Took my blower to Brian over at Apten Performance to have it ported. Nothing new... but what was different about this, is I had the truck dyno'd with STOCK boost and STOCK Eaton only 90 minutes apart.

I've seen a lot of questions asking if the porting is even worth it only running stock boost - my experience this weekend says HELL YEA!!

***EDIT! Dyno graph added to bottom of this post!***

Weather stayed at ~55 degrees, low humidity. Both runs done with transmission locked into 3rd, torque converter locked.

The test truck:
2001 Lightning
STOCK LOWER CRANK PULLEY
12" conical filter
160* Thermostat
No pre-cats
Magnaflow/CarSound hi-flow cats
Magnaflow cat-back muffler
Phenolic upper plenum spacer
Tuning before/after by Apten Performance (flashed PCM)

Results:
With the STOCK Eaton I made ~10 to 11#'s of boost past 4000 RPMs. It hit ~9#'s quickly, then leveled off to ~10/11#'s during the run.

After installing the Apten ported Eaton, boost came on a slight bit slower, ~8#'s up to around 3000 RPMs, then gradually up to 14#'s by ~4200 RPMs!!! Once the truck hit ~3800 RPMs, you could just FEEL it start screaming more than it did with the stock Eaton! ...and afterwards, my superimposed graphs showed it!

The DynoJet graphs
My graphs that I have right now only show from 2800-3000 RPMs and up to 5500 RPMs (where I let off each time).

The beginning of both graphs are almost right on each other, until 3900 RPMs where the ported Apten starts leaving the stock Eaton. By 5000 RPMs, the ported Eaton is making 20 more HP, and 20 more ft-lbs of torque!! and stays that way, sometimes making a few points more. The ported graph doesn't start leveling off until after 5400 RPMs.

Conclusions:
This Apten ported blower REALLY shows it muscle after 3900 RPMs, where it pulls away from the stock Eaton. For those looking to have a more efficient blower, and give more with stock and upgraded lower crank pulleys, THIS is the one of the best bangs for the buck!! For those who are mechanical engineers, or understand the concept of "work," you'll know the area under the HP or TQ curves mean more than peak figures.

For all those who are more worried about peak outputs for each, I have to say that this blower did not show much more peak Torque (which I believe occurs before 3000 RPMs where my graphs start), but does make more peak Horsepower - 16 hp to be exact (difference between the 2 peaks, but NOT at the same RPM). There were bigger differences between the 2 graphs at other points rather than peak for each graph.

I know many may say "You only made 16 more hp?!?!?! WTF?" ... Again, this is NOT the whole story. Remember - this ported Eaton makes MORE Horsepower and MORE torque where the stock blower normally begins to lose its efficiency.



My personal conclusion - GET YOUR EATON PORTED! I went with Apten, as they're the ones who first brought this to our group of trucks, and have put the time and effort into helping our Lightning community with some awesome products... There's some REALLY cool stuff coming out from them - STAY TUNED!!

 

Very nice test!! Thanks for the great work .

And remember, PSP customers can go directly through us for their Apten porting.

 

Are you saying 14lbs on the tock gauge or autometer gauge? I cant see myself running that much boost on my truck with the stock lower end. I have a 4lb lower now and its getting 13lbs at the top of 3rd. So with ported blower that will put me way up there in boost numbers. I guess its back to the 2lb or stock lower till i get the ballz to run the 4 on it.

 

Autometer gauge.

Also, forgot to add...


Stock runs I was a SOLID 12.5 A/F

After the Apten Eaton and tuning...

SOLID 12 across the board!!

 

So how much boost is too much boost with a stock block and a ported Apten?

 

Was the PCM flashed before you tested with the stock Eaton?

Was the PCM **REFLASHED** before you tested with the Ported Eaton?

I'm only asking because I know 20HP can easily be had by adding a few degrees of timing and adjusting the A/F ratio!

 

MaxPower,

I'm not picking this apart.Just trying to better understand where you were on the tune before and after.

Your stock run was 12.5? With no after market tune?

Your APTEN after numbers were with a tune included or not?

Good numbers and thanks for the input...

 

What was your HP?

 

PCM was flashed before and stayed with the same program after.

From what I remember, it was the same tune before and after. Even my factory tune was a perfect 12.5. No changes made between runs but swapping the blower out.




BTW, I am NOW an expert at removing the blower




...my SAE PEAK HP before was 357, after was 373. Peak before was at ~5100, and peak after was around 5400. STD calculates out to 384 after

 

Open up the exhaust and you will have lower boost..

 

With a 4# lower and the Apten ported blower I am also seeing just under 15PSI @ about 4900 RPM's(14.6 to be exact).

 

OK I must be reading this wrong. What I am reading is that your A/F became richer after you ported the blower and you have the same tune on both dyno runs (Before and after porting)? Is that what you are saying?

 

Yea, ask me why

I was surprised that they were lower... I don't recal seeing Brian retuning after my last run or before the run with the new blower. So, why they went down is beyond me. But they were definitely a full 1/2 point lower.

*****, called Brian. I'm sure he'll let me know... For all I know, he may have adjusted the fuel levels inbetween (which would make more sense).



Either way, the blower makes power - and feels incredible!

 

Max,

Congrats on the Apten, your performance gains, and awesome test results. The PE is an awesome Mod.
Great info you have posted, it helps us all, THANKS....

BTW
You should see the diff it makes on a L making 15 LBS+
of boost BEFORE THE SWAP

 

Good info Max!


Bob