Brother just bought a used 300C SRT8 and wants to install a GCM supercharger

[Sled]

From what I understand, that's like lobbing a handgrenade into the engine bay. Should I talk him out of it? Being a GM guy, I don't know much about the 6.1 engine or its durability.

[CplDaugherty]

Point him more towards the ASM package if he HAS to buy one... otherwise sit on it for a year or so and see where the market is and if anyone has a reliable solution yet.

[1fastsedan]

Ask him if he is a gambling man and if he has $12K+ for the project. $6K for GSM kit + install, and then $6K for a long block 6.1L engine if things don't go "so well" shall we say.

[CplDaugherty]

Originally Posted by Ultimatecarman45

Tell him that I'll only charge $3k to kick him in the nuts, and take his engine. Then he'll save some cash.

ROFL!!! I do it for $2500!!!

[JMatt]

Originally Posted by Sled

From what I understand, that's like lobbing a handgrenade into the engine bay. Should I talk him out of it? Being a GM guy, I don't know much about the 6.1 engine or its durability.

Note my challenge from the other day: http://www.300cforums.com/forums/srt...ly-driver.html

No one has both track results & daily driver reliability. NO ONE.

[Steve Levin]

Something to keep in mind with any engine changes -- they rapidly cost engine life, and typically disproportionately to the amount of extra power generated.

I've worked with the 3.0 litre Cosworths for vintage F1 cars, and the rule of thumb is that for every 1,000 rpm you pull back redline (from, say, 10,000rpm) you double engine life. And the difference in power between 9,000rpm and 10,000rpm is not all that high.

So whilst I don't have a good anecdote about taking a 425hp engine to 560hp, my gut says that, all engineering aside, that a 30% increase in engine power without reworking the engine internals is going to end up being very, very costly.

But that's just me.

Steve

[gritz45]

Originally Posted by Steve Levin

Something to keep in mind with any engine changes -- they rapidly cost engine life, and typically disproportionately to the amount of extra power generated.

I've worked with the 3.0 litre Cosworths for vintage F1 cars, and the rule of thumb is that for every 1,000 rpm you pull back redline (from, say, 10,000rpm) you double engine life. And the difference in power between 9,000rpm and 10,000rpm is not all that high.

So whilst I don't have a good anecdote about taking a 425hp engine to 560hp, my gut says that, all engineering aside, that a 30% increase in engine power without reworking the engine internals is going to end up being very, very costly.




It appears to me that there are two major problems with supercharging these engines. The first is lack of tuning capabilty (particularly fuel management) over the entire rev range, and the second is powdered metal connecting rods. If you check with the Mustang crowd(I still have one) where SC or turbo is the preferred power adder, you will find that the non forged motors with cast pistons don't tolerate forced induction very well above about 6-8 psi(about 360 CSHP). On those motors running higher boost a bent/broken connecting rod was almost a certainty at some point. With forged internals reliability has been good up to 600+ HP with proper tuning. My personal feeling is that a motor capable of 500+ HP and 6500 rpm needs forged rods, crank, and pistons. But that's just me.

Steve

[stealthsrt8]

Originally Posted by Ultimatecarman45

Tell him that I'll only charge $3k to kick him in the nuts, and take his engine. Then he'll save some cash.

OMG that was hillarious!

[HalV48]

Originally Posted by CplDaugherty

Point him more towards the ASM package if he HAS to buy one... otherwise sit on it for a year or so and see where the market is and if anyone has a reliable solution yet.

I think ASM designed there setup based on the 5.7.

There was an ASM 5.7 SC car at the Rumble in the Desert running 14.5's at 96MPH. I didn't hear any issues that would say it wasn't running right. He ran all day, even in one of the brackets. No offense against the owner of the car, but we where all expecting much more from the ASM setup.

That's alot of money to run mid-pack stock times.

IMHO they have alot of balls offering a 4K something kit to make the GSM run better. Seems like a little more R&D on there own systems is needed before they worry about someone else's so-called issues.

I would talk to Scott at GSM before making any decisions.