Heads-up! The new 3.8L supercharger from Whipple is here.
If you want to make your car's performance better without buying a new engine that will burn a hole in your pockets, you are in for a treat.
Let us know why. But before that-
Why Does Your Car Need a Supercharger? (A Recall)
Most of the cars we buy are made for the average user. There's a good reason for that.
Some people want to boost their engine's performance; some people would like to customize as they want, and so on. Different people have different expectations from a car.
To tackle that, companies provide the basic models of a car so that you can customize it as you want.
Sure, certain companies offer you additions and charge you for that. But their primary strategy is to provide you a car that can be customized.
There's no necessity when it comes to customization. The basic version of the car can get you around the town without any problems. But to get the best car experience, you need to customize it.
When it comes to customization, one of the best things you can do for your car is to supercharge your car's engines—a good reason why is that you get better performance without having to buy a new engine.
Supercharging helps your car have more power from the same engine. It does that by increasing the horsepower generation capability of your car.
So how does a Supercharger work?
A supercharger works by compressing the airflow before it enters the engine. Through this process, you add more air, because of which more fuel can be added. This results in more power in the form of more explosion and horsepower for your engine.
What's new in the 3.8 liter supercharger from Whipple?
New Dual Intercooler
As we said before, a supercharger helps you increase the engine's performance by increasing its airflow. During this process, because of the compression processes involved, a lot of heat loss takes place. To prevent this heat loss, an intercooler is used.
There's another problem with supercharging.
Because of the increase in air intake, it also increases air pressure. It can then lead to a situation of heated intake charge (a mixture of fuel and air), which will reduce your supercharged engine's overall performance.
Making use of an intercooler can help you with that. The intake charge is passed through the intercooler, which reduces the temperature and pressure.
The use of an intercooler is a must when it comes to supercharged engines. With Whipple's new dual intercooler, it takes it up a notch higher.
It is also a patent-pending technology, meaning Whipple offers you something unique that has not been provided before.
New High Flow Fittings (Dual In/Out, 12/16 An)
Along with an engine that can take in more air, you need other related equipment to facilitate that process.
This is where small equipment like air fittings comes into the picture. Air fittings are small tools that, as you might have guessed, help control directional flow and air control pressure in your car.
Two types of these fittings are available: high flow and regular connection.
But there's a big difference between the high flow and regular connection. High flow fittings have a bigger area, which allows for a significant volume of air to pass through its air passage. The difference is such that if your regular connection were to be straw, high-flow fittings would be a garden hose. You get the gist of its performance.
Using a high-flow fitting can help you bring more air and increase your engine's potential and performance.
CFD Based inlet design
As a car enthusiast, you might know what benefit the car's shape provides. The better the car design, the more aerodynamic it is, because of which you will get better speed and performance.
But there's an undue focus on the car's exteriors and how it stands up to the test of aerodynamics. Not a lot of people focus on the car's interiors, especially related to the engine.
Whipple has worked on that, on inlet design, using a technology called CFD.
CFD stands for Computational Fluid Dynamics. Under CFD, digital analysis of a vehicle's aerodynamic capabilities takes place. You get a better idea of how the airflow moves around and through the car.
Whipple's 3.8 liter supercharger has carefully worked out a CFD-based inlet design, making sure you get the best performance from your engine, uncompromised.
Rotor inlet shape
To put it simply, rotors are used in the car's braking system. They are placed in the tires surrounded by two brake pads. Both the rotors and brake pads work using friction.
Friction is generated when the brake pads rub against the rotor. But so much heat is generated in the process that it becomes crucial to: drive away the hot air from the rotor and drive in cool air.
The rotor is very important in this process.
With a proper rotor inlet shape, you ensure that adequate airflow is there to cool your brake rotors and increase their functionality.
Tilted Throttle Angle
The throttle is sometimes also known as the gas pedal or accelerator. Used in the internal combustion engine, using a throttle, you can control how much air or fuel is entering the engine.
To get into details: there's a throttle plate present in the engine, which is connected to the accelerator paddle present at the foot of the driver's seat. Whenever you hit the accelerator, the throttle plate gets lowered, and more fuel and air are pumped into the engine. Through this pumping, you get more energy and speed.
In this process, one of the vital things that are not focused enough is the throttle angle. The throttle plate is connected to a throttle valve which controls the airflow. A good angle orientation can help you bring in more air.
Whipple's new supercharger has made updates to that throttle angle so that more fuel-air mix can be pumped quickly and give you better car performance.
Increased runner length
Every car has a four-stroke engine. It also has an associated intake runner which moves air into the engine. This runner is connected to the engine through the intake valve.
As long as the air is pumped into the engine through the runner, it's all good. When suddenly the intake valve shuts off, the air gets stuck in the intake runner and starts building up pressure. It then goes to the far end, where the runner is connected to the intake manifold.
The pressure wave will then bounce back from there and enter into the intake valve exactly when it opens at the next cycle. This pressure will help get in more fuel-air mix into the engine.
With a properly sized intake runner, the pressure will deliver just the amount needed to get an extra boost. That's why Whipple has increased the runner length to increase efficiency.
Other important additions
Updated front pulley and bearing design
Increased diameter vs. length, which helps in increasing efficiency
Higher flow lid for better cylinder distribution
With/Without race port
With all these new upgrades, Whipple says its new 3.8 liter supercharger will be able to generate up to a whopping 830 HorsePower and 640 LBS of Torque.
As for the cars for which the new engine will be available for are:
Ford: 5.0 Mustang GT from 2011 and up, some F-150 models, and a version of Shelby
Chevrolet: C7 Corvette Z06 and the Camaro ZL1 1LE (LT4 engines)
Dodge: Ram TRX
If you are wondering where to find this fantastic supercharger, Makperformance is there to put an end to all your thoughts. You can find different types of supercharger systems for different cars in one place.