Forty years ago, a London man named Rod Stewart co-wrote and composed a song titled "Maggie May." The first line of that song will forever be ingrained in the memory of millions of people, including your author. So when I heard "Maggie" to describe a car for the first time, immediately my mind began to sing: "Wake up, Maggie, I think I got something to say to you." To my surprise, the term "Maggie" is widely used in Brand-X vocabulary to describe a supercharger made by Magna-Charger, a part of Magnuson Products. Since Magnuson has only released one other kit for Mustangs (for the Three-Valve), the company isn't on a nickname basis with Mustang enthusiasts just yet. But that's all about to change. MagnaCharger's new product is for the '11-12 Mustang GT equipped with the new 5.0L Coyote V-8. Based on the Eaton R2300 TVS Roots-style supercharger, the MagnaCharger is made with production quality in mind, and is 50-state legal and CARB-approved.
Magnuson and Eaton have had a working relationship since Magnuson was started over 18 years ago. Though Eaton manufactures the rotors, Magnuson manufactures everything else for itself. In fact, one of the unique characteristics of the MagnaCharger is its front-drive/front-inlet design.
"The primary reason for this design is for airflow," said Michael Hewitt, business development director for Magnuson Products. "Every time you turn air, you heat it up, and hot air doesn't make as much power as cooler air," he says. "Most kits have a rear inlet, which requires an elbow inlet with a sharp turn. Ours gets the air into the supercharger from the airbox as straight as possible by utilizing a front inlet."
Beyond that, the company has access to digital data from the manufacturers to help it better engineer its kits, and anyone who has installed one will agree-it shows.
"I've never had a supercharger kit go on that easy," said Jake Lamotta of Lamotta Performance (Longwood, Florida), referring to the Magna- Charger kit he installed on his Grabber Blue '11 GT for this article.
The bright blue coupe (which actually belongs to Jake's beautiful wife, Christina) has been seen on these pages for about a year now, and has served as a test mule for Stainless Works exhaust components, to the Barton shifter and a Zex nitrous kit, as well as being Christina's daily driver.
Lamotta had recently installed a Boss intake and had the combination tuned by Chris Johnson of SCT Performance. The combination made 423 rwhp and 384 lb-ft of torque on a nice cool evening on Lamotta's Dynojet-respectable for a naturally aspirated car. At the track, the blue coupe had run a best of 12.29 at 116 mph.
After less than a day of work, Lamotta had the kit installed, and it was time for tuning. Since we opted for the tuner kit and upgraded the injectors to 60-lb/hr squirters, we called Johnson back in to give the combo a custom tune.
If you have a completely stock car (which is what this kit is designed for), then you can just buy the complete kit from Magnuson, which comes with the correct injectors and a handheld tuner with the correct calibration tune inside.
"Our kits are 50-state-legal on an otherwise-stock car," says Hewitt. Magnuson's lead calibrator, Mark Blaha, was tuning when tuning wasn't cool. He has put together a calibration for this kit that will put a little more pep in your Coyote's step, but won't make you fail emissions inspections.
After the tune by Johnson, the new combination yielded 546 rwhp and 433 lb-ft of torque at only 6.5 psi of boost-a 123-rwhp and 49-lb-ft increase. Magnuson offers smaller pulleys, but we'll try those out later. With torque production up by over 120 lb-ft at 2,500 rpm, this thing will be plenty powerful for Christina to run her normal errands.
Unfortunately, Lamotta experienced an unrelated drivetrain issue, so we were unable to make it back to the track before this writing. We'll give you the track results in a later issue.

The complete kit (PN 01-23-50-005-FB;...

The complete kit (PN 01-23-50-005-FB; $6,950) comes with everything you need for installation and tuning. Since our car was already modified, we opted for the tuner kit and a set of 60-lb/hr injectors. You can opt for a kit with the black supercharger for $300 less.

1 An intercooler is built...

1 An intercooler is built into the lower manifold, which utilizes the stock intake gaskets.

2 The unique front inlet...

2 The unique front inlet also utilizes the stock gasket, as well as the stock throttle body.

3 For installation, we headed...

3 For installation, we headed to Lamotta Performance in Longwood, Florida. There, Jake Lamotta volunteered his shop car—his wife’s daily driven ’11 GT. He begins by removing the recently installed Boss intake. This combination, which consisted of Stainless Works long-tube headers and exhaust, 4.11 gears, and a custom tune by SCT Performance, made 423 rwhp and 384 lb-ft of torque.

4 The bumper must also be...

4 The bumper must also be removed to install the heat exchanger.

5 Lamotta then installs the...

5 Lamotta then installs the wiring harness used to power the intercooler pump. The harness is complete, the instructions are comprehensive, and installation only takes a few minutes.

6 Since we opted for the...

6 Since we opted for the tuner kit, we had to supply our own injectors. Central Florida Motorsports (CFM) was nice enough to supply a set of 60-lb/hr injectors for us. The company usually deals with four- and six-cylinder Ford products but luckily had what we needed in stock. The fuel rail then installs onto the blower manifold but it must be mounted backward. Fuel lines are included; we explain later.

7 Lamotta then mounted the...

7 Lamotta then mounted the intercooler pump to the radiator support. The mount utilizes existing holes and hardware for easy installation.

8 Lamotta then installed...

8 Lamotta then installed the supercharger onto the cylinder heads and reinstalled the stock bolts.

9 One bolt must be removed...

9 One bolt must be removed from the timing cover to install the pulley bracket.

10 No cutting or grinding...

10 No cutting or grinding is necessary, and all three pulleys mount to the bracket.

15a He then mounted the intercooler...

15a He then mounted the intercooler tank (which uses the strut studs for mounting) and routed the intercooler hoses...

15b ...A piece must be taken...

15b ...A piece must be taken out of the fender liner for the hose to clear, but this is easily done while the bumper cover is off.

16 Once complete, the supercharger...

16 Once complete, the supercharger almost matches the Grabber Blue perfectly. The front inlet makes the kit look clean and stock looking.

17 Chris Johnson of SCT Performance...

17 Chris Johnson of SCT Performance came by to tune the new combination. If you buy the complete kit instead of the tuner kit, your tune and handheld tuner will be included.

18 Sadly, a drivetrain issue...

18 Sadly, a drivetrain issue and weather prevented us from returning to the track for this story. We’ll get it there soon and report back with results.

On the dyno, Lamotta’s GT...

On the dyno, Lamotta’s GT made a stunning 546 rwhp and 433 lb-ft of torque—that’s a 123hp jump on only 6.5 pounds of boost! Our car has been modified, but Magnuson claims a safe 25 percent increase in power on a stock vehicle (that’s about 100 rwhp).

11a Lamotta then installs...

11a Lamotta then installs the heat exchanger...

11b ...It uses four simple...

11b ...It uses four simple brackets, which attach it to the A/C condenser.

11c ...

12 Lamotta then reinstalls...

12 Lamotta then reinstalls the stock airbox lid and silicone elbow included in the kit.

13 The supercharger uses...

13 The supercharger uses a longer accessory drive belt (included in the kit), so there’s no need to change or modify the crank pulley.

14 Lamotta then installed...

14 Lamotta then installed the vacuum and fuel lines. The kit comes with an extended fuel line to route behind the supercharger and to the repositioned fuel rail/fitting.