Roush Yates Performance Products Upgrades
To give you the most bang for the buck on your own truck, we've compiled a group of common performance bolt-ons and put them through the lie detector test known as the dyno. To help us with the installs and handle the dyno tuning, Roush Yates Performance Products allowed us to follow along as they made several strategic upgrades to a 2009 Chevy Silverado Z71. After much begging, we got them to agree to strap it down on the chassis dyno after each stage. Is that tedious and time consuming? Yes, but it's also the only way to know exactly how much each upgrade benefits the overall power numbers as they stack one on top of another.
Our Silverado guinea pig is a Z71 4WD that was equipped with the already-potent 5.3L V-8 putting out a peak power number of 257 hp to the wheels. The truck's owner worked with Roush Yates Performance Products to pick out a package of bolt-ons that would work together to maximize the power available for the truck. Roush Yates Performance Products (RYPP) sprung from Roush Yates Engines, which builds the Ford FR9 race engines used in NASCAR's Sprint Cup racing series, among other series. RYPP began as a way for the organization to make used Cup racing components available to lower level race teams that could make use of the parts. But since it first opened its doors, RYPP has greatly expanded its reach to include several different lines of new performance parts for street cars and trucks. In addition to parts, RYPP also has access to a great wealth of expertise among its employees, many of whom have spent years working as race engine builders and tuners.
One of those experts is Jeff “Jr.” Paxton, who heads up the chassis dyno tuning services for RYPP. Paxton sketched out a series of upgrades to be done in stages. The first step was an Advanced Flow Engineering (aFe) Power MagnumFORCE cold-air intake. Afe says this intake flows 31 percent more air versus the stock air cleaner and also uses a long-life reusable filter.
Step two finishes upgrading the airflow tract with a pair of Kooks long-tube stainless steel headers, a Kooks Y-pipe with built-in catalytic converters, and a Corsa Performance high-flow exhaust system with Corsa's patented noise-cancelling drone-free muffler.
Finally, once the flow of air into and out of the engine was maximized, step three comes along to give the horsepower a real kick in the pants in the form of a Magnuson supercharger and a throttle-body spacer from aFe. The end result is 440 hp—an improvement of 183 hp—but getting there was half the fun. Follow along and see for yourself which parts would help turn your truck in a tire-roasting monster.
By selecting the right parts that work together, our Chevy was making 440 hp to the rear tires and was ready to light them up at a moment's notice.
