What about this as an alternative to the supercharger.
http://www.ststurbo.com/

 

I DROVE my Ex to 14,199ft (see photo of my GPS below) last summer (2006). Mount Evans in Colorado...highest paved road in North America (I believe). I was only climbing at a well...SLOW ft/min...LOL

I kept telling my girls that it also had the highest toilet (compost) as well...and tthat everyone had to use it...anyone that could do well #2...would get a bonus!

You definitely feel it without O2. The V10 did just fine chugging her empty portly self a bustling 20mph max!

Thankfully I wasn't tugging the TT! YIKES!!!

I had thought about supercharging the V10...but based on my towing experiences the the 4.30's and the fact that I live in INDIANA and only 'visit' high altitude areas occasionally...I just couldn't justify it...the V10 is a very strong pulling motor up to 10K#'s (IMO and expectations) and haven't felt the need for more power with where I play and live...but man I could see how if someone made a more economical version...I'd really look twice!

 

Great pics X-hemi guy, that looks like I drive I would like to take the kids up.

That STS turbo Longbed posted about looks like it may be the ticket for that extra power without the full supercharger route. The site looks impressive, anyone heard of them?

 

There is a local guy to me with a 2500 Chevy 2WD ex-cab long bed. He pulls a 5th wheel camper and his truck was the test bed for the first 6.0L kit STS offers. He has had it for many years and he is very happy with the way his truck performs. He claimed better mileage while towing and regular driving with the added boost in power he needed. He sees regular low 14 sec time slips at the track with severe wheel spin. This I have seen! I'm looking at the universal kit to give my 5.4L SD that stock V-10 power.

 

That's a high altitude there at 15k! Some great pictures, too.

Something to think about: a standard day at seal level is 29.92" Hg pressure. By the time you're at 15,000 ft ASL, you're at roughly half that. So, your engine is going to be losing a lot of power, and your body is going to be losing a lot of oxygen!

Turbo diesels really shiny at altitude. My Cummins turbo diesel I have driven up to about 9,000 ft (also a vertical climb of REALLY SLOW/min). The turbo sure was howling, but the engine still made good power.

Interesting fact: In flying, people want a turbocharged aircraft for getting over the rockies, as you're looking at needing a ceiling of about 20k ft ASL. 12,500 is your maximum allowable altitude, and you really do feel it. But X-Hemi has driven to 15k! Very interesting. Of course, when you drive it vs. fly it it's a lot different, simply because your vertical climb rate is so much faster in a plane.

 

Great pictures, I,m inspired to do more traveling.

 

[QUOTE=Longbed Lightning]What about this as an alternative to the supercharger.
http://www.ststurbo.com/[/QUOTE]

Nice site... but my eyes can not find anything that will fit a Ford V-10.

Am I missing something?

 

Look at their universal kit in the products section.

 

I've been following the STS stuff for a few years now. My biggest question above all: how much lag does it have? Horsepower numbers are one thing, but I've always had a feeling that these systems have tremendous lag for the amount of power they produce. In order to make the turbo spool up, pressure ends up having to build between the exhaust inlet and the exhaust valve. The more volume there, the longer time that takes to build. Then it has to spin up and pressurize the distance between the supercharger outlet and the intake valve. Once again - same thing. This is one of the reasons why your typical supercharger or turbocharger installation tries to keep the amount of piping small. Of coruse, with only 7 psi, the boost level is low and that helps lag, but I would want to drive in one first.

The other problem there is that the air inlets become so low to the ground, as do the turbos, making both of them susceptible to getting water spray. If you drive through too deep of a puddle, you're likely to shock-cool the turbo and, worse, ingest water into the engine. Remember a few years back when those "cold air intakes" were all the rage on ricers? They picked up their air from around the bumper area. A bunch of engines then became toast when they sucked in water when the driver went through a puddle. Then they came out with the engine saver, which was another filter mounted in-line that was supposed to automatically open if you started sucking in water. Geez, go figure.

Anyone ever driven an STS car?