Since we broke the news about Whipple Superchargers next-level offering designed just for the 2018 Mustang, we have anxiously awaited some dyno results. That time has come courtesy of some early test data the company generated using its prototype hardware and in-progress calibration work. These early returns are quite promising.

As you may recall, the Gen 5 Whipple combines numerous upgrades, including its inlet, case, and rotor profile, with an upside-down orientation that allows for a more efficient intercooler. This is no wild experiment at Hawkins Lab, however, the Gen 5 is well along the way to production and the company’s Vice President, Dustin Whipple, is quite confident that the final product is going to impress.

“This new supercharger is far superior to any current setup due to its larger displacement, which outflows other smaller superchargers, lowers temperature due to its internal pressure, and continues efficiency at higher supercharger RPM. The supercharger itself will outflow and outperform the upcoming TVS2650 even before it hits the streets,” he enthused. “The dual-pass intercooler allows for incredible cooling capacity, while the large intercooler fittings don’t cut down flow, again another modification that wouldn’t help as much on the street, but will certainly make a difference at the strip.”

A system that is built to shine on the street and ready to grow at the racetrack is one sure to be an irresistible siren’s song of blower whine for many enthusiasts, That Whipple took an expected path while designing this system specifically for the 2018 Mustang shows how committed the company is to performance. That shows in these early results.

“The new supercharger really starts to shine at higher horsepower, higher airflow demand. The previous generation was very good, unfortunately, we had to do a full redesign as we would’ve had to severely sacrifice on intercooler size. One key component to the package is the intercooler effectiveness. Part of this is the actual size. While size isn’t everything, in this application, it is a huge part of it,” Dustin said “We had the option of lowering the power, as the increased discharge temps would result in much lower power per pound of boost and less tolerance to future builds and low octane such as 91. Or, we could go upside down and cram a massive, efficient intercooler and a new, bigger, and more efficient supercharger.”

There is much more to this story than meets the eye, of course. The efficient hardware is great, but making it a team player with the dual-fuel Gen 3 Coyote 5.0-liter engine is more challenging than it has been in past years. Whipple is working to offer a complete bolt-on package with a companion calibration that will maximize performance without sacrificing durability.

“The 2018 calibration is far more difficult. First, the 10-speed is a huge change, which has over 600 shift patterns, new adaptive logic, and it relies 100-percent on the engine torque being accurate in the engine calibration,” Dustin said. “Without this, the transmission will have many shifting issues. With our supercharger-based model, were able to calibrate in an OEM manner, getting the torque predicted and calculated to be extremely accurate.”

Not only does the transmission calibration offer a substantial obstacle, but the dual-fuel Coyote presents its own challenges. To overcome those, Whipple worked on both hardware and software upgrades to provide ample fueling and better control, which should ensure durability.

“The engine side is its own issue, with the revised fuel pressure and direct-injection/port-injection system, it requires all new injectors. We worked with Magnetti Marelli to design a new, specific injector that fires the fuel at the exact location to help limit detonation while offering incredible cold-start and idle-control characteristics,” Dustin added. “Controlling detonation is something different than before. With the direct-injection system, we’re spending a great deal of time in this area as the engine does not react like the 2015-2017 models. We’ve also added new logic that we will release very soon that has some very cool features.”

The result of this fusion of hardware and software resulted in nearly 700 horsepower at 10 pounds of boost and the potential is there for much more. The trick is balancing that power gain with long-term durability, so the development is still ongoing.

In testing the prototype Whipple Gen 5 has shown some impressive potential. Burning only California 91-octane, the company’s 2018 Mustang GT automatic put down 688 horsepower to the rear wheels, which is 260-horsepower gain over a typical stocker. While tach signal issues prevented a torque readout on this pull, Whipple has consistently seen 550 lb-ft at the wheels with this configuration. All this was through the stock exhaust and revving to only 7,200 RPM. Whipple is still finalizing the system and the high-output version of the kit will be set up for 7,800 RPM and should easily deliver mid-700s at the wheels with 93 octane.

“There is certainly more power to be had. We were only running 10 psi, and we have safely run 12 psi, which gets us in the 740 rear-wheel horsepower range but were doing some durability testing to decide exactly where power will be released at as we try to find a happy medium between power and reliability,” Dustin explained. “Torque is already 550 lb-ft, but 12 psi makes 600 lb-ft at the wheels, which is a huge improvement from before. These tests were also performed with prototype parts. The production parts have many refinements to help lower boost and increase power. The overall look is actually changing in production, as the lid will have a better shape to promote better airflow.”

That certainly sounds promising and we plan to find out just how well the production Whipple Gen 5 performs on the latest Mustang as the crew at Lethal Performance will install and test one of the first production units and we will be there to document the process and the results, so stay tuned. For now you can learn more about the Gen 5 in our first story here and check out the official Whipple site here.