AEM Brute Force Intake System on a Supercharged Ford F150 - Give Your Supercharger Brute Force
| To validate this install, we took the truck to R&D Dyno services in Gardena, California, to lay down some baseline numbers. R&D made a few pulls to get an average, before unstrapping the truck and sending us on our way.
We are always saying that a motor is an air pump and more air in will net you more power out. So an air intake tube will usually produce 15 hp or so in gains. But what if you've bolted on a forced air induction system (supercharger) to your motor? Do the same laws and theory apply? Do you still need a new intake? The answer to all these questions is yes.
Look at it this way: Under boost, your engine could need as much as 50 percent more fuel and air. Since we're talking about computer-controlled engines, the ECM will add the fuel, so all that's left to add is the air. You can't take full advantage of your supercharger and you won't be able to make maximum boost unless you feed the supercharger with air of its own. It's very simple: If a supercharger can't draw the air in, you can't get horsepower out. So by removing the restrictive OEM air intake system and replacing it with a free-flowing unit, boost levels come up.
We are not going to sit here and tell you that your $6,000 supercharger won't work with the stock system. On the contrary, most systems are made to work with them to pass smog laws and stay within warranty parameters. So what are we telling you here? By adding an aftermarket intake, you can push your boost levels up. Case in point is the Ford Harley-edition F-150. This truck is equipped with a supercharged 5.4L that makes around 8 pounds of boost. By adding the AEM Brute Force Intake System on the snout of the blower, we now see 1 to 2 pounds of added boost.
