[shrubby]

Have an opportunity to take my newly supercharged ss out for some laps at a local 2.5 mile road course. I'm fairly new to superchargers in general, and know even less about racing with one.

Any advice on how to bring back the motor in one piece? Is there anything I should do in addition to normal track prep?

Thanks for any advice, I'd hate to jack up the motor by doing something stupid.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by shrubby

Have an opportunity to take my newly supercharged ss out for some laps at a local 2.5 mile road course. I'm fairly new to superchargers in general, and know even less about racing with one.

Any advice on how to bring back the motor in one piece? Is there anything I should do in addition to normal track prep?

Thanks for any advice, I'd hate to jack up the motor by doing something stupid.

The big deal on road racing with a supercharger is the intake temps get pretty crazy. As long as your tune is good you should be fine to just drive it. I would put the highest octane gas you can find in the car because the high temps will increase the likelihood of knock. If you start to hear and feel a lot of knock you may want to come off early. The knock sensor and tune should be retarding timing as the temps rise to adjust for this but if it gets bad enough that you notice knock, your tune might not be keeping up and you may want to come off and let it cool down. You will want to check and fill the supercharger coolant reservoir between every session. If it is low add, if it is really low you may have to start the car and drive it a little and then fill it again before you go out on the track.

[shrubby]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

The big deal on road racing with a supercharger is the intake temps get pretty crazy. As long as your tune is good you should be fine to just drive it. I would put the highest octane gas you can find in the car because the high temps will increase the likelihood of knock. If you start to hear and feel a lot of knock you may want to come off early. The knock sensor and tune should be retarding timing as the temps rise to adjust for this but if it gets bad enough that you notice knock, your tune might not be keeping up and you may want to come off and let it cool down. You will want to check and fill the supercharger coolant reservoir between every session. If it is low add, if it is really low you may have to start the car and drive it a little and then fill it again before you go out on the track.

Thanks. So it sounds like I just need to make sure it's not getting too hot, monitor the coolant level and temperature. If I can keep those within range it should be all good.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by shrubby

Thanks. So it sounds like I just need to make sure it's not getting too hot, monitor the coolant level and temperature. If I can keep those within range it should be all good.

The thing about intake temps is they can be over 200 degrees and the coolant and oil temps be fine. Unless you have a separate gauge, ob2 bluetooth and app, or computer program you cannot see intake temps. I once was lapping my ZL1 and I could feel it was loosing power to timing retard but all my stock gauges looked fine so I kept driving. I was not on a public session so I had been out on the track for close to an hour and my car just died with no warning. When I got it towed back to the pits it showed maximum IAT 2 (intake temp) had been reached so it shut the car down.

I was running about 15 pounds of boost through the 1.9. If you are running a 2.3 kit at less than 8 pounds of boost you should be fine. I can always hear and feel the knock. If you get an aeroforce gauge set, app or dashlogic type program you can observe both the intake temp and the knock retard the computer is giving your car. If not you are kind of in the dark. Since my 2016 has been on turbos I have seen a check engine light a few times for high intake temps. I don't know if your car will get hot enough to turn on this light. I also do not know for sure if the tune that comes with the supercharger disables this light. But when the CEL comes on in my 2016 it does not put the car in limp mode or anything else. It continues to run fine with the engine light. The light will automatically turn itself off after 24 hours if you don't reset the code manually.

I think you will be fine but if the ambient temps are high and you push the car for a while the intake temps can get pretty high. Knock is the big risk and if your tune and fuel octane are able to deal with it your car will be fine.

[shrubby]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

The thing about intake temps is they can be over 200 degrees and the coolant and oil temps be fine. Unless you have a separate gauge, ob2 bluetooth and app, or computer program you cannot see intake temps. I once was lapping my ZL1 and I could feel it was loosing power to timing retard but all my stock gauges looked fine so I kept driving. I was not on a public session so I had been out on the track for close to an hour and my car just died with no warning. When I got it towed back to the pits it showed maximum IAT 2 (intake temp) had been reached so it shut the car down.

Great info. Thanks. I have a PLX KIWI3 attached and have been monitoring intake temp. I'm not sure if it's capable of logging knock retard but I'll find out.

Originally Posted by jessrayo

I also do not know for sure if the tune that comes with the supercharger disables this light. But when the CEL comes on in my 2016 it does not put the car in limp mode or anything else. It continues to run fine with the engine light. The light will automatically turn itself off after 24 hours if you don't reset the code manually.

Running a custom tune from the shop that did the install. I don't think anything was disabled but AFM so the light should still function for this scenario.

I'm stoked to get out there with the supercharger. I've been three times without it so I'll have some data to compare. Should be fun.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by shrubby

Great info. Thanks. I have a PLX KIWI3 attached and have been monitoring intake temp. I'm not sure if it's capable of logging knock retard but I'll find out.



Running a custom tune from the shop that did the install. I don't think anything was disabled but AFM so the light should still function for this scenario.

I'm stoked to get out there with the supercharger. I've been three times without it so I'll have some data to compare. Should be fun.

I think this is going to be a great track car with forced induction. It is so capable stock it amazes me.