What if you could switch your supercharger on and off with the flick of a switch? Many gearheads have had that dream ever since it was seen in the Mad Max movie in 1979. The aftermarket was slackin’, but 34 years later, Procharger has made it real. Or close.
The all-new i-1 supercharger is a belt-driven centrifugal deal like Procharger is known for, but this one can be programmed for the boostcurve of your choice by way of a computer-controlled constantly variable transmission (CVT) that changes the blower-drive ratio dynamically. The i-1 blower has a 8:1 gear-driven reduction augmented by the CVT that runs between 0.6:1 and 1.9:1. The drive ratio alters the blower speed and therefore changes the boost.
How is this Mad Max-like? Because you can dial a low 1 or 2 psi for driving around town and then crank it up to the blower’s full potential of around 850 hp, all on the fly. You can also custom-shape a curve to your liking, overdriving the blower at low engine speeds for more bottom-end power, and then tapering it off to ensure you don’t get into overboost. You can also create a flatter boost curve than you would normally see with an rpm-dependant centrifugal blower There are three modes out of the box: Touring for 1-2 psi, Sport for a medium- aggressive boost curve, and Competition for all-out power.
Procharger CEO Ken Jones told us that the i-1 was tested back to back with the company’s mainstay P1SC at the drag strip. The older blower ran 120 mph and the new one ran 122—that’s not due to the CVT, but because of a refined compressor housing.
Ken also says ’10-up CamaroSS will be the first available application, but company insiders have been driving around in 5.0 Mustangs, Corvettes, late-model Mopars, and F-150 trucks. We’ll throw out a guess that the 5.0 Mustang kit will be the next to market.
This is the most creative new product launch we’ve seen so far at SEMA 2012, and HOT ROD is already scheming an interesting way to test one of these things. Meanwhile, you have to check out the video to really understand how cool it is:
Pontiac is back… Well kind of. This is Lingenfelter’s Pontiac Trans Am based off of a 5th-Gen Camaro. It’s a turn-key package Lingenfelter introduced at the 2012 SEMA show. Mike Copeland, who used to head special projects for GM and built previous HOT ROD project cars, said the only thing left is to sell them.
The Trans Ams will be offered in three price point packages that can be expanded upon or ditched for an entirely custom order. The base model is the $40,000 package which includes exterior work and cat-back exhaust. Package two is $69,000 and includes exterior, interior, paint job, and wheels. The top of the line package, what you see here, includes: exterior, paint, interior, Brembo brakes, full exhaust, and a 455ci V8. Lingenfelter starts with an RHS block and builds a custom 455ci with LSX heads and 655hp to the flywheel. The cars are built to order and don’t include the Camaro (they will buy one for you if you can’t show up with your own).
In 2009 Lingenfelter built four prototypes and thrashed on them for several years tweaking them before production was ready. The body kits were designed and now built by Lingenfelter. The car has specially designed wheels built by Forgeline and no, you can’t buy them, they will only be offered on the Lingenfelter Trans Am.
Meet Jon, one of our engineers here at Prestolite Performance. He is the focus of our first installment of What We Drive, our series of stories about the cars of Prestolite Performance employees. Jon got into cars when he was about 13 years old. His first car was a 1986 Ford Tempo that he worked on, but never got it to the road. His college car was a 1989 Chevy S10, which he beefed up by replacing the original 4 cylinder with a V8.
How Jon’s Camaro Went From 230 hp to Over 700 hp
Jon had been looking for a ’91 Camaro for some time, finding it difficult to locate one that wasn’t a rust bucket. In 2000, his search paid off and he purchased a nearly bone stock ’91 Camaro with only about 57,000 miles. The only performance upgrade on the car was a Flowmaster exhaust. Originally, the car made about 230 hp and 300 ft. lbs of torque.
The LB9 305 small block Chevy engine that was stock in Jon’s Camaro was removed to make way for a 355 small block. He hand ported aluminum Corvette heads and installed a Holley Stealth Ram intake with Mr. Gasket Ultra-Seal intake gaskets. Jon also made sure his engine was sealed for higher horsepower with Multi-Layered Steel head gaskets from Mr. Gasket. He made the engine even tougher with a forged ZZ4 crank, SRP forged pistons and a Comp camshaft.
Beefing up the drivetrain was also a priority so Jon installed a 4L80E transmission (built to handle 1000hp), Transgo shift kit, Lakewood transmission mount, SPOHN driveshaft, Detroit locker and Lakewood U-joints.
With twin 60mm Garret Turbos and his ACCEL 1000cfm throttle body and ACCEL Gen7 engine management system, Jon needed a hefty fuel delivery. His 5160FI fuel pump (now under Mallory) along with Mallory filters and high performance regulator provides the elite system needed for such a setup. For ignition, Jon used an ACCEL 300+ box with an ACCEL ultra coil and Extreme 9000 ceramic boot wires.
Now that Jon’s Camaro had been beefed up, he needed to harness the power with Lakewood 90/10 drag struts, panhard bar and control arms. He also needed better braking, so he installed 2002 SS Camaro brakes on all 4 corners.
All said and done, Jon’s beefed up ’91 Camaro now makes 700 hp and 800 ft. lbs of torque. That’s quite the improvement from stock.
Meanwhile, manual-shift enthusiasts are upgrading to modern units packing more heavy-duty horsepower capacity—and more gear ratios.
“The generation that is now in their 60s can afford to build the cars that they wanted to build when they were in high school,” said Dick Hill, sales manager for Centerforce Clutches in Prescott, Arizona. And while those folks are not usually looking to build a race car, “they do want a four- or five-speed manual transmission,” he said.
More surprisingly, the trend extends beyond muscle cars and into traditional hot rods as well.
“I have friends who are building Deuce roadsters and they are putting LS motors in them, with a five- or six-speed manual transmission,” Hill said. “There are people who put Cadillac V-8s in 1949–1951 Mercs, and they want a stick. They want a three-pedal car. So that, too, is contributing to the growth of the high-performance clutch market.”
Hot rodders who already own or have owned multiple cars are now looking for something different.
“It’s like the people who buy their first Harley, they want it with every doo-dad they can get, where older bikers are turning back to the Knucklehead or even Flathead motors,” Hill said. “It’s the same with the hot rodder who already has two or three or four toys in the garage. The newest toy is going to be a stick car. And it’s for the same reason that someone will buy a brand-new Camaro, put 1,000 horsepower in it, and drive it on the street while blowing cold air and playing tunes. They want a manual not because they’re going to race it, but because they can have it. That’s what we hear all the time: ‘Because I can.’”
Rating the Ratios
American Powertrain of Cookeville, Tennessee, sells a broad range of high-performance drivetrain components, from complete crate engines to driveshafts and pedals. The company also distributes Tremec transmissions.
“The hot market right now is for the Magnum six-speed in a classic muscle car,” said Gray Frederick. “The Magnum is Tremec’s replacement for the T-56 is the aftermarket version of what you would get in a new Shelby GT500 or Camaro SS.” Frederick added that people are putting them into classic Mustangs Cougars, Camaros Firebirds, Barracudas and Challengers.
“The cars that people spend the most money on are the cars that [are] getting Magnum six-speeds,” Frederick added.
The Magnum is available with two sets of ratios, with the closer-ratio unit being the more popular of the two.
“The wide-ratio box has a 0.5 overdrive, which is very tall; a lot of engines can’t pull that much overdrive,” Frederick said.
But when it comes to overdrive, isn’t more better?
“That’s a myth,” Frederick said. “You can say, ‘Alright, I’m at the ragged edge of my cam, where if I’m on flat ground I can hold 70 mph all day.’ In a perfect world, that would be great. [I]n the real world, at some point you’re going to have to slow down for construction, and then speed up again; or you’re going to hit a rise, or something else that causes your engine to run out of breath. [T]hen you’re going to have to shift and that’s what you’re trying to avoid.
“You want to put it in sixth gear and leave it sixth gear,” he continued. “You don’t want to run down the highway at your cam’s peak performance, which would be 3,000–4,000 rpm. But you do want an rpm where your engine can pull your car up hills, and pass without dropping a gear. If every time you put your foot in the gas the engine lugs and you have to shift, that becomes very inefficient. We’re helping the customer understand that, even on the highway, you want to stay in your powerband. Otherwise the overdrive doesn’t do you any good.”
Frederick recommends the wide-ratio unit mostly for torquey big blocks.
“A Pontiac 455 will pull a stump out of the ground at 800 rpm; it doesn’t have trouble pulling a car at whatever rpm you’re running,” he said. “A Mopar 440 and some other big blocks with a lot of low-end grunt can usually handle the taller overdrive, too. And of course we’re dealing with a lot of electronically fuel-injected (EFI) engines now, and most of them have computers that can cope with low rpm very well.
They can retard the spark, they can meter the fuel differently, they can do all kinds of things.
“We help the customer choose a rearend ratio and a gear set that’s going to give them the best performance, from top to bottom,” Frederick said.
Pedal Pressure Another concern, according to Hill of Centerforce Clutches, is the physical effort once associated with a high-performance clutch.
“Our customers all ask, ‘How stiff is the pedal?’” he said. “That’s why we’ve been very successful, whether it’s a single-disc clutch for mild upgrade vehicle, or dual-disc unit that can hold 1,300 lbs./ft. of torque, we’ve been very successful in making them streetable.”
The average consumer, Hill said, could climb into a car with a Centerforce dual-disc clutch, push the pedal to the floor, and not realize that the car was modified.
“[T]he person who has a $75,000 Camaro or Corvette wants race-car performance without the race-car effort, so this is pretty significant,” he said.
Still, selecting the optimal clutch for any particular application is a complex task best left to experts.
“There are different linings and different friction materials on the pressure plate,” Hill said. “Heat is a factor. The first thing you have to know is how the vehicle is going to be used. Drag racers realize they are going to drive their car until they break it, where hot rodders don’t beat their cars up as bad. They are very proud of their cars and they want to drive them, not break them. And unless the car has been tubbed, a street machine generally runs smaller tires, so you want to tune the clutch for that.”
McLeod Racing of Placentia, California, offers its RST and RXT Street Twin clutches, both double-disc units that hold up to 1,000 horsepower, with the pedal pressure of a stock clutch, said President Paul Lee. Contributing to this low effort—and to easier installation—are McLeod’s hydraulic release bearings, “which fit most applications, replacing worn and/or outdated mechanical linkages,” he said.
“We’re selling more clutches for vehicles from the 1960s and 1970s, and installing a new hydraulic clutch in one of these cars can significantly reduce pedal effort,” said Rich Barsamian, national sales manager for Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT) in Lancaster, California. The company also offers a wide range of clutches for GM, Ford and Mopar applications, each rated for torque at the crankshaft.
When installing an aftermarket clutch, Barsamian suggested, “be sure to use the right amount of lube on the input shaft—it is possible to use too much. Be sure parts are free from dirt and oil, and washed in a non-petroleum-based cleaner such as acetone, alcohol or brake cleaner. Be sure to follow the correct torque and tightening sequence when installing the clutch cover—and do not use impact tools.”
I know the owner and this car has had the best care. It is an AZ car and is always garaged or covered when it’s not moving and it DOES move.
What’s under the hood?
GM’s Generation III V-8 engine as configured in the Corvette. It is the all-aluminum 5.7-liter (350-cubic-inch) produce up to 350 horsepower in the two-seat sports car.
100% Stock. More Pics To come.
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Asking $9k. That’s a steal in this condition. This isn’t my car, but if you buy and don’t like, I’ll buy it from you!!!!…Actually, I ought to buy it myself!!! I”m going to think about that some.
She looks great with the T’s off!!!!
Engine Pic1 – SOOOO CLEAN!!!
Engine Pic 2. Nicely Maintained!!!
Perfect Stock Interior!!!
Room for 2 in the back. Although it doesn’t look like anyone has ever sat back there!!!!
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
I love car art, whether it be paintings of cars or car parts, photographs of either, hood ornaments, door handles, even bumpers and grills. From time to time I pick up piece, or my wife does.
My Son is a digital art’s major and photographer and he takes some great shots and produce some fantastic images. The image of the two corvettes at an auto cross is his creation. Interesting enough the red vette was my 1984 and the black C6 was an oman, as I now own a black C6.
At Barrett-Jackson besides beautiful cars there is a huge area for venders and car art is everywhere and yes my wife did find a piece for me from photographer Shane Knight – I’ll get to him in another entry. But it is a mecca for creating your own car art. It’s a bit crowded to set up you easel and whip out your paint brushes or charcoal, but a good camera and a little skill even the Average Guy and get some shot to take home and play with.
Now I can’t say as I have a great eye for doing this myself but over the next posts associated with this title, I’ll show you some that we took. Believe it or not my wife did a great job with just her new Iphone 4S camera and of course my son with his higher end digital camera and lens.
First up is a shot my son took. I can’t recall the car but I bet someone out there can.
Photo by RJS - prints are available
Great looking dashand side mirror. Steering wheel is of course, not original. This is one of my favorites.
Barrett-Jackson‘s upcoming Scottsdale event later this month is shaping up to be an exciting affair, with all sorts of classic and modern hardware crossing the block. One of the latest to join the party is the SMS-Bondurant Camaro.
Presented by Steve Saleen and Bob Bondurant, the special SMS supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 Camaro gets a rating of 620 horsepower, 570 lb-ft of torque, a six-speed manual transmission, Borla exhaust, “Red Butterfly” hood, Eibach S suspension, custom 20-inch SMS wheels, and the autographs of both Saleen and Bondurant on the dash.
It’s production car #001 of the new collaboration, and it’ll be auctioned to benefit the Make A Wish and COX Charities foundations.
I just recently picked up a copy of GMs new Performance catalog and all I can say is WOW!! But we’ll dive into that in a future post.
Gracing the cover was the latest and greatest COPO Camaro. You remember those special order packages. Well they have brought it back and factory racing just jumped up and shouted “LET DO IT!!!!” [vodpod id=Video.15839761&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
on and off with the flick of a switch? Many gearheads have had that dream ever since it was seen in the Mad Max movie in 1979. The aftermarket was slackin’, but 34 years later, Procharger has made it real. Or close.
Meet Jon, one of our engineers here at Prestolite Performance. He is the focus of our first installment of What We Drive, our series of stories about the cars of Prestolite Performance employees. Jon got into cars when he was about 13 years old. His first car was a 1986 Ford Tempo that he worked on, but never got it to the road. His college car was a 1989 Chevy S10, which he beefed up by replacing the original 4 cylinder with a V8.
January 6th, 2012 
aunik_aronno
