Unleashing Trinity GT500 Power With A Free-Flowing Inlet

From 2007 through 2012 the Shelby GT500 was already one of the most powerful cars on the road. However, in 2013 Ford’s Special Vehicle Team wanted to take the GT500 to a new level. That level was 200 mph and to get there, they constructed a larger, 5.8-liter engine and topped it with a 2.3-liter TVS supercharger.

“The TVS features twin four-lobe rotors that are twisted 160 degrees, and have a drive ratio that spins 2.64 times faster than the previous model,” Eaton said of the supercharger atop the Trinity 5.8-liter engine.“This is completely different than the previous construction that had three lobes angled at 60 degrees. The fourth lobe and increased angle creates a more efficient flow into the engine when combined with the TVS’ revised inlet air outputs, increasing volume by 33 percent. Boost has been increased to 14 psi from 9 psi.”

Bigger Really Is Better

From the factory, this supercharged engine produced a staggering 662 horsepower. Despite its impressive output in stock form, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. When it comes to positive-displacement superchargers like the Eaton TVS, reducing inlet restrictions is literally the path of least resistance. That’s why Power By The Hour in Boynton Beach, Florida, developed its XBA intake for the Trinity TVS supercharger.

“We had seen the performance gains from other bolt-on throttle bodies and cold air kits on the TVS cars. The results lead to the question, ‘what if?’ What if we put on a larger CAI and throttle body? We added a Super Big Air from JLT Performance and found more power, but it was limited by the size of the throttle-body,” Frank explained. “We had a KB168 here from another project, and we started mocking things up for a test. Once we did, the results were night and day. We found consistent 40- to 60-rear-wheel-horsepower gains over some of the largest bolt-on throttle bodies on the market.”

The PBH team chose this massive throttle-body based on its performance on other projects fitted with that company’s twin-screw superchargers. Apparently, it works quite well on the Trinity TVS when mounted via the XBA inlet.

“We went with the KB168 based on our history with them. Using the Kenne Bell products on multiple builds in the past and having tuning data with Lund Racing on tap made it an easy decision,” Frank explained. “The same quality product from the monster GT500 projects we have put together and the same great tuning from Lund Racing made our testing and end product a lot better going with what we knew would perform.”

That tuning is critical to making the massive 168mm throttle body compatible with the stock GT500 supercharger and electronics.

Tuning Is Everything

“Tuning, well tuning is everything,” Frank added. “Without it, we really are just bolting shiny parts on the car. Our experience is strictly with the Lund Racing team on this, and the results are stellar. I would think that any accomplished tuner should be able to get the tuning figured out; but up till now, we’ve really only received a sampling with Lund Racing. Their tuning has proven itself on the dyno and on the street.”

When PBH tested this setup on a bolt-on 2013 GT500 that was previously equipped with a stock inlet elbow and throttle-body, the car picked up over 50 horsepower, which is pretty impressive for an easy bolt-on and some tuning. If you already happen to have a Kenne Bell 168mm throttle body, you can pick up just the XBA elbow (PN PBH-XBA-ELBOW; $499.99) or the elbow and the throttle body (PN PBH-XBA-ELBOW-TB; $1,399.99).

One of way the XBA unlocks power is by utilizing Kenne Bell’s massive, 168mm monoblade throttle body, which is much larger than the factory twin-blade (right). They found it provided the best performance when paired with the XBA. You will have to swap over your factory throttle-body electronics and flash the PCM with a tune to make the new setup work, but Lund Racing already has this calibration scienced out.