You gotta be pulley'in my leg!

OK - someone needs to stop with all the group buys - just too tempting!  Ended up getting a new developmental 84mm pulley that fits on the supercharger, instead of the usual crank pulley that spins everything faster/harder on the engine.  About 28.5% of the rotational weight has been taken off the pulley which means less wear & tear on the engine and components.

Here's the new (middle) vs old (right) design - note the thickness (weight) on the OEM design, the one of the left is an even SMALLER version - but I stuck with the 83/84mm :)

What's nice about this design is that it is less weight and offers faster spooling of the S/C instead of the stock pulley - it's been developed to meet OEM quality and has a slip-resistant coating on the ribs.  Here it is, fresh out of the UPS box.  Just waiting to add 1.5-2PSI of boost :)

It looks to be a stellar part and much cheaper than the crank pulleys which (IMHO) tend to be more trouble than what they're worth on a daily driver.  I hope to get this installed soon :-)

Cooling the charge!

Up next is a Fabtech-Performance Heat Exchanger/Intercooler - this is 2x the size of the stock unit and will help keep the Sacramento temps at bay and help speed recovery of the IAT (inlet air temp) back to cooler temps as cooler air is more dense, and more dense air means more power :)

Bar & Plate style for optimal s/c cooling and heat dissipation59 FLUID OUNCES, 1.74 LITER HEAT EXCHANGERAluminum mounting brackets for seamless factory placement install no drilling necessary2X MORE COOLING volume THAN STOCKDrain located at the bottom of the H/E for easy fluid change3/4 INCH BARB FITTINGS

Yes, another group buy (I helped with this one!)

and what it should look like installed

Should be here within a week - now just to find time to install :-)

Octane Booster

Every once in a while I'll throw an injector cleaner in the tank - those 'cleaning' additives to a whole tank of gas - hopefully it's doing something to keep things clean. Recently was wondering about bumping the octane level since the S/C engine in the E55 could handle it and most of the store bought stuff will only boost your octane by .2-.6 points - so in lowly CA, I'd get a screaming 91.6 from the over-the-counter stuff.

So the guys on Planet Supercar and MBWorld are talking about Torco - this is the real additive that can boost your octane and is one of the blends used to boost commercial gasoline to it's higher levels. So, while I can't get 93 (or higher) in CA, maybe this stuff could help raise to 95 or 98 octane?

Amazing that you can order this TORCO Octane Booster Case of 6 Quarts UL Accelerator from Amazon!

Thanks to my buddy Tom, he found a graph that shows the E55

Torco Accelerator 32oz The Best Fuel Additive
TORCO Octane Booster Case of 6 Quarts UL Accelerator
Lucas Oil 10026 Octane Booster 15 oz

OBDII - oh what fun comes next!

 A nice new OBDII to USB cable arrived today...

Gotta find some good apps to use with this on my laptop!

http://www.autotap.com/

http://www.autoenginuity.com/

maybe others?

Scoopin it up!

Well, in my last update - I was hoping to save up a few $$ to get the TTM scoops - and, well - there was this group buy going on - so I jumped in - they look great and from some testing they increase airflow by ~5% and also create more pressure (from somewhat a ram-air effect) - reducing the pressure needed by .55%

They came via USPS packaged very nicely, two scoops the mounting bolts and some heater hose to keep things from rubbing.

Here they are installed on the car, two simple holes, and a simple lock nut on each side

and here's a look with the hood closed...  

...all ready for some forced-air fun!