have to say Kenne Bell does the most extensive dyno testing in the aftermarket

 

Wow, that's some great information. The extensive testing really makes me confident in Kenne Bell.

 

Good stuff!

 

Only 2hp from changing from 100% stock exhaust to full race exhaust on a 800hp car who would have ever thought
Kenne Bell is the s/c of choice for me I do a lot of back road adventures and power from the bottom up is what I need not the high end punch of a centrifugal

 

says a lot about Ford's cast iron manifolds and production cats huh? guess maybe they didnt leave much room for improvement, despite what many ads claim.

 

Any ideas if there would be a similar lack of gain in an NA car?

KB siad that the Bassani Cat back gained some.

2 HP for headers and "Hi Flow" cats don't seem worth it.

 

As I understand it the log manifolds flow pretty well, but offer next to nothing when it comes to the resonant tuning advantages of a properly desinged header in the low to mid-range area.

 

Hey, interesting reads.. can't seem to open the MustangCatalyticConverters.pdf...

 

We need more information about the Bassani mufflers.

 

Nevermind.. I was so intrigued that I searched around and found them here: http://www.kennebell.net/techinfo/techinfo-ford.htm

Very interesting.. I'm not sure if I believe (or want to believe) it all. I took my cats out a few months ago and I thought I felt a minor change - maybe not though

One thing I find a little suspicious in Kenne Bell's articles is that their re-test numbers are always exactly the same. I.e., they keep changing parts and each run keeps producing exactly "775hp." I was under the impression that dyno runs will often change by several HP between runs, even if you change nothing... did they leave out slight variations to make the point easier to comprehend for most readers? Or are the numbers fabricated/lies? Or does their dyno setup produce results with under 0.1% error? (You would need around as low as 0.1% error in order to consistently see the same HP figure when you're up in the 700's.)

 

I've always used Jim Bell as a baseline for numbers. He has the most scientific method of testing and documenting changes. I trust his assessment of non-competing products. In other words, I'm very confident in his evaluation of exhaust systems but I would take a closer look at discussions regarding other superchargers.

 

I don't put faith in the exhaust numbers at all. I know of many, probably dozens of people that have showed solid gains when switching to long tube headers. Any in my own experience, I gained around 8hp when swapping from the factory mid pipe to an offroad H pipe, without changing the tune. And that was when I was NA, not blown. But anyway, KB still makes great blowers LOL..... Maybe they're trying to justify the reasoning to save your money on exhaust improvements in order to buy their expensive blowers. A kit for my 2003 Mach 1 goes for $6700 on their site last time I checked.

 

Why do blowers cost so much?....seems like an awful lot of money for the technology and materials involved. $5000-$7500?

 

I think it is all in the precision of the rotors, a lot of R&D is needed to get them correct. Also in a roots/twin screw you are also getting a complete new intake manifold. Plus raw materials, the majority if twin screw & roots systems are milled out of a solid block of material. Centri systems can be quite more cost effective in comparison.

 

This info has been on his (Bell's) site for over 2 years.

 

Very interesting reading.

One problem with their methodology that conveniently works in their marketing favor, is they don't like the compound mods, like headers+cams. Our cars have a great balance on power when stock, the problem with that is to see noticeable gains, intake+exhast work needs to be balanced. If what KB says is true, what's the point of staying N/A, because according to K/B you won't get any gains unless you go F/I.

What I do know, is if I ever go F/I, it'll be with a KB blower. That said, I don't believe everything I read.

 

I can't believe anyone buy into that BS he spews onto his website. No gains from long tube headers? Interesting. I guess all of the guys that can 20-35 rwhp in S197s must be crazy. Everyone who has gained 5 rwhp from just getting rid of the cats with a o/r x pipe must be crazy, too.

 

did you join just to get that off your chest

 

No, he's been around a while, lost his account from the backup failure earlier this month. And he makes a valid point. KB's motives are highly suspect with their report: they only sell superchargers, they don't sell exhaust systems or camshafts or reworked heads or valvetrains. So if their report flies in the face of a lot of people's real daily findings with those products... well... stinky cow dung is stinky cow dung. I still love their blowers, but marketing crap like this can give even good products a bad taste if they're not careful.