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Inside The MagnaChargerA creative new approach to supercharging From the February, 2009 issue of Popular Hot Rodding By Scott Parkhurst
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The new MagnaCharger supercharger system being offered by Magnuson Industries is a well-engineered piece. The power figures are solid, and by creating a more efficient blower, Jerry Magnuson is able to find more power with less boost than many others on the market. Naturally, we wanted to take a peek inside this new huffer. While its currently only available for the LS1 and its stablemates in the GM small-block family (like the 4.8, 5.3, and 6.0-liter V-8 engines under the hoods of new trucks), we learned it will soon be offered for a wider range of powerplants. For this reason, we wanted to dig deep into the MagnaCharger and show you the engineering inside of it. We feel if you're familiar with the design and components inside the supercharger, you'll be more prepared to decide if it's the blower for you. With the wide variety of superchargers on the market, you've got plenty of options, and the more you know about each of them the better. Follow along as we research the MagnaCharger, and see how it's designed, engineered, and assembled. We think it's an impressive piece, and we hope you'll agree.  Currently, the MagnaCharger...  Currently, the MagnaCharger is offered only for GM products based on the LS1 design, including all full-size small-block trucks. This is the truck system, and you'll notice some hoses are included since there is an integral intercooler engineered inside. More on that later, but we like the compact size and "intake-up" completeness of the MagnaCharger. The supercharger ships as you see it, with the majority of assembly finished and ready to run.  The Corvette version of the...  The Corvette version of the MagnaCharger is a decidedly different design, and as you can see the orientation of the blower position on the intake is turned 180-degrees. This required a supplemental shaft (seen alongside the supercharger housing) to transmit the belt drive from the front of the huffer to the rear.  Compare this to the more traditional...  Compare this to the more traditional "snout" on the truck piece and you'll see the difference.  The Corvette version requires...  The Corvette version requires a second belt to drive the blower from the supplemental shaft to the supercharger. It won't fit under a factory hood, so an aftermarket hood is required. MagnaCharger can recommend aftermarket Corvette C5 hood manufacturers whose parts are compatible.  Let's dig into this blower...  Let's dig into this blower system! We'll work from the intake up. The intake is a nicely-designed part with long, tapered runners directing boost to the ports.  No mods are required to bolt...  No mods are required to bolt it on.  The upper half of the plenum...  The upper half of the plenum for the truck systems includes the integral intercooler mentioned earlier. The air-to-water cooler is engineered directly into the upper half of the plenum, and is an independent system. The kit comes with the necessary cooler (to be mounted ahead of the radiator) and its own pump. With the intercooled intake design, the MagnaCharger can pump 7-8 psi of boost into truck engines without fear of detonation.  Warranties are offered on...  Warranties are offered on both the supercharger system and your complete drivetrain from MagnaCharger to alleviate any fears owners may have about the vehicle's ability to handle the newfound power. The Corvette part is identical, minus the intercooler and plumbing, and is limited to 4.5-5 lbs. of instant, off-throttle boost. Trust us--it's plenty!  With such tight clearances...  With such tight clearances between the rotors, blower rotor timing is absolutely critical. The MagnaCharger design relies on carefully-engineered drive gears to maintain perfect lobe synchronicity. The taper on the gear teeth is designed in such a way so as the blower heats up during use and the parts begin to swell, the perfect gear clearances are maintained and rotor timing does not fluctuate. The gears have sufficient room to grow side-to-side, and the interlocking gear teeth stay true regardless of temperature.  The rotors are a twisted three-lobe...  The rotors are a twisted three-lobe design and are coated. The coating allows for "zero clearance" between the rotors when new, and wears as the blower spins to create optimal fit between them. This is key to the design, as the greater efficiency found by minimizing lobe clearances results in delivering "sealed boost" to the cylinders.  Even with lower boost levels,...  Even with lower boost levels, power comes up quicker and at lower rpm levels, making for instant response and the most linear acceleration we've felt. Boost seems instant from right off-idle, and pulls steadily to redline. These well-sealed rotors are key.  The opening on the bottom...  The opening on the bottom of the supercharger housing is tapered. The boost is built from the rear forward, and air is drawn in through the large opening at the rear, compressed around the outside of the housing, and fed into the intake.  Another design key to the...  Another design key to the MagnaCharger is this pressure equalization valve. This vacuum-activated butterfly valve opens when you let off the throttle, and the boost from under the intake is redirected back into the intake tract ahead of the huffer.  This design makes the blower...  This design makes the blower very civilized on the street, and is unique to the MagnaCharger.  This chart shows the average...  This chart shows the average increase of both horsepower and torque between 2,700 and 5,500 rpm. These averages are calculated only between 2,700 - 5,500 rpm, and represent the rpm ranges most-common in street driving situations. This particular chart is from the intercooled 8 psi (max) truck setup tested on a '01 GMC pickup with the 4.8L powerplant. These are chassis dyno numbers from the rear wheels, not the flywheel.  Our pals at Vette magazine...  Our pals at Vette magazine tested the MagnaCharger setup on a typical LS1-urged Corvette, and here's what they saw. These numbers show the rear wheel power increases form the non-intercooled 5 psi (max) Corvette setup. The relatively low boost pressures added almost 120 peak ponies to the tires! While peak numbers are good, we're all about average power, and look at the torque and horsepower increases all across the rpm range. We can't wait to see the results on the upcoming F-body system.  We mentioned in the intro...  We mentioned in the intro how the MagnaCharger system was being developed for other applications, and here's a peek at some R&D work we saw. The future holds promise for MagnaCharger kits being offered for traditional small-block Chevys in both EFI (shown) and carbureted versions.  You'll also note the intercooler-style...  You'll also note the intercooler-style intake base mounted on the R&D mule on the right, so obviously intercooled options are sure to come. Other applications are also being considered, and the future looks bright on many fronts for this innovative supercharging system.  The MagnaCharger ships complete...  The MagnaCharger ships complete with all of the equipment and hardware necessary to install it. This includes a Superchips computer with the necessary software to reprogram the ECU to deal with boost. Naturally, MagnaCharger ensures the programming is perfectly synchronized with the blower.  Here's a look at a prototype...  Here's a look at a prototype intake design that will soon be tested. We're told F-body applications are soon to be offered. Engineers are experimenting with different intake port styles to further refine the design for use beyond the LS1 family. A broader range could include big-block Chevy stuff further down the road, and many of the other more-popular powerplants are also being considered for kit development. We can only hope to see many more applications, as the design and engineering behind the MagnaCharger deserves to be enjoyed by fans of all makes.
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