Best Blower For Your Mustang - Choose Your Weapon - Tech

If you've already purchased an '03-'04 Cobra, Lighting, GT500, or Ford GT, and don't want to replace the supercharger you already own, it's possible to both increase the boost pressure and overall power potential of your factory blower with porting. Proper porting of the stock blower can unleash some additional power, just don't expect it to surpass the efficiency of a good twin-screw, as the Roots-style blower (including the new TVS from Eaton) is still down on power compared to a similar-sized twin-screw.

Speaking of twin-screw superchargers, the impressive design offers all the boost response of the Roots-style blower with significantly improved efficiency. This increased efficiency includes a reduction in the parasitic losses associated with spinning the blower, as well as a decrease in the charge temperature at any given boost level. Compared at the same boost level, the twin-screw design will produce more power than the Roots-style blower. This performance differential escalates as we increase the boost pressure, as Roots-style blowers become less efficient at elevated boost levels. By comparison, twin-screw blowers can be run effectively at boost pressures exceeding 20 psi. Naturally, either blower will run best with some form of intercooling at these elevated boost levels.

The centrifugal supercharger is the design that started the supercharger craze in the early days of the 5.0 Mustangs. I remember lusting after a Paxton (or McCulloch) blower back when Ford first introduced the fuelie Mustang. After running the Silver State Open Road race in my normally aspirated 5.0 LX, I was convinced that a 5.0 Mustang could win the event overall if it was equipped with a supercharger. This eventually came to pass when I managed to take the overall win in my Vortech-powered LX at an average speed of 167 mph. Of course, it didn't hurt that some of the heavy-hitting Unlimited class cars fell by the wayside with mechanical troubles, but to finish first, you must first finish. This form of racing proves that the reliability of a centrifugal supercharger is first-rate, even when run at full throttle for 32 minutes straight. From a basic standpoint, the centrifugal supercharger can be thought of as a mechanically driven turbocharger. The reduced impeller speed relative to a turbo requires a slightly different impeller design, but know that centrifugal superchargers are currently available to feed motors up to 2,000-plus horsepower. Regardless of how much power you want to make, centrifugal supercharger manufacturers have you covered.

If you take a look at the power production offered by a good blower setup, just about any system will provide plenty of additional power over the normally aspirated combination. Blower systems are currently available to support in excess of 2,000 hp, so even the wildest combination is no problem. While big numbers impress on the forums and help sell magazines, the reality is that most of us run blower motors that produce substantially less power.

For some, a stock motor with a blower is more than enough. Even if you add ported heads, cam, and an intake, you're still talking about a streetable package that won't prohibit you from driving your supercharged combination on a daily basis. With plenty of power available from most any combination, other factors must be considered when choosing the proverbial "best blower" for your application.

The first issue is cost. Owners of factory force-fed Fords already have a supercharged motor, so there's no need to purchase anything. Just add boost with a smaller blower pulley, some tuning, and maybe an after-cat exhaust, and you're on your way. Of course, the factory-supercharged motors can all benefit from a blower upgrade. From an installation and cost standpoint, upgrading a motor already equipped with a blower is probably the easiest way to go.