Not so long ago, supercharging was pure exotica, despite having existed for many decades. Factory applications prior to the ’90s were few, and hadn’t really been seen since the early 1960s. Aftermarket setups were generally expensive, and usually only seen either on serious drag machines or at indoor car shows; rarely would this technology have been seen on the street.
But as the ’80s were drawing to a close, supercharging was starting to make a comeback, and it paired well with then-new electronic fuel injection and engine management systems. Long-time Detroit supplier Eaton developed a new generation of Roots-type superchargers that were compact and efficient, and which were also designed with an internal bypass to allow inlet air to go around the supercharger’s rotors during un-boosted operation. This was key to OE compliance, and soon these units were in use on Ford and GM V-6 applications.
The aftermarket took notice of the Eaton design and began creating new units to retrofit to performance applications. One of the latest companies to make good use of the Eaton design is Edelbrock, which has developed a line of complete supercharger systems under the E-Force banner. The systems use an Eaton Twin Vortices Series (TVS) Gen VI rotor assembly, the same arrangement GM uses in the ZR1 Corvette, along with an air-to-water twin intercooler and a dual-core heat exchanger. The housing/manifold uses 12-inch-long runners to optimize torque and the internal bypass feature is maintained for part-throttle drivability and economy. Kits include 52lb/hr injectors and a hand-held programmer, and an EO number is pending that would make the kits 50-state legal.
One of the newest applications of the E-Force Supercharger Systems is the C6 Corvette, and one of the touted features of the kit is that it will fit under the stock hood, even clearing the factory hood liner. Edelbrock says the kit, when used with the included high-volume fuel pump, can produce up to 599hp and 547ft/lbs of torque at the flywheel from an otherwise stock LS3 Corvette.
The DeNooyer Performance/Redline Motorsports HTR GS640SC uses an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger on a 2010 Corvette Grand Sport.
We actually had an opportunity to check out one of these kits installed on a new Corvette Grand Sport that had been assembled by Redline Motorsports of Schenectady, New York, in conjunction with the DeNooyer Performance Division of DeNooyer Chevrolet of Albany. As promised, the kit fit neatly under the hood, and with the hood down and the engine running, you’d never know it was there – there isn’t any whine. Get in and start driving with a light foot and you still might not detect the blower, but roll into it even just a little bit and the E-Force makes itself known. Torque is massive, and happens right away, even in the low rpm range, and if you stay in the throttle, the engine will pull with intense, linear force straight up the tach until you slam into the rev limiter – there’s no indication that power is leveling off until the computer steps in and taps you on the shoulder. Redline let us know that this car was running one of their upgraded camshafts, but it was also still using stock exhaust manifolds.
The E-Force System fits neatly under the stock hood, as illustrated by the DeNooyer/Redline Grand Sport.
We’ll be running a piece on the DeNooyer/Redline Grand Sport in an upcoming issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines, so keep an eye out for that.