magnuson "eaton" supercharger

joeman2199 · August 1, 2003

Hey, i just stumbled across this website, which was linked from eaton's website, and it appears they have a fairly new model the radix for the gm/ vortec engine. i was wondering if anyone has installed one on their truck yet, and if so, how did it compare to other superchargers....

heres the site. http://www.magnusonproducts.com/

dcairns · August 1, 2003

The Radix has been around for 6-8 months. I got one, and I love it. Brought my 1/4 mile time from 15.3 to 13.92 seconds. Gives you lots of low end power, just like a truck needs. It is a real tidy setup, and a complete kit. I had mine installed and got the optional drive-train warranty.

The only faults that I have experienced are:

Sensitive throttle - This could be me, not the supercharger, but it is hard to make a moderate acceleration from a stop. Seems like it is easy to manage either hit a real slow or a snap your head back acceleration. I have been practicing and getting it right once and a while.

Annoying whistling sound the bypass valve makes as it closes. You learn to not spend much time in the 0-2 lbs boost area.

Could use a larger heat exchanger for the intercooler. Depending on your driving habits, you may discover that in hot weather, repeated stop-light to stop-light throttle mashings will result in a heat build up in the intercooler system, and as a result, a reduction in power. I am adding a larger heat exchanger to fix this.

Tucson_02Silverado · August 1, 2003

dcairns,

Last year Magnuson was saying that the new SC was going to be designed with an 87 octane version. Is that what you have? or Know anything about the 87 version?

How much was the kit/install?

dcairns · August 4, 2003

My Silverado SS needs 91 octane in stock form. Adding the supercharger on top of that means it REALLY needs 91 octane. They had to do a lot of messing around with the timing to get it to work.

I have not seen any supercharger marketed as a 87 octane supercharger, but then, I wasn't looking for one either. Every supercharger I can remember looking at took an 87 octane engine up to 91 octane requirement. You may be able to "get by" with 87 octane, in a pinch, but I wouldn't want to get it under boost with that gas. Buying 91 octane gas is just part of the price you pay for all that fun. Besides, I figured it only costs me about $20 a month more to be running premium.

I paid $6,000 for the Radix, installed and with the optional drive-train warranty. I could have found it cheaper, but since this was for my brand new SS, I went with a reputable and experienced installer recommended by Magnuson. In some ways I wish I had done the install my self, but in other ways I am glad I had it done for me. It does not seem to be all that difficult to install. Just need to have some attention to detail and spare time.