Specialty File
Attention, Kmart shoppers. We're pleased to announce a BlueLight Special in Aisle 4. Once again, we're offering you the lowest price possible. This time, it's horsepower-just $46 a pony. That's right, this unheard of bargain is in Aisle 4.
Continuing our policy of bringing you name-brand products at off-brand prices, the horsepower is provided by Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE), owned by the same John Lingenfelter who has been building some of the hottest muscle cars since 1985.
This latest LPE product is a supercharger kit for the C5 Corvette. Installed on a base 350-hp model, the $6400 kit ups horsepower to 490 at 6000 rpm and increases torque from 375 pound-feet to 480 at 4600 rpm. The kit is also available for the 405-hp Z06 model, but due to the Z06's freer-breathing heads, the horsepower increase is a mere 125, to 530.
Did someone say Aisle 4?
There's no need to worry, shoppers, about questions of quality in this remarkable bargain. The supercharger uses the same internals as the blower that's installed as original equipment on the Ford SVT F-150 Lightning.
Those internal bits-two interlocking, three-lobed rotors-are made by Eaton, the same company that builds superchargers for Mercedes-Benz, GM, and Ford.
We're talking over-100,000-mile durability, folks. Those Eaton pieces reside in a housing built by another prominent player in the supercharger industry, Magnuson Products.
So, please, dear shoppers, put down those Kit Kats and follow along. Magnuson is the aftermarket outlet for Eaton. If a tuner wants to use an Eaton blower, he buys it through Magnuson. And if you already have a supercharger, but it needs rebuilding, Magnuson is the only factory-authorized place to perform the work.
For the LPE kit, Magnuson supplied the pieces (supercharger, intake manifold, and drive system) and LPE figured out how to put them together.
One of the pricklier jobs was designing the intake manifold. Despite the Corvette's rather roomy engine compartment, the supercharger best fits in the vee of the engine, rather than off to the side as in some applications. Residing below the blower is the intake manifold, the piece that channels compressed air from the blower to the cylinders.
Magnuson's first prototype manifold was a short, compact unit that allowed the blower to fit between the slim space between the top of the engine and the Vette's fiberglass hood. This setup, although efficiently packaged, choked airflow and restricted power.
It didn't take long for LPE and Magnuson to realize they'd have to open up the intake manifold by increasing its height. Unfortunately, that meant brooming the stock hood, so now every kit comes with a fiberglass hood (painted the color of your choice) that has a two-inch-high center bulge. The hood is included in the price of the kit, which has everything you'll need to turn your Corvette into a Porsche 911 GT2 eater. In addition to the blower, manifold, and drive belts, the LPE kit comes with an engine-computer reprogrammer, larger fuel injectors, and every nut, bolt, and gasket you'll need. LPE estimates that the average shade-tree mechanic can install the kit in about eight hours.
Due to volume issues, our own Kmart auto department will not be able to perform the installation for you, but LPE will do the installation at its shop in Decatur, Indiana, and perform dyno testing-all for $1999.
There will be a small loss in fuel economy, perhaps 1 mpg, but due to the internal bypass valve, the supercharger sucks less than one horsepower when not providing boost.
Jump on the gas, and within a half-second, the blower generates boost of 5.5 psi. We're talking zero lag here, folks.
Car and Driver tested a base 2002 Corvette with a six-speed manual transmission ($42,750), the LPE supercharger kit ($8399 including installation), an LPE high-flow intake system ($395), a B&B stainless-steel exhaust ($898), an LPE boost gauge ($339), and a $5235 wheel-and-tire package. LPE estimates those additional intake and exhaust parts add about 10 horsepower. A warranty on the powertrain for three years or 36,000 miles will cost you $200.
The $58,016 (sans warranty) Corvette roared to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. One hundred mph arrived in a startling 7.7 seconds, then to 150 mph in 17.9. For those taking drag-racing notes, the car cleared the quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds at 126 mph.
A Corvette equipped with the LPE kit will enable its owner to walk cockily anywhere singing the M.C. Hammer hit "U Can't Touch This." Anywhere. The $185,000 Porsche 911 GT2 trails it to 60 mph by 0.1 second and to 100 by 0.6 second and does the quarter-mile in 12.0 seconds at 121 mph.
Now, some of you shoppers may be wondering why not simply go out and buy a $50,871 Corvette Z06? We must remind you that the Z06 needs 4.0 seconds to reach 60 mph and 12.4 seconds to clear the quarter. We should also advise you that the new hood blocks very little forward visibility and the supercharger emits a subdued, but definitely audible, high-pitched whine.
Thanks again for shopping at Kmart, and while you're browsing, don't forget to check out the Martha Stewart collection in Aisle 6. (Hey, who turned out the lights?)
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, 1557 Winchester Road, Decatur, Indiana 46733; 219-724-2552; www.lingenfelter.com.
