Next, our single-blade throttle...
Next, our single-blade throttle body was bolted to the Whipple's inlet.
Next, we installed the 3.00-inch pulley and added a few degrees of timing, which produced 22 pounds of boost, an impressive 653 hp, and 709 lb-ft of torque. While that was stout, we were itching to toss on the smallest pulley, the tiny 2.750-incher. D'Amore was happy with the state of the tune and gave the go-ahead to go for maximum boost, so we swapped pulleys and cooled down the engine.
The swap to the small pulley required a smaller belt, and D'Amore also knocked a degree of timing from the curve before lighting the fire. There was a lot of energy in the shop as everyone stopped to watch. D'Amore then eased the gas down, the Lightning upshifted to Third gear, and he rolled his right foot to the floor. In doing so, the Whipple made a howl and you could hear the rush of air pouring into the intake tract-only to be compressed, burned, and expelled into the atmosphere from which it came.
In a flash, the boost gauge pegged at 24 psi, the engine screamed, and the tach needle flashed across the gauge. At 5,800 rpm, D'Amore clicked Neutral and killed the ignition. Meanwhile, the Dynojet crunched the numbers and spat out figures of 661.22 romping, stomping horsepower and 732 lb-ft of Earth-rotating torque-at the wheels. Mind you, this is with 2 1/2-inch exhaust and catalytic converters. Horsepower could be as high as 700 with 3-inch exhaust and the cats removed.
With this level of power, the truck was simply insane-so insane that we decided to go with the largest pulley and yank timing for the street. Even with the soft setup, the Lightning can smoke the tires at quarter-throttle or from a 40-mph roll.
To say we're pleased is an understatement. The truck is as docile as before, maybe even more so. We haven't checked the fuel consumption yet, but it doesn't seem to be sucking down any more fuel, either. It gets about 15 mph when the driver keeps his foot out of it-but that's really hard to do.