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Something was going on in Detroit a decade ago. GM was slowly strangling the Camaro and Firebird to death as Ford was gearing up to launch a wholly retro Mustang. Meanwhile, Chrysler – recently unleashed by its “no RWD V8 sedans” clause from the Carter-era government loans was cooking up something special.
The Chrysler 300C, Dodge Charger, Magnum and the ubiquitous Challenger rocketed to the forefront of the public view. Controversial, angular and hearkening back to nearly 50 years of Mopar performance history, this quartet of LX platform-based both impressed and intimidated, particularly when they came equipped with a HEMI between the fenders.
More For Your Mopar
Edelbrock's new E-Force supercharger is deceptively brilliant, incorporating a bevy of innovation and intelligent design that helps to drastically improve both the amount of air it can flow and the flow characteristics without increasing the size of the case.
While the 5.7 and 6.1-liter HEMI are certainly impressive in stock trim, the rule of muscle cars remains the same: factory stock is just the beginning. Enter Edelbrock’s E-Force supercharger.
At the core of Edelbrock’s E-Force supercharger system is the Eaton Gen VI 2300 TVS supercharger. This is not a typical Roots blower with massive amounts of heat and friction. What sets this apart from other superchargers are the improvements that Eaton has made to the original Roots supercharger design.
TVS stands for Twin Vorticies Series, which takes the original design of two meshed stretched gears and adds a high helix, or twist, to each lobe; 160-degrees of twist to be exact.
Basically, it looks like a DNA strand, twisting along the longitudinal shaft. What this does for the blower is increase the amount of air it can flow and improves the flow characteristics without increasing the size of the case. You get a very efficient supercharger in a small case.
The TVS rotors have four lobes each that feed high-flow outlet ports. This design yields superior thermal dynamics, which is extremely important in a boosted engine as heat kills power. Couple that with the higher volumetric efficiencies, and you end up with a supercharger that can spin faster, move more air and produce more boost.
The E-Force Supercharger comes in a couple different iterations, most notably the Street Legal versus the Competition grade setup. The former packages comes with everything you'd need to replace your HEMI's intake manifold with a completely street-ready supercharger setup...
...including the injectors, rails, air intake and cooling system, which combined with the E-Forces inverted setup, provides a consistently cool charge for significantly improved performance. Edelbrock, of course, includes a plug-and-play tuner to bring your system to life.
In fact, the TVS design is capable of 76% thermal efficiency, compared to a standard Roots blower with 50-60% efficiency. By the way, this the same design the GM is using to feed the 638hp ZR1.
The TVS series is commonly used by the OEMs for factory supercharged applications, Eaton being the most prevalent of all supercharger manufacturers. The TVS supercharger is also nearly maintenance free.
There's no prettier guinea pig than this red-and-black SRT8 Challenger. Equipped with the 425-horsepower 6.1L HEMI, Edelbrock's E-Force Supercharger woke that elephant up to the tune of over 100 extra ponies.
The blower features a self-contained oiling system that can run 100,000 miles before needing a change. The TVS is built in several sizes, from the 450 up to the 2300. It’s no small wonder why Edelbrock went for the biggest blower they make. The 2300 refers to the air volume that is pumped out per revolution, 2300cc; which is 140 square inches of air per revolution. That is a lot of air.
To get all of that air into the engine you need a manifold, and the E-Force unit is unique in that respect as well.
Eric Blakely, Director of Advertising at Edelbrock explained, “Our superchargers are designed to be installed on a stock engine and deliver great performance throughout the rpm range. Our systems are also designed to work on low boost as to not void the manufactures warranty. We also concentrated on creating the most efficient system on the market when it comes to the way it manages air flow.”
The supercharger is integrated into the manifold itself, eliminating leaks between the two. If you have ever chased down a leak on a blown engine, it can be a nightmare. This integrated manifold also provides the opportunity to add an air to water intercooler.
This style of intercooler provides more consistent performance because the intake air charge temperature is regulated by the radiator system that comes with the kit. Air-to-air intercoolers are subject to changing ambient temperatures, which can cause erratic performance variations.
The Edelbrock supercharger is designed to be installed on a stock HEMI and deliver great performance throughout the rpm range.
Another benefit of the inverted mounting is the location of the intercooler. Having the intercooler above the engine increases its effectiveness because is away from the engine heat. Most other intercooled superchargers place the intercooler under the supercharger, between the engine and the blower. To add to the E-Force’s street manners, a bypass valve bleeds off boost at part-throttle for low RPM driving.
This lowers the engine’s need for fuel, improving the overall fuel economy, in fact, the E-Force supercharger installation typically show little to no decrease in fuel economy over the original naturally aspirated performance. Adding even more performance is the short run air intake, which is less restrictive than other systems, yielding more flow and more power to the wheels.
Besides being a handsome package (what else would you expect from Edelbrock, right?), the E-Force system fits flawlessly beneath ALL LX platform-based late-model Mopars equipped with a 5.7L or 6.1L HEMI plant.
Sticking a blower on your engine means that you need a special hood or you need to chop a big hole in the factory hood right? Nope. The E-Force series is designed to fit under the stock hood. The installation is quite simple, no cutting, grinding or welding. The factory intake is replaced by the new integrated supercharged intake, some plumbing is run for the intercooler, along with the coolant tank and the heat exchanger, and that is about it.
The Whole Enchilada
The system comes with an ECM programmer and a tune specific for your application, and it is all 50 state street-legal. In the box you get all the goodies you need and a few things you might not expect, like a new BHJ SFI-certified crank damper, aluminum alternator/idler bracket, new belt tensioner, 7.5” crank pulley, aluminum fuel rails with -6 an fittings, 52 lb/hr fuel injectors, and all the wiring.
Most other supercharger kits require that you cut and modify the existing harness, but the E-Force kit comes with a replacement harness, so it is literally just plug and play. As if the performance were not enough, the HEMI E-Force kits come with Edelbrock aluminum engine covers, which really add a nice touch under the hood.
Performance is the main goal of the E-Force kit. When we spoke with Eric about the development of the E-Force systems, he told us, “The goal was to deliver a package for late-model applications that will increase performance without effecting drivability. In the past, we have developed cylinder heads and camshafts for some late-model applications that produce great performance, but are not street legal or cause check engine situations.”
For those that want even more performance, the E-Force supercharger is available in two forms: Street Legal and Competition. The Competition kit is a stripped-down version of the Street Legal kit, meaning you get the same supercharger, wiring and basic installation components, but the drive belts, injectors and tuner are not included.
This allows the custom builder to modify the system to their needs using different injectors, tuning and increase boost with pulleys from 2.75” up to 3.875”. In the hands of an experienced tuner, the E-Force competition kit has miles of potential.
Using this red ’08 SRT8 Challenger as a tuning guinea pig, Edelbrock’s new E-Force Street Legal-grade supercharger pushed the factory 6.1L HEMI way up from the factory 425-horsepower to an impressive 556 horsepower and 501 ft. lbs. of tire-shredding torque at low boost levels.
The Chrysler 6.1 HEMI E-Force kit starts at $6995.87, which is certainly a competitive price in the world of aftermarket superchargers.
Oh, and one last thing…it’s made in America.
