Going today to order the Gibson SuperTruck catback system. I was just wondering if anyone else has it on? Any noticeable power gains and loudness?

 

Haven't heard of this yet. Do you have info or a link we can check out?
Thanks.

 

http://www.gibsonperformance.com/applicguide/ford.asp


Just scroll down to Pickup it should be there

 

The catback systems do offer a nicer, throatier sound, but don't look to them for much in the way of useable power gains. Recently I looked at the Kenne Bell Supercharger web site and was interested to see their comments on power gains from some common bolt on mods. Here is a link to their comments. While this material is (obviously) coming from someone that wants to sell you a supercharger, they do have the data that supports their claims.

 

Hi,

I have installed the gibson cat back system on my 03 avalanche and have been very happy with it.

1. Not to noisey-just the right tone of exhaust.
2. Quality of materials is top notch and installation was fairly straight forward.
3. Did notice some performance increase-mostly mid range but like FMCE don't buy it for performance increase alone-you will be disapointed.

KK

 

Hmmm that sounds like a clever sales pitch to me. I particularly like the part where they say

I could buy a complete exhaust system, air intake, and a programmer for my truck for what, around 2K? That's 2K less than a supercharger. I wouldn't have 450 HP, but I'm pretty sure you would see some significant HP and torque gains (even at the low end). What's more, I wouldn't be replacing my tranny and rear end in a couple years either. I think to some extent they are right about bolt on mods, but trying to call a $4000 supercharger economical is not 100% honest IMO. And I may be wrong cuz I'm certainly no mechanic.

Oh and BTW, I would run right out and buy one if I had 4K lying around

 

Figured as much on the power gain, a supercharger it is not. Some sound would definately be nice though, too muffled right now.

 

No question, they are trying to pitch the advantages of their products. I noted a flaw in their argument that a supercharged V-10 (Excursision) was more economical (performance for dollars spent) choice than a diesel, by citing higher initial cost. The cost of adding a supercharger is very nearly the same as the factory option cost of buying a diesel. Digressing to point out diesel smell, they make a point to include mention of chips making the diesel tranny suspect from increased horsepower, but make no similar mention about the gas powered vehicles tranny's ability to deal with a 50% increase of power.

But, if you do read the tests (from them AND other sources), you will see the gains from the average bolt on stuff is fairly modest, in terms the dollars you spend to gain it. Some of their comments about exposed air filters sucking in hot under hood air vs. taking it from a cooler inlet location is good advice IMO. Several other comments had a 'ring of truth' to them, and in my view, seemed to be sincere. I do think the aftermarket companies sometimes do overhype their bolt on mods.

I also agree with their comment about Ford engineers having already wrung out the vast majority of easy horsepower, from both the intake and exhaust side; otherwise they would be hard pressed to keep uping the power to displacement, as we have been seeing. Naturally, they did point out (while pitching their stuff...) some of power gains can be had through calibration (i.e chips or programmers), but that is not without some tradeoff too (i.e. running higher octane fuel, decreased drivabilty, etc.)

I think the bigger point is; that you may be money ahead to put the $2k you were budgeting for bolts on (that may dissapoint), vs. putting those same dollars toward a supercharger that will very definitely give you real power gains for your dollars spent. The really impressive thing about superchargers, is how broad the power band increases are.

 

There is nothing they have in print that makes me convinced that adding a few performance mods does not help. I think exhaust plus a good chip will give a good bang for the buck. I am not looking at 450HP...if I was I would wait for the Lightning. Plus...aftermarket exhaust is not likely to send your pistons flying..

 

Try reading this article.

Superchharging is certainly not for everyone, and I hope that was not what you thought I was inferring. The point was bang-for-the-buck. In the above cited article they took a stock Mustang Cobra and added a cat back and chip and gained 10 horses. Admitedly, this was not an apples-to-apples comparison with an F-150, but the point was they spent $4,333 on aftermarket stuff, to gain only 67 horses. Which serves to underscore the original point, there remains little in the way of actual horsepower to be gained from adding a cat back exhaust on a new F-150. Even if if they don't add much useable power, they do make the truck sound good, which may be plenty of bang-for-the-buck for a lot of folks.

 

Good point, supercharger is a sure thing
another good point, I think this is true for most vehicles these days

In the end, you can't just bolt on any intake/exhaust parts in any combination and expect to get a cumulative effect. It starts and the intake and ends at the tailpipe. I still think that if you do it right, you can get significant gains from bolt on parts though. Of course it will never match the performance you get from supercharging. To a lot of people, the idea of spending 2K and a few weekends of wrenching on the truck for modest HP gains and a better sounds is a lot more attractive than spending 4K on a supercharger. Not to mention the fact that most dealers will instantly void your warranty for that kind of modification. Again though, if I had the cheese I would get the supercharger.....

 

Kenne Bell's statements have bene discussed before. They offer no proof of their statements, just generizations. Define modest, or mild gians. It has been proven on dynos that improving intake, exhaust and a Superchip for preimium fuel can obtain up to 30hp and 50ft pounds at the wheels on a dyno on a 2V 5.4L. All for under $1000. I'll take 10-15% for only $1k. And, installtion is $0-$100 for everyone. How many people have the experience to "bolt on" a supercharger? And there is the potential warranty issue.

Regarding supercharger being a better value vs. turbo diesel upgrade for heavy duty trucks, they neglect to mention that one can obtain up to 25mpg on a PSD vs. never getting more than 10mpg with a V10 gasoline NA, let alone supercharging it. Marketing 101, tell the audience what the want to hear and keep a lid on potential drawbacks.

BTW, to get the full potential from a Supercharger, one needs to improve airflow to and from the engine and re-map the fuel points, so intake, exhaust and chip are necessary anyway.

Different strokes for different folks. There are plenty of benefits to supercharging and ther is good value, but to say anything else is worthless is a flat out lie. Ask Neal about NA engine improvements.

 

Superchargers??? I thought this topic was on exhaust???

 

LOL!! Yes, we do seem to have gotten off topic here, but I brought up Kenny Belle, only to mention they had interesting test results (from Mustang Monthly -- run on a dyno), that pointed out the modest gains (9 HP) made by an exhaust mod (a cat back similar to Gibson) on a 5.0L Mustang -- not to minister on the merrits of supercharging. The other point being; the new 5.4L 3V Triton motor has wrung out even more volumetric efficency (than the previous 2V motors), thereby leaving (IMO) even less potential power gains to be had from doing a cat back mod, than was possible in previously less efficient engine designs. Bottom line: Cat back mods sound cool , but offer little in the way of useable power gains on the new 5.4L 3V F-150 trucks.

 

I put on a K&N system & Gibson Cat Back on my ‘00 5.4 when it had less than 100 miles on it. Sounded nice & upon heavy acceleration a lot of noise from under the hood but I had no bench mark to determine if there were any performance or economy gains. Prior to selling the truck I re-installed the stock air filter and exhaust and the results were interesting. After putting the stock stuff back on my mileage increased slightly over 2 mpg based on driving close to 500 miles before selling the truck and any change in performance was not noticeable based on typical driving. Go figure.

One last thing, have you looked at the exhaust manifolds on the 5.4 3V? Nice sweep and design, almost like factory type headers installed on some muscle cars back in the ‘60s. The diameter of the exhaust pipe on the 5.4 3V has been increased over the previous models and the bends look like mandrel. The biggest, and maybe only, restriction may be the muffler.

Test data from Gibson, Borla, etc. would be interesting.

Screwdrive