Kenne Bell Ford Supercharger Upgrade - Supersize Me

When It comes to positive-displacement superchargers, bigger is definitely better. The reason for this oversimplification is that the flow rate of any positive-displacement supercharger (Roots-style or twin screw) is a function of the displacement. For every blower revolution, a positive-displacement supercharger provides a given amount of airflow. Increasing the airflow is a simple matter of increasing either the number of revolutions (relative to engine speed) or the amount of air supplied per revolu-tion. Blower speed is increased by installing a smaller blower or larger crank pulley. Additionally, increasing the amount of air supplied per revolution is accomplished by increasing the rotor size, which is brought about by increased rotor length and/or diameter.

Obviously, it is also possible to improve the blower's flow rate, response rate, and overall efficiency by altering the inlet into the rotors or screws and by reshaping the discharge area. Not surprisingly, the rotor design itself also has an effect on the output and efficiency of the supercharger, but by and large, the major determining factor remains the displace-ment of the blower itself. When you are looking to make big power, there is no better weapon than a big blower.

With this philosophy, the twin-screw blower experts at Kenne Bell went to work to further improve the already impressive arsenal of superchargers currently available for the Ford contingent. While the company did not introduce the twin-screw blower to the Mustang market (that honor is held by the now-defunct Sprintex kit), Kenne Bell has been at the twin-screw game longer than anyone else in the Mustang industry. Twin-screw blowers are now available from a variety of sources, including Whipple, Ford Racing Performance Parts, and Saleen to name a few, but none of these sources offer the wide variety of blowers designed specifically for the intended application currently employed by Kenne Bell.

Just like cams, cylinder heads, and intake manifolds, one blower size does not work on all applications. Despite our bigger-is-better theme, not every Mustang owner is looking for maximum power production. It is for these applications that Kenne Bell offers a wide range of blower sizes.

Through extensive engine, chassis, and blower dyno testing, Kenne Bell was able to determine that the one-size-fits-all philosophy was entirely inaccurate. You don't see a centrifugal supercharger (or even turbochargers) of just one size offered by those manufacturers. By the same token, a stock '96 (non-PI) Two-Valve motor doesn't need nearly as much supercharger as a modified Four-Valve Cobra motor. While bigger blowers will indeed offer more airflow and power potential, even positive-displacement superchargers have optimum efficiency ranges, meaning smaller blowers are usually more responsive than larger blowers.

The key is to size the blower properly for the intended application. Why put a 1,000hp blower on a motor that will never see the high side of 400 hp? You'd be much better off running a blower capable of just 500-600 hp to ensure immediate boost response. After all, having boost available as soon as you stick your foot in the throttle is the reason you opted for the positive-displacement blower in the first place, right?

For years, Kenne Bell has supplied its Mustang kits with Autorotor twin-screw superchargers ranging in size from 1.7 liters (1.5 liters on the early 5-liter kits) up to the most recent 2.4L monster. You may remember the 2.4L blower was employed by John Mihovetz to exceed 900 hp from an '03 Cobra motor. While the 2.4L KB blower offered more power potential than the smaller 2.3L blowers currently used by the other manufacturers in twin screw kits-to say nothing of the less-efficient Roots-style blowers-Kenne Bell wanted to further distance itself from the competition by offering even larger blowers capable of what might best be described as insane power levels.

While making more power is a simple matter of making the blower bigger, underhood space is almost always at a premium, especially near the firewall. Since most twin-screw blowers are fed through the rear of the housing (because air for the twin screw must be processed from back to front and not top to bottom like the Roots-style blowers), the area adjacent to the firewall is usually taken up by the blower inlet tubing and bypass valve assembly (on street applications). These space constraints all but control the length of the blower, thus limiting the potential displacement for a given application.

With limited room available for increasing the length of the blower, Kenne Bell took a look at increasing the rotor's diameter-thus the Big Bore blowers were born.