MacGyverGTP

I now have a forged bottom end & was wondering how small of a pulley I can run on my 2.4L Kenne Bell (almost identical to the 2.6L)
I blew 2 rods through the block at the 440 RWHP with 12.5# of boost & I really blame my tune more than anything for that.

I put the stock canned tune back on & drivability is back to normal & no engine codes being thrown.

The engine I put in was the FRPP 3v Alum. short block for supercharged apps, (it has lower compression) and I had the heads ported & polished at the same time & am now getting about 11# of boost with the same 3.5" pulley that was previously giving me 12.5#, so she's breating better for sure.

Getting Kenne Bell to answer an email is almost futile, so I turn to you fine folks.
I'd like to boost her up to 15# but not sure if I need to have Kenne Bell send me a different tune. After my $11000 rebuild, I am only going with kenne bell's tunes as they obviously know more about their blowers than any other shop.

Thanks for any info!

zkiller

Im pretty sure when I talked to them they told me their tunes (steet/race) would be good up to 13 PSI. I runa custom tune that is much safer than the KB tune.
They run 25 degress advance in their race tune. I think we saw 21 degrees on the KB street tune. Thier A/F was usually around 11.5 but was leaner in some RPM ranges.
Just call them up and ask, I never have a problem reaching them. I called yesterday for a belt replacement and they answered first ring.

tx_zstang

Get a good, safe custom tune! Canned tunes, IMO, should be used jsut to get you to our tuner. Let the tuner do a proper tune, making sure you have enough fuel and don't blow your motor. A bad canned tune is not going to do you any good.

BruceH

Good to see you are back on the road! Thanks for the update. Let us know how far KB says is safe.

ziperhead

This is right off there site for the 2005+ 3valve
92-94 octane 9-10 psi
97 octane 11 psi
100 octane 14 psi

MacGyverGTP

I'm such an email guy, picking up a phone... I'm always scared I'm going to sound like an idiot to them. All over their website they warn against custom tunes, here I go out & get one & lo & behold, I blow the engine. Makes me feel pretty stupid. I sent them a well worded fax & email & hopefully I'll hear back from them this week on what I need to do to get up into the 500+rwhp range. The car is going to sit in the garage until I figure this all out. I think I just need to get a retune & maybe the 130mm TB from KB with the mods I've got. We'll see what they say.

It's beyond me how people get into the 6-700 hp range without spending as much as the car cost in the first place. Check this out:

Car 30k
KB & Install 10k
Cervinis Body Kit 10K
Gears & shifter 1k
Alarm 500
Stereo 1000 x 2 since the first one was stolen & insurance just replaced stock
Custom Tune 1200
New Engine & Heads & Install 11k
Plus other things like LCA's engine dressup, etc...

I am into this thing over 65 thousand dollars! & still not at 500hp... how sad...
I'm depressing myself now.

siggyfreud

It's the labor rates that are killing you. 10g's for a supercharger and install? Damn!

BruceH

I hate to say it but... It looks like you have helped put a mechanics kid through college.

vashthe3rd

^^^This

I had my stuff installed and tuned for literally almost half what you have there OP. I know everything everywhere is always gonna be different, but maybe consider looking at other shops near you that won't shaft you as hard? just 2cents
You'll definitely be able to get into 500+ whp ranges with that engine/blower combo, you just need to find someone who can tune a car, not turn it into a bomb. An e-mail tune will work and get you to a decent number, but only so much can be pre-programmed into a car without seeing what everything is doing while running though.
Your best bet if you plan on staying away from a dyno is to get some good data-logging ware and send them every bit of data you can.

I'm with whoever said canned tunes are for getting you to a real tuner on this though. I haven't seen any canned tune ever turn out to be a better bet.

Simon1

I sent you a PM. Kenne Bell seems pretty arrogant when it comes to their tunes. They are not the end all king of all tuners.

Make sure you have enough fuel system, get a really good belt and find a tuner. You will get the power you want.