Hey everybody, I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com and welcome to my detailed breakdown of the
Whipple Stage 1 twin-screw supercharger kit available for your 2015 through 2017 Mustang
GT.
All right, gang, as you can imagine, we have a lot to talk about here at the Whipple Stage
1 kit.
And in this detailed overview, I'm gonna do my best to break down some of the benefits
and power expectations when bolting this monster up to your S550 GT.
We'll talk about what's actually included with the Stage 1 kit from Whipple.
And then last but not least, we're gonna do a very, very general overview of the installation.
Obviously, guys, there's a lot of steps involved, and obviously, this thing will not be for
the first-time wrenchers out there.
So, an easy three out of three on my difficulty meter, but we will have a little bit more
detail on that later on.
So, if you're an S550 GT owner and you wanna go with one of the most popular blowers in
the aftermarket to help you add horsepower by the hundreds, the Whipple is going to be
a solid choice.
Now, let's be honest, guys, there's really no bad choice when it comes to adding forced
induction to your Mustang.
However, I think the Whipple will be pretty unique not only by design and what's included
with the Stage 1 offering, but this thing is also advertised as being the blower to
add the most horsepower right out of the box according to Whipple.
Now, with all of that said, this is gonna be a great choice for the GT owners who prefer
that linear power delivery of a twin-screw blower like this, you want the power on demand
as opposed to something that's gonna build boost like a centrifugal blower or a turbocharger
setup.
Also, guys, this is gonna be a great choice for people who don't wanna have to modify
their front engine cover like those TVS blowers that do require a little bit of grinding to
get installed.
So, with all that said, we got a lot of ground to cover.
Let's dive right in.
So if you've been toying with the idea of super charging your S550 GT, you've probably
done a little homework on the issue, but if not, here's what you're gonna find when you
look into the aftermarket.
There's gonna be a couple of big popular options out there.
First and foremost, you got your TVS blowers, companies like VMP, Roush, Ford Performance.
This is something that is very popular out there and definitely a solid choice in and
of itself.
You're also gonna find some twin-screw options out there, Whipple being one, Kenne Bell being
the other.
Now both the TVS or the twin-screw blowers are gonna be great choices again for those
S550 GT owners out there who prefer that really linear power delivery or that instantaneous
power.
However, that's not necessarily the case with your other popular option in the supercharger
category, a centrifugal blower.
Now, these guys are still belt driven, but they take a little bit more time to reach
full boost kind of like a turbocharger would.
Ultimately, a centrifugal blower will be a little bit more efficient than a twin-screw
blower or even the TVS blowers we talked about a little bit earlier.
And popular options in the centrifugal category include ProCharger, Paxton, and Vortec.
Now, any one of these supercharger options that we have talked about will help you add
all the power you want and more to your 5 liter GT, and we could really just break down
the benefits or differences between the two until we are blue in the face.
However, that's not the purpose of this video.
So what I'm going to encourage you guys, just make sure you take the time, do your research,
decide what kind of blower will be best for you and your driving style before you invest
thousands and thousands of dollars in the forced induction.
But with all that said, let's shift our focus back to the Whipple.
Now, Whipple and Mustang have gone together like peanut butter and jelly ever since the
Terminator days.
And Whipple's popularity has really spiked here with the S550 GT.
Now, at the core of this very potent package, you're gonna find the W175AX compressor featuring
2.9 liters of total displacement, a max operating RPM of 18,000, which altogether will help
you achieve boost upwards of 30 pounds depending on your setup.
Whipple did decide to change up the design a little bit here with the 2015 and newer
GT blowers.
They front feed rear drive design that they claim is gonna be a little bit more efficient,
help increase some of the plenum volume overall.
In addition to that, it also allowed them to increase the size of their intercooler
and the coverage here with the blower, which is huge when you're talking about a twin-screw
because heat is oftentimes gonna be one of your biggest issues.
Another big benefit with that front feed design is that Whipple claims this thing will be
8% to 10% more efficient than a side or rear entry design.
Now, one fact that Whipple is really happy to claim here with their 2015 and newer design
is that it features one of the largest inntercoolers in the category, in fact, up to 33% larger
than those TVS blowers we already talked about.
Another cool fact, this thing is bigger, 2.9 liters with Whipple versus 2.3 liters with
the TVS blower.
So by getting you 26% more displacement, Whipple claims that you're gonna see more power and
lower temps at similar boost levels.
Now, this is a lot of technical talk and a lot of numbers being thrown at you from Whipple,
but you guys are probably saying, "Dude, just tell me how much this thing will make because
that's what I wanna know."
So, here we go.
Whipple claims their base kit featuring the 2.9 blower using their factory throttle body
we'll put out 750 crank horsepower on 93 octane.
Now, their Stage 1 kit does include the 132 millimeter elliptical throttle body.
And they claim that this kit here will make 825 crank horsepower also on 93 octane.
Now, I have a lot of experience with these kits here at AM, and my experience tends to
back these numbers up.
You want more experience?
Well, here we go.
Our MMD by Foose silver GT that we gave away made 650 to the tire through an automatic
and basically nothing else, still had the stock throttle body on.
Our 2015 GT, the orange car that we did end up giving away with the Raptor made 740 to
the tire through a six-speed.
It did have the 132 elliptical throttle body, and it did have some other bolt-ons as well.
So, Whipple's advertised numbers seem to be pretty much on the money here when you factor
in drivetrain loss.
So now that you know what kind of gains are possible using the 2.9 Whipple blower on your
2015 and newer GT, let's talk about how it's all made possible and break down some of the
components.
We broke down the compressor.
We talked a little bit about the big intercooler here that lives on underneath the compressor.
You're also getting Whipple's trademark 132 millimeter crusher inlet and matching 132
millimeter elliptical billet throttle body.
And believe me when I tell you guys, the upgraded throttle bodies make a world of difference
on these Whipple cars.
Now, feeding that massive inlet and throttle body, Whipple does toss in an intake set up
for you guys, including an airbox, which I don't have on the table with me here, but
I do also have the high flow filter that is included along with the intake elbow featuring
a rather sizable 123 millimeter mass airflow housing.
They're also giving you a pump and reservoir that will hold up to two gallons of water
to feed that category leading intercooler, and Whipple claims that this two gallons is
more than double the next best option in the category.
You can also look forward to receiving your heat exchanger here.
No, this is not your intercooler, that lives underneath the compressor housing.
The heat exchanger on the other hand will live up on the front of the car here and cool
some of that fluid down.
Now, I do wanna point out Whipple doesn't toss in any fans with their Stage 1 kit, but
you can always add them if you'd like to.
In fact, I'd probably recommend that if you do plan on driving the car hard during the
summer months and you live in a warmer climate.
As far as your fuelling, well, Whipple does toss in a couple of really nice billet fuel
rails here and a set of 72 pound injectors which should be enough for most owners out
there.
Obviously, you can always upgrade these to a set of ID1000s or something even bigger
down the road if you like.
Now, in addition of that, personally, I might recommend adding a Boost-A-Pump to your fuelling
setup just to make sure those rails are getting all the fuel they need, especially if you
start to turn things up, which believe me when I tell you will eventually happen.
Whipple does also include a six rib belt setup in addition to all the idlers and pulleys,
tensioners, all that good stuff.
And in my opinion, we've had great experience with this, never really experienced much belt
slip, if at all.
Now, Whipple also tosses in a calibration with their Stage 1 setup to help you get up
and running, but if I can kind of contribute my two cents here again, and I will, take
this to a reputable tuner, guys.
You're spending a lot of money when you're adding forced induction to your S550 GT.
You wanna take it to one of the big names out there or a local trusted tuner because
not only are you gonna be maximizing your performance but you're also gonna help ensure
the safety of your setup.
Now, this isn't as important, at least in my opinion, but you guys probably will appreciate
it.
One thing I did really enjoy about this kit is just how well everything is thought-out.
From a packaging standpoint, the instructions are very clearly laid out, color pictures,
all that good stuff.
They've done a great job when it comes to getting this thing in your hands and making
it very digestible when it comes time for installation.
Now, necessary hardware, that's kind of a given, but little things like the correct
heater length hose, you're also getting the proper heat shrink, new plugs.
Complete is just the perfect way to sum up the Whipple kit.
Also not as important but definitely worth pointing out is that Whipple give you some
options when it comes to how you want this thing to look.
Obviously, we're showing you the black option here, but you can also pick up the Whipple
in a polished finish, maybe a red, white or blue or even gold.
So again, you have some options there when it comes to your under hood appearance.
Now, I'm not telling you anything you guys don't know here with this next statement,
but these things aren't cheap.
This is a big investment.
You're looking at 7,500 bucks just for the black option.
And if you wanna go with any one of those other colors I just mentioned, it's gonna
be a little bit closer to the $8,000 mark.
So yes, you're forking out big dough for forced induction, guys.
But again, this shouldn't come as any surprise to any of you.
On top of that though you do have to factor in some additional costs such as that aftermarket
tuning if that's something you are interested in, maybe a clutch if you have a stick car
and, of course, new tires as you're certainly gonna be blowing through them a lot quicker
than you were before.
But let's switch gears and talk about the installation, and this is going to be very,
very brief, guys, no, not the installation but my description of it because this is not
a step-by-step video.
That's not what this video is intended for.
Instead, Whipple does give you those very detailed instructions to check those out first
before getting started with the install and just to see if this install will be for you
or if you wanna call your local shop instead.
Instead, expect a full-blown three out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter here,
guys.
At least a full day in the shop or a garage, but a weekend is probably gonna be the better
bet.
As far as the tool list, well, it's safe to say you're gonna need them all here, guys.
You're gonna need a pretty expansive toolbox in order to complete this installation.
You will need to remove that factory intake manifold.
You're gonna need to disassemble the front of the car in order to get your heat exchanger
in place.
There is a lot of work involved here, guys.
So, again, I can't stress this one enough.
If you're not really comfortable with tackling this big of an install, call your local shop.
I'm sure they'd really appreciate the business.
And on the other hand, if you are the do-it-yourselfer type, just leave yourself a full weekend,
definitely a lot of beer because you're gonna need it to get this guy installed.
That is my review of the Stage 1 Whipple kit for your 2015 to 2017 GT, which you can grab
right here at americanmuscle.com.