014 GT500 injectors. That was the major mistake made... I did think about the fact that the fuel rail needed to go in before the blower. Was not a huge deal as we did not have it fully installed, so it was a relatively small set back and we waited one more week to finish it up properly. Sadly, I did not find these instructions until after the install: http://www.fordgt500.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108081 Definitely read these FIRST.
Loaded up the VMP tune, crossed fingers, and fired it up. Purred like a kitten from the first twist of the key. I was really happy. Revved it quick a few times, then hit the road. I was blown away by the smoothness. I had expected it to be "glitchy" with all that air moving, but what I found was that it was SMOOTHER than the old set up. And, as expected, it pulled strong from much lower RPMs. I also found out that second gear was now harder on tires.... regardless, I did not go too hard on it as I wanted to datalog and make sure things were hooked up right.
I was asking BJ about how to do the datalog and he offered to talk to me by phone. We ended up speaking for over 40 min, it was fantastic. I am an engineering professor (environmental) and he took the time to explain how the various sensors worked and what to expect in the datalog. My appreciation was at a maximum, it was great that he took all that time for educating me on the GT500's internal workings.
Tonight, finally, I did the datalog. Just by ear, engine sounded weird, so I posted-up here figuring it was late on Sunday and surely BJ would need to respond later. Nope! He sent me an email within 30 min (or less), said my datalog looked good, then he fine-tuned the tune and sent me a new file! This is around after 10pm eastern time on a Sunday. Now how's that for service!
Anyway, I look forward to trying it at WOT in 3rd (maybe 4th) next week and sharing the results. I am excited about getting it on a dyno, but not sure when I can find the time. If anyone knows of a good dyno in Tucson, please send me a PM.
If you're on the fence about doing a pully and tune, trust me, just jump in and get the blower upgrade. I wish I had.... anyone need a slightly used (<2k miles) pulley and twice used puller?
Keep in mind, I bought this car promising myself (and my wife) I would not mod it at all... that lasted for a month. Then I decided to do the pulley, thermostat, plugs, and tune (the usual). When contemplating, several of you told me to just get an upgraded blower and save the time/money of the pulley's.... I really wish I had listened
. I bought this car largely because my father had kidney cancer and was a car enthusiast and street rod building his whole life, anyway, another story... fast forward to now:I was trying to decide between a used 2013-2014 GT500 TVS blower, and came really close to a few deals. After reading about the Gen II and speaking to BJ, decided to take the plunge. Because of my job and 3 young kids, I have almost zero "spare" time. Basically, I try to use Sunday afternoons for stuff like this... The VMP Gen II arrived when I was out of the country for work, and i was stoked the entire 14+ hour flight home looking forward to opening the box.
Was not disappointed, it was beautiful! Had to wait a week or so to line up the time and a friend to help. I also swapped out the injectors for 2014 GT500 injectors. That was the major mistake made... I did think about the fact that the fuel rail needed to go in before the blower. Was not a huge deal as we did not have it fully installed, so it was a relatively small set back and we waited one more week to finish it up properly. Sadly, I did not find these instructions until after the install: http://www.fordgt500.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108081 Definitely read these FIRST.
Loaded up the VMP tune, crossed fingers, and fired it up. Purred like a kitten from the first twist of the key. I was really happy. Revved it quick a few times, then hit the road. I was blown away by the smoothness. I had expected it to be "glitchy" with all that air moving, but what I found was that it was SMOOTHER than the old set up. And, as expected, it pulled strong from much lower RPMs. I also found out that second gear was now harder on tires.... regardless, I did not go too hard on it as I wanted to datalog and make sure things were hooked up right.
I was asking BJ about how to do the datalog and he offered to talk to me by phone. We ended up speaking for over 40 min, it was fantastic. I am an engineering professor (environmental) and he took the time to explain how the various sensors worked and what to expect in the datalog. My appreciation was at a maximum, it was great that he took all that time for educating me on the GT500's internal workings.
Tonight, finally, I did the datalog. Just by ear, engine sounded weird, so I posted-up here figuring it was late on Sunday and surely BJ would need to respond later. Nope! He sent me an email within 30 min (or less), said my datalog looked good, then he fine-tuned the tune and sent me a new file! This is around after 10pm eastern time on a Sunday. Now how's that for service!
Anyway, I look forward to trying it at WOT in 3rd (maybe 4th) next week and sharing the results. I am excited about getting it on a dyno, but not sure when I can find the time. If anyone knows of a good dyno in Tucson, please send me a PM.
If you're on the fence about doing a pully and tune, trust me, just jump in and get the blower upgrade. I wish I had.... anyone need a slightly used (<2k miles) pulley and twice used puller?
