Bone stock, this Mustang pumped...
Bone stock, this Mustang pumped out 279 rwhp before it was enhanced with a set of underdrive pulleys, an axle-back exhaust system, 4.10 gears, and a JDM tune and cold-air intake. Once we were done, the only things that remained were the gears and the exhaust, as well as the custom tune. We elected to have JDM tune it as there was already a programmer for it, though we could have gotten the supplied programmer from Magnuson with the voucher included within the kit.
With the Magna Charger being such a unique design, we wanted to get the 411 on it from Magnuson's Sales and Marketing Manager, Bob Roese. "The supercharger is a hybrid Roots-style," Roese says. "It differs from conventional Roots-type superchargers in that it moves the air in axially through the supercharger. The air enters the front of the supercharger in this case, and moves towards the back and discharges at the bottom of the blower. Typical Roots-style units take in the air at the top end and discharge at the bottom."
The axial design of the Magna Charger, combined with the forward location of the inlet, allows the blower to make good power with its relatively small displacement. "Moving the air axially through the supercharger gives the rotors more time to have an effect on the movement of that air, which increases the effectiveness of the blower," Roese says. "Putting the inlet at the front of the supercharger simply allows keeping many of the factory components in their stock locations, which simplifies the installation and main-tains the factory appearance. Also, having the supercharger mounted in this manner increases its efficiency by reducing pumping losses when having to turn the air several times to get it into the supercharger."
We began by removing the stock...
We began by removing the stock airbox assembly and plastic intake manifold.
With such a novel-design blower, the question is asked how much power can it make. "We've made in the range of 680 hp with the 112, which is the designation for this unit," Roese says. "Of course, the power output depends on the internal engine components, as well as the quality of fuel used and the tune that's in the computer. This blower is a great piece for a stock Mustang running on pump gas. For those looking for bigger power numbers, we're in the process of testing the new MP1900 and the MP2300, which we feel will have the ability to make in excess of 1,000 hp."
Other than ease of installation, we were curious as to what other advantages the Magna Charger held over other positive-displacement blowers on the market. "The main advantage is that we use the Eaton 112 rotor group, which is the same as the supercharged internals that are utilized on the '03-'04 Cobras and the supercharged Lightnings," Roese says. "These rotor groups are durability-tested, validated, and built to QS9000 standards, and are not only used by Ford, but by other makes as well.
We also removed the front...
We also removed the front bumper, as down the road we'd have to mount the heat exchanger in front of the A/C condenser.
"We design the supercharger housing around these highly regarded rotor groups that take out many of the compromises the OE manufacturers aren't so concerned with. The OE has a very limited performance window that they require. They want units that are cheap; have very strict noise, vibration, and harmonics standards; and want them to last hundreds of thousands of miles. Magnuson changes these priorities and vastly improves on the horsepower capabilities."
Some of the changes Magnuson makes are to the seal timing in the blower, as well as changing the discharge duct. "To put it simply, you end up with a blueprinted supercharger," Roese says. "We also spend a great deal of time flowing the inlets and the air paths for maximum airflow with the least restriction."
So how does the Magna Charger stack up against others? "The Roots-type is a positive-displacement supercharger that displaces the same amount of air on each rotor revolution," Roese says. "It makes boost right off of idle, unlike a centrifugal blower, which requires impeller tip speed to generate boost. We've done exhaustive testing of all of our competitor's products, and the end result is that at 8-10 pounds of boost, they all make the same horsepower at the same boost level. The difference is what goes on before you get to that maximum boost level. We've made more average torque and horsepower than any of our competitors."
Since we'd need to tap into...
Since we'd need to tap into the cooling system to plumb in the intercooler and all of the associated lines, we popped open the valve on the bottom of the radiator and drained the coolant.
With such a detailed instruction...
With such a detailed instruction manual, there's no reason for us to give a step-by-step install. We'll touch on the highlights, however, the first being the modification of the heater hard lines that run in the intake galley. We're reusing only the larger one, so Craig Silverman had to use a cutting wheel to separate the two.
On '07 models, the water crossover...
On '07 models, the water crossover on the manifold was changed by Ford. To install the blower, we had to revert to a crossover from an '06 car, then remove the heater hose inlet and replace it with this brass plug. While we had to make things work on our own, by the time you read this, Magnuson will have a fix.
We also made sure to plug...
We also made sure to plug in the alternator wire harness before we set the blower down upon the engine. Trying to do so after the blower is on is near impossible.
Before installing the blower,...
Before installing the blower, we transferred the throttle body from the stock intake to the blower mouth.
It was time to lay this puppy...
It was time to lay this puppy where it belonged, on top of the car's 4.6L Three-Valve engine.