Report on Edelbrock E Force Install and Test on 2005 C6.
 

Report on Edelbrock E Force Install and Test on 2005 C6.

Three weeks ago I had an Edelbrock E Force Supercharger (model 1593, 560 hp) installed by an experienced GM mechanic (Shields
Garage, Mike Fanning, proprietor). He had no issues installing the system.
The Vette is otherwise stock. It took him two days. All parts were present.

* Noise:

A low grumble at idle that gets a bit louder at idle when warm. Not a problem.
A GTO whine when I step on it. Sounds just fine!
No noticeable noise at cruise.

*Heat:

After an hour of heavy driving, the hood is barely warm above the supercharger. It comes with an intercooler,
and it apparently works well. Fans don't noticeably come on more often.

* Performance:

This thing rips! I scare myself, and am a danger to myself and others. Neck-snapping. It kicks in just above idle,
and brightens my day all the way to 5500 rpm. And it looks good.

* Ride:

The front end dropped 1 inch. The steering wheel was off a few degrees. An alignment and height adjustment
to specs fixed the problem. No noticeable handling change, but I have not done an autocross with the new equipment yet.

* Mileage:

Odd. Based on the DIC, I got 30 mpg on the highway before. Now I get 34 mpg. And that's rippin on it.
In town I got 12.5. Now I get 15. Something strange here. I am now measuring miles and gallons to see if this
is real. Could it be an artifact of the tune? I use 91 Octane as recommended by Edelbrock.

* Tuning:

Here is where it gets sticky. The EForce came with tuner labeled "Edelbrock" but which is actually an SCT tuner.
The default Edelbrock Tune (vs 1.2.2)in the tuner was installed in the vehicle by the mechanic. This worked fine
for about 2 weeks, but now issues have arisen. The engine slightly surges when travelling between 0 and 50 mph,
when my foot comes off the throttle. It appears to be "pushing" when it should just return to idle. When the clutch is
pushed in with the foot off the gas, the motor comes down to 1000 rpm, tarries there, then drops to about 200 and returns to 650. Sometimes kills.
So Mike and I decided to upgrade the tune to the version shown on the Edelbrock website (vs 1.2.3). When
installing the tune, there was no indication of the current tune on the tuner, so we updated this using the SCUPDATER.exe provided by SCT
and listed in Edelbrock's instructions. The "automatic update" failed, and actually
broke the tuner (File System Error, please load file). So I called Edelbrock, and they informed me it was an SCT
problem (even though it is an Edelbrock tuner) and suggested I call them. I did so, and after an hour of phone time they fixed the problem.
It was disappointing to me to be referred to another company.
However, now the tuner indicates the most up-to-date tune (vs 1.2.3) but the surge problem continues. I called
the Edelbrock support line, and they suggested it was a vacuum leak. I need to call them back.

So my questions are:

Why does the mileage go up?

Why does the idle malfunction?

How do I fix it?

1) your mileage did not go up. You are running a proportional tune and lying to the PC about many things to use the bigger injectors and MAF change. If you want your DIC to read correctly, get a non-proportional tune from a tuner that uses EFILive or HPTuners.

2) The Idle and drive-ability issues are going to take a while to corner. It could be a vacuum leak or it probably is the minimum idle airflow table settings in the tune.


Either way, I'm putting my money on the tune as your issue on all counts.


Elmer

Thanks you so much for sharing your edelbrock experience. Sounds like overall you are quite happy with the product...

The vacuum leak or the tune can be corrected I'm sure and you will have many many miles of fun...

How many miles are on your car? Do you feel that once the idle issue is fixed ...whether it be a vacuum leak or a tuning issue...that you could drive drive this car another 60 k miles as a daily driver if you were so inclined?

Thanks for your excellent report on the project you undertook...

Sounds like you have a very good technician. Have you asked him to look for any vacuum leaks...? (those guys must know how to check for them in a detailed way) Ask nicely and if it doesn't resolve your issue...then go to a tuner who you trust to work with you on the car..

I believe your surging is a result of your E-Force Generic (canned tune). After my install of the E-Force on my 06 LS2, I had several issues which I corrected by calibrating the MAF, adjusting timing and AFR. Initially after the install I was throwing code P0174 but calibrating the MAF corrected this problem and timing and AFR improved performance. Just work with the tune and you will be just fine.

Thanks to Elmer and all others who have commented.
I have about 12,000 miles on the car.

I am now working with Edelbrock to improve the tune.
I will let you know when I have something and how well it works.

this is something i was thinking about adding to my wifes car next year
have you consulted one of the tuners on here to get a tune from them?
i bet they have all the bugs worked out and have a nice program even better then Edel's
i figure it will take me a few days to install, as i like to take my time doing this stuff (hobby)
where did you get your kit from?

I appreciate all the replies.
I have a custom tune from Edelbrock to try tomorrow. I ran the Live download on the car
and found no leaks in the manifold (via fuel trim). Pretty cool program.

I got the kit from Ressler Chevrolet here in Bozeman. They had the best price ($6,150).

How does it affect "home-to-grocery" drive-ability? Is the gas pedal more... touchy?

The car is stock UNLESS you demand the boost. I say demand as it is totally a controllable aspect of a FI car. You don't get FI unless you want it to happen. So, to answer your question, it is a well mannered grocery getter until you decide to activate boost. My mileage did not change with the install. I don't leave 60' blackmarks from every red light. My wife is not white-knuckled while I drive the car.

How you use your right foot is the deciding factor as to whether or not you are using boost.


Elmer

:iagree:

I wrote this driving impression up after installing an Edelbrock last November on a friend's otherwise 100% stock 2008 MN6 Convertible...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/1575913749-post75.html

"I've already told Dave (the owner) this but I'd like to share with everyone my impressions of how his car drives. As a reminder, the car is a 2008 Z51 MZ6 convertible and is 100% stock....except for the mouse nest I found under the hood. I took the car for a 60 mile circuit yesterday morning. The purpose was primarily to be confident the car is 100% ready for the owner. He lives 250 miles away and I wanted to give back a car with absolutely no chance of a "do-over". The ride included some in town driving, a bit of 55-65mph in traffic, one 100% throttle squirt up the on ramp onto the interstate and 15 miles on the interstate at 75mph followed by another short ride through town. Folks, I gotta say this is the stealthiest supercharged car I have ever driven! With the NPP's closed, this car gives away no hint of it's abilities. The car started as-stock on a cool 45 degree morning and settled into a stock like 650rpm idle. At idle, with the a/c off, radio off and NPP closed, you can faintly hear the rotors turning through the cowl from the driver's seat. You have to listen very closely to hear it though. Standing outside the car with the engine running and the hood closed it is very hard to hear the supercharger. Pop the hood and you can hear the twin rotors stirring the pot in the supercharger...a sound that is a bit hard to describe. Around town the car has loads of torque and only a very faint blower whine when you accelerate...at least until the NPP's open and then it's all bets off to hear the supercharger. The torque of the Edelbrock makes short-shifting this car a blast. Power comes on very linear and the blower sound to me is much like a large electric motor ramping up to speed. This car demonstrated 100% stock like drive-ability in town. The interstate on ramp....from 0 mph to the top of the ramp as I merged pushed me over 100mph. I had to slow down to merge! Car returned right at 25mpg at 75mph. Off the interstate and back into town and the car behaved 100% as stock. This is all with the Edelbrock hand held tuner calibration. 100% drive-ability. Dave has given up absolutely nothing with respect to stock manners and gained a boatload of power with the upgrade.

I am confident this is the type of upgrade Dave was looking for and that he will be satisfied with the results. "

Further Report on The Eforce on a 2005 LS2 C6 Manual Coupe
 

I have about 400 miles on the supercharger. (555 HP version).

After a few iterations the tune works great.
Chris Johnson at Edelbrock helped me with this.
Other LS2's may benefit from his customizations.

After a few startup problems, this supercharger rips!

Nice whine at speed.
Slight noise at idle. Picks up at about 1200 RPM, so keep
your RPM up for max power.

But it rips at all levels. And at highway speed, you don't know it
is there until you want it. About a 2 mpg reduction in mileage (30 to 28)

Punching it is a hazard to my wife's composure, but she now
knows about when I will do it, so she braces.

With the Vette's handling, it is great fun to use the power.

And total stealth. You wouldn't know it was there at idle from outside.
And by the time you find out, I am long gone.
Maybe I should get an emblem.

do you or anyone have some track times with this SC

dyno numbers are certainly impressive, but would like to see some track numbers

i'm deciding on this or the Trickflows/Cam setup for the wifes 05 auto
i think this SC will be the perfect torque producer to match and enhance her setup (auto, LG street headers, need for AC use, and power on tap)

i'd just like to see somewhat similar builds with this SC and track times

i like what you wrote -47

drool....... i love driving my 06 z51 vert.... would be much more fun with similar mod / and arh / corsa....

What's the most HP seen from one of these installed? What other mods were used to get that number or was it bone stock? Thx

What Motorhead47 wrote sums it up perfectly. My 07 vert makes 541rwhp and 550 lbs torque with the eforce. Bone stock otherwise with a conservative tune. Great trouble free unit that is tons of fun to drive.

If the kits are advertised with either 550 or 600 hp its flywheel horsepower so in a big fat guess..I'd suggest an edlebrock supercharged z51 will probably be a few tenths and a few mph slower than GM's fully sorted....100k mile warrantied ZR1...

Of course its only 9 grand installed...give or take and not the 50 or 60 grand more for a new ZR1...(over a base kit)

I'd like to hear about if this could be used as a daily driver 10k miles a year and how the reliablity and maintaince issues are...over time....

Weekend toy modifications are cool but where I"m at in life right now is if I can't use the car reliably everyday for 10 to 12 k miles a year...its not for me.

Hopefully we'll get greater insight as time goes on...

Thanks for your insights on how well for the most part your install went and how edlebrock resolved the minor tune issue you had when you called for their eventual assistance.

Thats what seperates the good companies and the great...

The only thing I can add is that I've put about 5000 miles since the install with absolutely no issues. Just as reliable as stock for me. The only issue I had was a defective part and Edelbrock was great.

Most I've seen....LS3 Camaro forged motor on E85

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...Dog/Camaro.jpg

Bone stock with Edelbrock
 

Mine was bone stock before the Edelbrock.

No dyno in the State that I know of. But there is plenty of horse.

I can't wait to drive it every day. I like the manual stick.
I get to decide how much I want to impress (scare) my wife.
She does such a "cute" squeak when I punch it.

However, I would be toast without the heads up display.

I'd go NA if track times are important. NA is easier to control if you have to pedal the launch and is easier to dial in consistently on a warm day.