SC kit for 308/328/Mondial

Hope Thor has a video camera with him.


"THOR'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE" on DVD coming this Summer.

 

Hi Guys, Hey I actually made it!
I don't think I ever want to see Nebraska ever again... what a nightmare. The roads were iced over, 5 inches of new snow, winds howling and drifting across the freeway, the only thing worse was every stinking freeway south of I-80. Colorado got hit with 12 inches (again) and the more southern routes had ice storms. I picked a BAD winter to try the Ferrari out cross country. There were cars, trucks, and semi's off the road everywhere, in some spots about one every 100 yds. Once I put all-season radials on the Mondial (the only tires I could find that would fit in that no-name small town in Nebraska) she ran like a champ. It was very slow going, but not terribly difficult, not at 20 miles an hour anyway. The engine and supercharger ran like a swiss watch, no problems at all. I made sure and warmed everything up for 15 to 30 minutes each morning while I chipped the ice out of the wheel wells in the morning. The ventilation system had a few un-sealed gaps (that I couldn't seem to plug despite my best efforts) that about froze my right foot off. That's on my list to fix. It felt like summer when I dropped down into Salt Lake yesterday at 38 degrees on dry roads after being at 0-10 degrees F for two days straight.

OK, back to the supercharger kit... Carl very graciously picked me up at the airport in Milwaukee and we drove an hour to Horicon to his shop to pick up the Mondial. The kit looks gorgeous, just like the larger photographs, with Ferrari red hoses all over the place. Top-of-the-line everything. We warmed the car up and took it for a quick test drive. I drove it several miles slowly to get the gear oil warmed up so I could shift. It was so cold at first I almost couldn't get it into gear. I turned around in a parking lot and headed back out in first gear and nailed it. Yikes! The rear wheels broke loose and I hit redline way before I was ready, and shifted into second and nailed it again! Wow! I was already crawling up someone's bumper and had to back off. The added 100 hp really makes a HUGE difference. I don't think of the car the same way anymore. THIS is what a Ferarri is SUPPOSED to feel like! Ferrari made a mistake when they caved in to the 70's economy car mentality. The first day on the road with the car was a blast! I exited the freeway several times just so I could tear back up the on ramp at full throttle. Man that's fun!

Sound: The Raptor supercharger is a brand new design, very efficient, and pretty quiet at idle. It sounds a little like the air whistle you hear from a semi's turbochargers. You don't hear much below 2000 rpm, it starts to whistle around 3000, which turns into a loud higher pitched scream at redline accompanied by a loud air-rushing sound like you get at 100 mph around the mirrors. It sounds a bit like leaving the right rear window open (mine doesn't open, but I just had to look back anyway). When you shift at full throttle, the blow-off valve kicks in to dump the excess air the supercharger is producing. It caught me off guard the first time. It chatters away pretty loudly for a half second every time I shift over about 4500 rpm. It sounds very similar to a male Peacock's crow, but most of you probably don't know what that sounds like. Very cool. Nobody will mistake it for a standard Mondial anymore, it sounds quite different. I rev-ed the engine to redline a couple of times for friends in Salt Lake in the parking garage for the city, where all the police officers park their cars... That was fun! Nobody came outside to see what all the noise was, though. You'd think a Ferrari barking in an echoing parking garage would get some attention. It hit redline REALLY fast, so fast I had to be careful not to exceed it.

Speed: My Mondial-8 may be a few tenths of a second faster than a 348 now! With the horsepower at almost the same level, add in the higher gear ratios the Mondial-8 has to compensate for it's previoulsy lower horsepower, and I might be on par with a 348. The guys in the Ferrari club in Salt Lake are sure going to be surprised this coming summer. I won't be at the back of the pack anymore! I hated falling behind and having to downshift when the drives took us up steep grades in the mountains. I'd be willing to wager my top speed is higher now to. I was horsepower limited before the supercharger. I might be limited by redline now, I'm not sure. I'll have to test it this summer out on the desert.

Economy: Who cares! But seriously, the fuel economy went up. I went a lot further on a tank of gas when I kept it under 3500 rpm than I did on the way out to Wisconsin. Carl did a really nice job of tuning it for me. I didn't measure it on the trip. I ran into ice on the day I meant to start checking and I had to deal with getting snow tires rather than getting fuel mileage data. I did notice a big change in oil consumption on the days when I hot-rodded it, though. Keep a really close eye on engine oil level at first. Run out a half a tank of gas and check it, don't wait until two full tanks are gone like I did. This is a known side-effect of supercharging, especially if you haven't rebuilt the engine before hand.

Other Things: The engine creates a lot more heat now. I had already added a second radiator fan (using the Ferrari pre-installed wiring and relay) and an oil cooler fan. I need to put the oil cooler fan on a switch. I unplugged it for the trip, since I needed the engine oil to warm up when it was hovering around 0 F every morning.
The K&N air filter is going to be dificult to change. It's located behind the right side grill and will have to be accessed from underneath. I might be able to remove the air duct from above and thread it out from the space behind the AC compressor, but I'll probably just have my mechanic change it out when it's up on the lift for an oil change.

My recommendation is UPGRADE! You won't look at your 308/328/Mondial the same ever again, and you won't have to make any more excuses when some upstart tuner challenges you. It's a Ferrari for crying out loud! It's supposed to be fast!

I know you guys will have a few questions, so I'd better post this and let you get to it.
Thor

 

Just a note: Carl's chart goes from 2000 rpm on the left to 8000 rpm on the right side. It's not labeled.
Thor

 

Thor,

Glad you made it back in one piece.

 

Thanks Chris, it's nice to be back home again.

Sorry, but no DVD will be forthcoming. I didn't take a video camera with me.

The snow tires don't that strange either, they're all-season radials and look pretty much the same as my ZR rain tires, but with more tread.

 

Thor,

DUDE !!!!!!! Lief Erikson got nothin on you !!!! Glad you made it home safe, and your reports on the superchargers performance, um........how do I put this.... (I'm sport"n wood). Cannot wait to see how the QV will react!!!!
OK, I'll calm down now (cleansing breath)..............................
Have Fun !

-Lou

 

SAE

 

me too, I went on a long run with bigger boys and struggled a bit to keep up, will love to see faces once power is upped!

 

Now there's a good reason to switch to a synthetic motor oil. I'll do that, and use the octane booster you recommended as well (when I want to hot-rod it that is).

I'm glad the "Enduro Rally" is over too. It was nerve wracking to drive on ice for two days straight. I didn't even want to radio on most of the time to distract my concentration.

I look forward to seeing the manual!
Thor

 

Hey Thor,

Wanted to ask you what is the material used here, rubber, metal, that i have circled?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

No problem on you answering.

 

Carl,

Can I assume you will be shipping me a manual as well as parts soon then ?
(happy happy, joy joy !!)
I would like to have the SC, bracketing, and raw cold air intake tube at least so that we can get it mocked up for final adjustments/rework.

Also, what are your thoughts on pulley size, total boost etc. for the 308QV kit vs Mondial 2v, now that you have Dynojet data from my car? Do you need me to do a compression ratio verification (test) ?

-Lou

 

I would have asked Carl anyway. I knew they were silicone, but not the 5-ply info. I've seen them in other colors too, but RED is definitely the right color for a Ferrari.

 

Dont want to hijack the thread but when ventilating your crankcase on blown engines you can put a catchment filter in the feed line.. just like a fluid catch on an air compressor to catch the oil.... empty as required.
I have used this very successfully in the past and for 17-20 bucks its the best value. No more oil thru your intake and octane is constant.

 

Carl,
No rush, lets do it right. Call or email me RE: cold air intake please.

Everyone,
Since I am about to start a full coverage post of the QV supercharger install (lots of pictures, dyno graphs etc.) should I keep posting here, or start a new thread? (Mods ? Anyone?)

 

I say keep it here. I'm always looking for this thread.

 

Well, i downloaded the manual and I'll tell yeah, it is easy to understand.

I always love instructions with pictures.

Question. On the air cleaner, that you're doing for the Mondial, is it the same installation on a 308?