When we last spoke, our test Cobra was happily laying down 11.50s and making 471 rwhp and 503 rwtq thanks to nothing more than a few bolt ons and a pair of Nitto Drag Radials. The 2½-inch catted Magnaflow cross-pipe and MAC exhaust that we installed are still letting our neighbors know we're home, and the ported Eaton is making 16 pounds of boost to aggravate the local import tuner wannabes. But this month, we take things to the next level in the form of a Kenne Bell supercharger upgrade. But unlike other kits we've tested in the past, here we will sample the newest addition to the Rancho Cucamonga-based firm's lineup, called the Mammoth. Using KB's existing 2.8H supercharger unit with the massive inlet assembly from its Shelby GT500 kit, this new kit breathes serious life into the 4.6-liter '03-`04 Cobra.
Kenne Bell's latest exercise...
Kenne Bell's latest exercise is the 2.8H Mammoth kit for the '03-'04 Cobra. The kit draws air from the driver's side fenderwell instead of the passenger side. The next thing you notice is the HUGE inlet assembly on the backside of the blower and the 4.5-inch inlet pipe that can not only draw in predatory wildlife, but is also known in some circles as a sewer pipe. The result? More airflow to provide your insatiable horsepower needs.
Knowing Our Roots
For the 2003 Cobra, Kenne Bell first offered a 2.2-liter blower that later grew to 2.4 liters in displacement, and then to a full 2.6 liters with increased power potential following each size increase. Eventually a 2.8-liter and a higher-volume model, the 2.8H was introduced and tuners everywhere rejoiced. These larger kits made 700 rwhp Cobras nothing more than an afternoon bolt-on away. But now in 2009, KB has gone wild with its newest kit dubbed the "Mammoth" series. Taking its massive 2.8H blower, KB has introduced a mammoth inlet system (sorry, couldn't resist) to free up the power on the draw side of the supercharger to drastically improve airflow going into the case. This frees up power that would otherwise be lost by the power needed to "suck" in the outside air, and as a result, more power can be realized through airflow efficiency. All together, this new kit has been granted part number TS1000-03C-MAM with an MSRP of $5,299.
The key part to this new inlet system, which drastically changes the Cobra's original inlet path, is the huge 4.5-inch pipe that draws air from the driver's side rather than from the passenger side, like the factory had intended. While this is quite a radical change, it is justified. As Bell explains, "We looked at the flow limits of the passenger side wheelwell and realized that there simply wasn't enough air volume behind the fender when you reached 700 rwhp. Even if you cut the inner fender liner, the 1,200 cfm filter and blower inlet pipe would just start sucking in the bumper cover. After doing some research, we realized there was more air available on the driver's side so we began investigating this. As it turned out, this also allowed us to use the massive inlet and twin 75mm throttle body from our GT500 kit. With a 4.5-inch inlet pipe and mass air meter built in, we were able to package everything neatly and make big power in the process." Now, as Bell has explained, relocating the inlet to the driver's side brings about some other challenges, but none of them are too drastic. Several sensors and control solenoids need to be relocated as well as the most obvious item, the battery. Luckily, nothing is out of the realm for a good at-home mechanic, so we decided to take it upon ourselves to perform the installation in our well-equipped home garage.
Getting Blown At Home
After receiving the kit and laying out all the parts, the most important thing was to carefully read the instruction manual. Normally, we skip this step, but we wanted to take our time to better understand what was involved in working on a 4.6 Mod motor. The Kenne Bell team took the time to photograph every minute detail in the conversion to the Mammoth blower, so you get to appreciate what was involved in engineering the kit. Every step is fully explained and a little extra humor is thrown into the mix as well, making the installation easy to understand and of course, entertaining to read.