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“The 2018 Mustang proposed multiple packaging problems,” Whipple Superchargers Vice President Dustin Whipple said. “The first issue was the implementation of the direct-injection system. This took critical space in the valley of the block where we made such tremendous gains on the previous year. At the same time, the hood line dropped, posing a potential issue with hood clearance with the supercharger drive pulley.”
“We had a few options to deal with the direct-injection system and packaging around it. We could shrink the intercooler core nearly 60 percent to fit, along with smaller passages, thus creating extra back pressure, increased temps, and overall performance loss, or we could go upside down and retool everything,” Dustin said. “We decided that using a top mount posed no advantage, in fact it was a disadvantage because of the small intercooler, small plenum area (above and below), and restricted packaging.”
That’s right, rather than limiting the system’s performance to conform to traditional packaging constraints, Whipple did a stranger thing. The company took its traditionally top-mounted blower to the upside down. Because the boost definitely likes it cold, Whipple mounted the new 185-cubic-inch, twin-screw blower in the valley underneath a new larger intercooler.
