S197 performance enhancements

[C0braFan]

Hi all,

Thought I'd create a new thread here on a subject that I'm very interested in now. I would like to customize my 06 GT engine as much as possible without going to a power adder. I am eager to see how much I can do with this great engine, and looking for suggestions.

I'm sure you are all familiar with the usual suggestions: cold air intake, custom tune, mufflers, x-pipe, headers. That pretty much sums it up for the bolt-on stuff, and I'm eager to do these things (just installed FlowMaster American Thunder mufflers and love the improvement!).

But I'm talking about more dramatic changes once these trivial mods are done. Like new heads and camshafts. I've heard Comp Cams has 3 new sets of cams for the 4.6 3V worth upwards of 30 hp. I'm eager to try that out, but I also wonder if a pair of new heads would fit on this engine?

FRPP has listed FR-500C heads that work on the 4.6 race engine, which is stroked to 5.0. The heads are advertised as 4.6 4V heads for the 05-07, and are worth +60 hp. Does anyone have any idea if these heads are compatible with a stock 4.6 3V engine? Or could that be an error in the catalog? The price is not bad at all, especially when you consider the cost of a supercharger, which I don't really want to do.

A bigger question is this: Are these heads from the 2000 Cobra R, or from the 2004 Mach1? I'd assume these are R heads, since they're being used on the FR500. $1500 plus the cams is very affordable, and with the other mods we're talking 400 hp without a power adder--and I would love that.

[Ethan@S3M]

The heads you have listed will only work on the 4v mod motor. We have a customer with a 05 that has 4.10's, axel back, x pipe with longtubes, CAI, and a good tune and the car haul ass. I think you would be better off just buying a Saleen or Roush supercharger insted of spending money on heads and cams. You'd end up with more hp in the long run.
Ethan

[C0braFan]

Oh, that's a shame. Thank you for the tip (scratch the 4V heads off my list!). But like I said, I want to see what the 3V can do N/A, without a 200 pound power adder. Not only that, but 5 grand for an intercooled S/C is a rip off. Niche product = high price, yada yada, but it's still grossly overpriced for basically an air compressor. These things aren't exactly rocket science, it's a low volume problem.

How about port matching and a polish job on the 3V heads. That should be worth 30 hp, which combined with new cams, and other upgrades, might take it up to 400.

[Ethan@S3M]

Ya port matching your heads and polishing will probly make some more power but your gonna be spending a good amount of money. You should price it out and see what the difference is compared between sc and n/a. I bet it will be around the same cause changing heads and cams on the mod motors is pretty involved and labor isnt cheap now a days.

[Indy]

Ya port matching your heads and polishing will probly make some more power but your gonna be spending a good amount of money. You should price it out and see what the difference is compared between sc and n/a. I bet it will be around the same cause changing heads and cams on the mod motors is pretty involved and labor isnt cheap now a days.

I agree with Ethan on this. I think fox lake has ported 3v heads now give them a call and see what they have to say.

[C0braFan]

There's nothing on their web site to indicate they work on 3V heads. I wouldn't want my engine to be a guinea pig.

[Indy]

In the Feb. issue of MM&FF, they said that Fox Lake already had a CNC program for porting the 3 valve heads. Maybe they haven't put it on the web site yet. I would call them and see if they are still in the testing stages or if they have a finished program. Good luck.

[Radeon]

JDM also has some good CNC heads. Im sure you could get some good power by doing cai, pullies, heads, cams, exhaust, tune, etc., but why would you want to put all that money into a n/a setup when you could spend just as much on a 2.6 KB and have all the power your shortblock could handle? Just my opinion though. Whatever you choose, Im sure you'll be happy with the results.

[C0braFan]

Well the reason why I want to stick with n/a is because the supercharger systems are grossly overpriced. Why does, essentially, a big air compressor cost $5 grand? I'm pretty sure the mods I'm talking about can be done for half that.

[Ethan@S3M]

1685.00 ported heads(shipped)
600.00 cams
675.00 intake and tuner
279.95 throttle body
450.00 headers
350.00 axel back
289.00 mid pipe
239.00 pullies
Total 4567.00 not including shipping on everything else and paying someone to install the heads and cams. Then you got to get a tune. So you'd probly be more than a blower and not have as much HP as a blown car.