In the next 60 days I plan on getting a KB for my 07 GT. I have looked around but still have a question. What are the cons of not getting the intercooler right now (besides less horses to crush imports with). Would that be a bad thing to run without it? I will probably up grade it when ever I go over to forged internals this is not going to happen to soon though. Thank you for your time
Patricia

 

It's not an issue as long as the components in their kit CAN be retrofit at a later date. I would think the only thing that would be impacted would be the pulley and ultimate boost available. Of course some time on the dyno for tuning would be a necessity as well. Sure you can run more boost and make more power with an IC, but it's not mandatory. You should be OK holding out until you're ready to go full tilt.

 

From a guy who has a non-intercooled Whipple I can tell you what Doug (Bamachips) told me. When he custom dynotuned my car last April it squeezed out 344 rwhp. This was after it was extremely hot. We estimated if we had more time to let it cool and gave it another run we would have seen 350-360 rwhp. Doug said if the intercooler and a 10lb pulley were added we would break the 400 rwhp mark. My non-intercooled Whipple currently has a 8lb pulley. I want to add an intercooler eventually, but eventually seems to be a ways off. To answer your question about the intercooler.........if you can afford it, get it. Good luck man and keep us posted!!!!!

 

That's my plan too. The only real down side I can see is the cost too add the intercooler package after the fact seems to be considerably higher (as in 2 to 1). At least that's what Whipple's MSRP prices suggest. KB doens't list a price for an intercooler upgrade. I'll need to look into this part of it a little further.

 

Non-intercooled Vortech here, no problems at 439 at the wheels. I do plan on adding the intercooler soon though, mainly for peace of mind and a smaller pulley for more boost.

 

intercool and boost!

 

Twin screw boosted engines suffer from a lot of heat soak. To intercool that KB it would be a major plus....more advanced timing, lower temps, less chance of detonation.

 

Sure, heat can be an issue, but I was under the impression that the twin screw design doesn't heat the air up as much as say a centrifugal or roots style, and therefore an intercooler isn't necessary with a lower boost pulley. True or no?

Right from KB's FAQ page (emphassis mine):

Intercoolers? Kenne Bell has been selling our own air to air intercoolers for the Buick GN for 15 years - and the Syclone/Typhoon for 20 years - well before the supercharger industry even began offering intercooling. There are 2 ways to approach supercharging: 1. use a supercharger and/or boost that won't work without intercooling or 2. design kits with a supercharger that is efficient enough that it doesn't require an intercooler. First of all, contrary to popular belief, intercoolers do not "make" more horsepower. They cannot. Supercharger output is FIXED and doesn't increase merely because downstream air charge temperature is lowered. It's the same air by mass. The mass, the weight, the oxygen content of that blast of air discharged by the supercharger cannot be increased. You don't believe it? Try this. Capture the discharged air in a bottle, seal it and weigh it at 300°, 200°, -50°. The weight (mass) won't change, the engine can't ingest more air so it won't make more power. Yes, the cooler denser air, at -50° for example, will "allow" more boost or advanced engine timing but that air, by itself, won't make more power. Now if the air entering the supercharger (ambient) is reduced, it is denser and cooler and then will make more power (1% increase for every 10° temperature drop according to our data). So why intercool? If the supercharger is relatively inefficient with a high discharge temp and the engine knocks at 6 psi, then the air charge temp must be reduced. Retarding ignition timing or lowering the boost to 4 psi reduces power, so that is not an option. Fortunately, the Kenne Bell Twin Screw is the most efficient supercharger concept available being around 60° cooler than the competition at 6 psi, so an intercooler is not needed to remove an extra 60° from the air charge. In some cases, with higher boost and discharge temps, if the water is cooled - and the flow is increased via a BOOST-A-PUMP, the air charge volume between the intercooler discharge and exhaust valve may "shrink" and increase HP by 1-2% (up to 18HP on a 900HP engine). The conditions must be right to achieve this gain.

 

One thing to consider too besides intercooling is alcohol injection. It is becoming more popular and is effective.... check out Alternative Auto.

 

My Vortech aftercooler wasn't working properly after the install. On the dyno and just driving around, the aftercooler would be the same temperature as the blower. It was so hot that I couldn't put my hand on it. Now that the cooler is working, it stays very close to ambient temperature. I can put my hand on it all day. Not very scientific, but it definetly drops the intake charge substantially.

 

A centrifugal with an air to air intercooler has the coolest air charge. Air to air is the most effective. No matter what boost level you run it's always better to be intercooled for a variety of reasons including temps, more air molecules, ability to run higher levels of boost, more power.

They also sell centrifugals without intercoolers from Paxton and Powerdyne. My friends with intercooled KB's suffer from heat soak and with some it's big time.

 

After talking with KB they say that if we go without intercooler that we would have to remove the supercharger to add it on later. We much rather do it the first time around all at once. Taking it off and adding to it just seems like alot more work that you really need to do. From what I see here I plan on going with the intercooler it will give me a solid piece of mind. As far as longevity at least til I go forged.

 

I think you can change it by simply removing the head unit and not the entire manifold but you can check with them to see if it needs additional plumbing in the valley. Still, removing the manifold isn't that big a deal.

 

I just installed a non intercooled version this last weekend. In order to intercool you will have to remove the charger and replace the intake manifold along with adding all the other cooling parts , new pulley and tune. With that said, I doubt it would take more than a day to accomplish now that I am familiar with the install.

 

I just figure do it all in one shot, not have to take anything apart again. One shot, one kill.

 

New intake would explain why its pricey

 

I would do it all up front. Doing the IC later will cost you more later on.

 

This is true..

Also FYI, I am adding the Paxton air-to-air cooler to my Vortech in another week or so. I'll post back my impressions from before/after the 'cooler.