Roush Bought an 04 S281 Speedster today.

[Mikie]

Guys,
I am coming in this section as my wife and I just purchased a 2004 White Convertible today. I am so sorry to be ignorant and will start immediately educating myself via the search function on this site and google, but could you guys tell me some basics about it?
It is a true saleen s281 speedster with a kenny bell roots type blower.
Is this blower factory? or has it been swapped out by KB?
I have no clue about the horse power and 1/4 mile ets these things are turning.
Im not going to be beating the piss out of it, but just want the info on what she could do if put to the test.

The thing sits so low that I scrape the h pipe getting it into my drive way...lol
Gonna have to figure out a different aproach to getting it parked at the house.

Any advice, tips, info or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

 

[FASN8N]

Congrats on the purchase. What number is your car and I will see if I can dig up some info....

 

[Mikie]

216 is the number on the bumper.
I dont have the vin number handy right now , but could get you that if you needed it.

When we popped the hood I am looking at this large kenny bell black roots type blower starring at me. I thought all saleens had saleen blowers on them?
Its a one owner car up until trade in so Im not sure if he swapped out the blower for a KB or not.

Thanks for any help.

 

[bill89saleen304]

The Kenne Bell would be an upgrade by the previous owner.They are twin screw supercahergers and are very efficeint, you are correct that all factory supercharged car's had the Saleen blowers on them.Can't tell you much about your car as the Saleen Book only goes up to 2003.
Call Patti Reard at Team Saleen 800-888-8945 and give her the info, such as bumper no. and vin no. and she will tell you all the specifics about your car! Congrats it sounds like a nice ride!

Check out the Saleen Club of America



Bill

 

[Mikie]

I appreciate it

I will definitely give her a call on monday to do some research.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[BobV]

Keep in mind that Saleen also used a black series IV blower in 2004. Are you sure you have a Kenne Bell, or the Saleen blower? Here's a picture of the Saleen S/C:

 

[wythors]

If the car is an S281, it was not supercharged when it left Saleen. A supercharged car would be an S281SC. More than likely, the car received the KB from the previous owner.

 

[Mikie]

Here are a couple pics...definitely KB.

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[FASN8N]

Looks like a nice car, I love the center exhaust

 

[2000xp8]

It had to of been on a dyno at some point, i'm guessing the previous owner did not give you the read outs.

First thing i would do is take it to a reputable shop and have it dyno'ed to see where the air/fuel is, and how good of a tune has been programmed into the computer.
At this point you will also know how much rwhp it makes.
The KB can be a very potent supercharger, so IMO see where it stands right now before you drive it hard.

 

[crystalwhitesvt]

nice find

 

[Mikie]

Update on my findings...

In the glove box was an inspection receipt with the original owners name. (I purchased the car from a dealer so I originally had no way of contacting the previous owner)
I called the number and spoke to the previous owner that told me the car was an S281 without blower from the factory. He had $9,000 financed to do many mods...of those that I could write down were KB 2.1 with T rex fuel pump, intercooler, custom dyno tune, 3.73 frpp gears and labor.
I asked him the dyno numbers and he couldnt remember the torque, but said that it put down 397 rwhp.
A couple of my close buds tell me that I could get more out of the car if I got it dyno tuned by a certain shop locally to me.
They are very reputable and keep the car until they get the most out of it...no rush jobs on the dyno.

Anyway, Thats where I am at the moment.

 

[Bottlefed83]

Very nice car, I love the white saleen's. When I buy another newer one it will be the white one.

 

[lgndracer]

Yes, you can get more out of it but you may not want to. The stock rods are only good for about 400 RWHP (on a manual) safely. More than that and you are going to want to go in and beef up the lower end.

Get it on a dyno to make sure the tune is safe and leave it alone and enjoy it. If you want to do more to it, go to the chassis next to try and hook up the power you already have. If it doesn't have weld in sub-frame connectors start there then look at some rear lower control arms and a panhard bar.

You can also look at upgrading the brakes. Not being an SC to begin with, it probably has the stock GT brakes which were never designed to slow down a car from the speeds you can achive very quickly with that kind of power.

Mike

 

[Mikie]

Thanks guys,

Mike, It has full suspension (subframes,lcas ucas and upgraded rotars and brakes)
The previous owner tried very hard to upgrade everything as it seemed money wasnt an object to him...lol

I will take your advice and dyno it to make sure the tune is correct for the application and not try to get more as I agree, the motor probably wont live long at 450+hp (flywheel)

Thanks for all of your replies and help.
Im glad to be associated with such a good group of people.

 

[SimiSaleen]

Great Car! It came with very nice upgrades. If you had to buy all those and install them it would cost a lot of money. Co ngrats!

 

[chrissaleen]

Sweet

That is a sweet car you got! Good luck with it and enjoy.

 

[mills281e]

Nice find....great looking car !