Kenne Bell tunes GOOD or BAD ?????

[Cobra GT]

I am fixing to buy a Kenne Bell 2.1 L blower for my 97 Cobra, and am looking for anybody who has or has had this blower on there car. I am wondering about the particulars of set ups. E.g. what tune to use Kenne Bell’s chip or have it costumed tuned, Boost- a-pump from KB or Walbro pump, what size MAF, what size injectors are you running? Fuel management, KB FMU, Spark, Boost-a-spark and the way KB says to set your car up. On there website they pretty much say leave the tuning to them with there blower and I kind of agree with them due to the quality of testing equipment they use in there R&D when they create these tunes. Far better metering and deal with a lot more parameters than the local tuner that just tweaks timing curves and things of that nature. I have the usual mods, long tube Kooks headers 1 ¾ to 3in collector, 3 in Kooks off road X-pipe, MagnaFlow exhaust w/ no cats, JLT cai, March udp’s, and a X-Cal 3 w/ a custom tune and 410 gears and other stuff. Can anybody give me some insight on this car and blower, thanks in advance? Please feel free to chime in I know this is a broad subject but any insight will help, thanks.

 

[Flghtmstr1]

Get it dyno tuned by a reputable shop. Mail-order tunes are a disaster waiting to happen, especially on forced-induction setups.

 

[Maxpowers]

Think of motors like snow flakes. No two are exactly the same. A mail order tune will be like one from the factory, rich. They do that so the motor will last longer and not blow as easy. Down side is that you lose some hp.

Every little thing will change your tune, even a small dent in your exhaust. That being said, call around and find a shop that will download their tune onto your SCT tuner.

80mm MAF, #42 injectors seem to be good for around 400hp.

Most people do not like the boost a pump, however some have had good luck with it.

 

[trinity_gt]

I am fixing to buy a Kenne Bell 2.1 L blower for my 97 Cobra, and am looking for anybody who has or has had this blower on there car.

Does a 1.7L on a 2V count?

I am wondering about the particulars of set ups. E.g. what tune to use Kenne Bell’s chip or have it costumed tuned

KB's tune is safe which is very important to most people. A custom tune may deliver more HP but it's doing so by leaning the mix out and adding timing. On the 2V at least, with its inferior combustion chamber design, the detonation risk increases and the stock pistons will not tolerate it.

This is not a "mail order" tune. You're asked to fill in a fairly extensive information sheet and KB sends you a tune based on that. And even if KB did go this extra step, it'd still be a tune designed by KB for a car with a KB blower. It's not like a Superchips "mail order" tune that is a jack of all trades, master of none type deal.

Boost- a-pump from KB or Walbro pump

In my case the BAP and stock pump has been fine for ~400HP at the wheels.

what size MAF, what size injectors are you running?

Stock MAF and the 36# injectors that came with my kit.

I could/should probably up to a 90mm Lightning MAF at some point because I believe that the stock part is saturating (i.e. voltage is maxing out). The KB tune though seems pretty safe so that at WOT and a saturated MAF the engine is still safe.

Fuel management, KB FMU

Sorry, I'm not sufficiently knowledgeable about the return system to recommend anything here.

Spark, Boost-a-spark

I've got NGK TR6's with the gap closed down to 0.035" and am running the factory Ford COPs. No BAS.

and the way KB says to set your car up. On there website they pretty much say leave the tuning to them with there blower and I kind of agree with them due to the quality of testing equipment they use in there R&D when they create these tunes.

The "mistake" that's likely to be made by a dyno tuner is that he'll do 5-10 pulls on the dyno to get the most HP out of it. Unless he's really careful and experienced with blowers on stock-internal motors, he may not tune for a fat and safe 11:1 (e.g.) AFR and you'll be sitting on a time bomb.

If you know of a tuner in your area that's done safe KB tunes, talk to him. See what he does for fuel and spark and ask what his philosophy is re getting the most power out or leaving a margin of safety.

Bottom line, you know KB is safe.

Far better metering and deal with a lot more parameters than the local tuner that just tweaks timing curves and things of that nature. I have the usual mods, long tube Kooks headers 1 ¾ to 3in collector, 3 in Kooks off road X-pipe, MagnaFlow exhaust w/ no cats, JLT cai, March udp’s, and a X-Cal 3 w/ a custom tune and 410 gears and other stuff. Can anybody give me some insight on this car and blower, thanks in advance? Please feel free to chime in I know this is a broad subject but any insight will help, thanks.

You'll likely lose the CAI (or at least part of it) and the March UDPs.

The car will be a handful with 4.10s

 

[blubullett]

If the tuner is worth anything they will also do a road tune. My car was so much better with a custom tune. A night and day difference in both power and drivability. Granted I have a procharger and Kenne Bell's tunes may be better but I wouldn't bet on it. And it is a nice safe tune with a perfictly safe a/f ratio. I have been beating on it for 35k (sometime when its 105 out) and it hasn't blown yet.