Don't Spray and Pray
Hitting the nitrous for the first time can be a nerve wracking experience, especially if you take shortcuts. We didn't and thus we went to the dyno in confidence. As we detail in the installation section wiring up the system properly is key. We're using a window switch to ensure the nitrous is only sprayed when the engine rpms are between 3000 and 5600 rpm, a critical factor in preventing fuel puddling inside the mod motor's plastic upper manifold. The tank is filled with 91 octane, the highest available at local pumps. We have a bottle of octane boost on hand in case any detonation is detected. Finally, we're running colder spark plugs and most importantly monitoring air-fuel ratios with every pull. Timing is left at stock, which is fine for the 100 horsepower hit we plan to limit ourselves to.

Dyno Results
We start the dyno session with several baseline pulls without nitrous. It is important to ensure the engine is running properly before throwing the juice at it. In naturally aspirated form the Mustang put down 233

Watch a Video of Project '01 on the Dyno

horsepower and a 264 ft-lbs of torque. The torque numbers are seemingly low compared to other '99-'04 Mustang GT's, however this may be due to differences in dynamometers. This is our first experience with the DynaPak, a rear wheel dyno made in New Zealand, which mounts directly to the vehicles axles. Our suspicion is the way it calculates torque may yield a more conservative number than on a DynoJet. We'll compare dyno differences in a future article.

With all systems given a thumbs up, we flipped the nitrous activation toggle switch and made a couple of pulls with the 50 horsepower jetting. Logging air-fuel ratios revealed the engine was well into the safety zone, running as rich as 10.75:1. Ideally, even with nitrous, we'd like to see around 12:1. Additional fuel beyond that is hurting power output, as evident in the 39 horsepower gain over stock; a significant margin shy of the rated 50 horsepower jets. However, rather then dwell on that we took the fuel ratios as a plus and bumped up to the 75 jets. This time the engine came closer to the mark with 69 horsepower to the wheels above stock.

Dyno Results: 2001 Mustang GT, 4.6L 2V Dyno Type: DynaPak Chassis Dyno (ThePowerBroker Oakland,CA) Pull Horsepower Peak Torque Peak  Stock 233@4900 263@4200  50HP Nitrous  272@4800 330@3800  75HP Nitrous 303@4600 370@3800  100HP Nitrous 326@4600 403@3500

With nothing holding us back we swapped out the 75 jets for 100's. In order to avoid being overly rich we backed off two sizes on the fuel jet than recommended on the NitrousWorks reference chart. This time the air-fuel ratio improved to right at 12.0:1, and power hit 326 HP, seven shy of a true 100 horse over stock, which is nothing to sneeze at for a stockish 2V mod motor. We haven't mentioned torque to this point, and most nitrous companies don't because they, like the car manufacturers, know the mass public is caught up on horsepower. Torque broke the 400 ft-lb mark with the 100 jetting. That is a whopping 140 ft-lbs more than stock, and that is what you're gonna feel on the street.

Satisfied with the results of our nitrous installation we called it quits with the 100 horsepower hit. Any more than that on a modular Mustang and you should have an upgraded fuel pump and the ability to retard timing. We had neither and did not want to risk a melted piston. We're all set to debut the Project '01 at the track. Look for an upcoming article with ET's with and without the chemical enhancement.