Mustang Week Staff Member Mike Clay's 2011 GT Magnuson SC Install

Mike Clay's 2011 Mustang GT - Magnuson SC Install & Pro Dyno Review



Mustang enthusiasts everywhere are always striving for more power out of there 'stangs. It turns into friendly competition between us over who has more horsepower and torque. It usually starts out with some simple bolt on's like headers, exhaust, and a cold air intake. But after that where do you go? Some guys go the nitrous route for that instant power boost for the track, while other's go the supercharger route for that broad range of power and huge torque gains.

Magnuson & 2011+ Mustang GT's

If you have a 2011+ Mustang GT you can add another option for superchargers to your list. Magnuson Superchargers offers the Magnacharger, a TVS style supercharger for current Mustang GT's. This simple supercharger kit retains that factory look under the hood, and requires no cutting or drilling, making it a powerful alternative to other superchargers out there and is priced just right.



The Magnuson kit comes with the supercharger, intercooler, intercooler pump, intercooler reservoir, and all the lines you will need for the install.

Installation of the Magnuson SC

Our test car for the Magnuston SC install was Mustang Week staff member Mike Clay's 2011 Mustang GT. If you've ever been to Mustang Week or know Mike, I'm sure you are familiar with his car. Mike's GT is no stranger to Pro Dyno, having been in our shop not too long ago to have Kooks Custom Headers installed and a Pro Dyno tune.

Follow along as we go step by step for the install of Mike's new supercharger!



Pulling Mike's car onto the lift to start some surgery.



Making sure to keep Mike's paint in pristine condition, we threw on a set of our fender covers.



The initial tare down involves removing the manifold cover, and the air intake.



After the small things are out of the way, the intake itself is unbolted and removed.



The bumper cover may seem a little tricky to get off because you have to actually pull with some force after you unbolt it. But we were careful and got it off to make room for the intercooler install.



The intercooler that Magnuson provided with the kit.



With 4 bolts and brackets in place and tightened, the intercooler is hung in place and ready for the bumper cover to be put back on.



The intercooler pump is installed just behind the radiator fan, and is hardly noticeable.



The intercooler reservoir utilizes the stud and bolts from the strut mount, making a very clean install. We were able to reuse Mike's strut mount bolts to make for a cleaner appearance.



At this point it is time to test fit the supercharger into place, making sure there is nothing in the way.



After test fitment, the Magnuson was bolted into place. What a great looking supercharger!



After being bolted in, it was time to run the provided belt.

Pro Dyno Custom Airade CAI

This next step was a custom setup done by our Pro Dyno technicians that turned out to be awesome and utilizes that aftermarket cold air intake look and setup, with gained performance. The Magnuson SC uses the stock airbox, but for Mike's car, we wanted to use the Airade CAI that he already had on the car. Putting our heads together, we came up with a great solution in order to make this happen. After some cutting and test fitment, and filters, we came up with a great looking, custom Airade CAI to be used with the Magnuson Supercharger!








The supercharger is installed and complete, what an amazing looking set-up!

Roush Gauge Pod Install

To be able to monitor boost levels, Mike opted for a Roush A/C vent gauge pod and a Cobalt Series Autometer gauge.





The dash is simply removed by pulling on it, popping it out of place.



After removing the factory vent, the Roush pod just snaps into place. The new boost gauge slides right into place and the lines are run down through the dash.

Pro Dyno Custom Tune

With the supercharger install completely done, it was time to move Mike's car over to the dyno room and get her strapped down for Dan to work his magic.



Strapped down and ready for a custom tune! Love the sight of the intercooler through the Saleen grille!



The first few pulls were done with the 3.9 pulley that was on the supercharger from Magnuson. After our numbers with that pulley were set, we opted to switch it out for the 3.4 pulley.



Both setups performed beautifully, with the 3.4 pulley showing a little belt slip from 5500RPM up. As you can see from the graph with the 3.9 pulley the car put out 574HP 489TQ. When we switched to the 3.4 pulley we saw power jump to 622HP and 543TQ.

Magnuson SC Verdict

While this was Pro Dyno's first Magnuson SC, the install went beautifully and we would definitely recommend it to any of our customers. If you are looking for a clean stock look under the hood, a simple install, and some great performance gains, then the Magnuson Magnacharger is definitely worth looking into.

Thanks again to Mike Clay from Mustang Week for trusting Pro Dyno to complete this supercharger install! Also thanks to Magnuson Superchargers for making a great supercharger setup!

Be sure to check out Mike's car in Myrtle Beach at Mustang Week 2012!