BlownChevy

iTrader: (20)

What is your "upgraded" air flow?

tahoe

I certanly hope no one belive that boost makes power!!

Boost pressure as measured in the inletmanifold is just a measure of how restrictive the inlet system is. What is intresting in makling power, is the air flow in to the engine measured in grams per second.

//

FlaBouy

Vortech S trim
Stage 2 heads with Ferrea Titanium valves (2.02/1.57)
Patriot Gold Dual Springs
Vinci accelerated 1.85 rockers
216/224 @ 50 degreed 5* (.589" lift)
Blueprinted Oil Pump
160* Thermo
Pacesetter LT's
Dual Borla exhaust
Custom 2 BAR OS with HP Tuners
Wideband O2 logging 185 kPA
Stock Bottom

http://good-times.webshots.com/slide...58718396zMByDq

Your typical daily driven 6000# lead sled...........

parish8

iTrader: (6)

your right they are not daily driven but they see tons of action. the last trip to the dyno we made 34 runs and the last trip to the track we made 10 runs. thats all in one week along with at least 10 runs on the street in that week. i am not going to say this stock engine could take this week after week but they are tuff and will last a long time if tuned right.

FlaBouy

My point exactly.... when consideration is given to a daily driver, I would hazard to guess the motor is not seeing max boost but a small percentage of the time in most cases. Since we are just giving consideration to the motor and not the drivetrain, I can say with great confidence that the 5.3L bottom end can support 700 HP, if tuned properly. Mine dyno's 500+ rwhp through a 4WD tranny. Doing conservative math places the crank HP level in the 650 pony range... My blower was installed in September 2005 and has been driven every single day since. I have logged and tuned this thing since day one with HP Tuners. I now run a 2 BAR SD OS since I long ago exceeded the limitations of the MAF.

Again, tuning is the key in my humble opinion.....

trever1t

iTrader: (14)

Interesting read.
True, at least in my case, I do not see max boost on a daily basis, actually I usually see less than 3lbs on the street.

Whippled 496

iTrader: (4)

Son of a Bitch I wish i could see 185kPa......nice setup Flabouy

vanillagorilla

iTrader: (1)

I see max boost mmmmm....about 3-4 times a day 7 days a week, so I don't think any amount of tuning is going to save me.

That's great you guys get these things to live, but I'm sorry, you are still few and far between. I don't want unsuspecting, inexperienced people reading this thinking they can throw 20psi at their stock 5.3L, because you guys are preaching that these engines in stock form can take boost like that in all scenarios, everyday rain or shine.

I think you're being a little misleading here. I'm glad you can tune for it, but from a design standpoint and a reliability standpoint its not advisable. Hypereutectic pistons with ring lands made of glass, N/A spec'd rings and a manifold not designed for FI are all working against you. I'm not sure how you tune them, but you must just be running boost with very minimal timing to reduce cylinder pressure. I'm sure you keep it out of knock, but in the real world sometimes that's unavoidable. Bad tanks of gas, towing up a hill while stuck behind a slow truck, different load conditions based on unfamiliar terrain, +100*F days are all parts of driving it daily that are completley out of your control despite tuning.

This thread needs a disclaimer.

FlaBouy

Hmmmm...I think there is only one preacher in this crowd.....

I was just disagreeing with a statement that indicated anything over 10 psi could not be driven on a daily basis... nothing else....

...and as far as minimal timing goes.... talk to any tuner that actually knows what he is talking about and you will find my previously posted 23-25 degrees of timing at WOT on pump gas is not very conservative.... and yes, I live in Florida so it sees 100*+ days almost year round and did I mention I tow a 6000# boat?

Nobody is being misleading here.... nor trying to. Your comment in my opinion is a tad judgemental. I am merely conveying my personal experience with my daily driven truck.. I suspect that most people do not have the patience, background or experience to correctly set up a truck with the weight of an Avalanche and run 13 psi of boost on a daily basis, and therefore would agree that that would lead to premature engine failure. But that is due to lack of experience on the owners part, not the design and the capability of the 5.3L.....

Edit: While I am preaching..... Come on by the Chevy Avalanche Fan Club site and visit our FI threads.... a dozen or so guys running 10-14 psi FI rigs. You will find setups running the Radix, Prochargers, Vortechs, Whipples, and STS turbos. Almost every single blower running more than 10 PSI is also running a 60 shot of N2O.... all on stock bottoms...all driven daily... and all making high 12/low 13 second passes in 6000# 4WD lead sleds.... Hell, one whipple setup with a 60 shot has a snow plow kit on the truck...and he is making 13.5 second passes in the 1/4.....Not one single bottom end failure on our site in the three years I have been a member...So I would argue that I am the norm...not the exception.....

OK, now I am leaving the pulpit........

Cheers....

vanillagorilla

iTrader: (1)

No worries, I'm just trying to play the devil's advocate here, especially with all the broken stock engines around here lately.

What are your IAT's on a 100* day that allow 25* of timing at WOT with 13psi? What octane gas do you run? Not only is 25* of timing without meth on pump gas at 13psi not conservative, but it's almost impossible unless you have a crazy efficient intercooler. I don't know much about vortech blowers, but no compressor is that efficent. I'm not calling you out I'm just trying to figure out how. Are the cc's coated with some sort of ceramic coating to prevent detonation?