KJ Jones
December 29, 2013
Photos By: KJ Jones

Every once in awhile even we are forced to step back and literally catch our collective breath before making moves to learn all the details about the next big thing. The breather usually comes after we’ve walked the aisles of year-ending, performance-industry trade shows.

The opening weeks of 2013 found us right back on the gas, with your author making a run to Lenexa, Kansas, to experience Aeromotive’s new Stealth fuel pump for ’07-’12 Shelby GT500s. Since the specialty ’Stangs’ inception, the stock, non-return-style fuel system for their blown 5.4 engines has been the hindrance to pushing well into the 750 to 1,000-plus range. Our studies on power-adder upgrades confirm that a sure-fire way to unleashing major power with any boosted ’Stang is adding a return-style fuel system and letting it eat!

Tasks like this are not always easy. While adding a sump to the OEM tank is the typical upgrade for converting non-return fuel systems in ’98-’04 Mustangs, it’s a no-can-do situation for S197s. The ’05-present cars feature saddle-bag-style tanks that sit below the rear-seat area of the chassis. The tank position and operation leaves few other options for establishing the feed/return fuel strategy that big steam requires.

You might also think that mounting a fuel cell in the trunk is viable. We don’t consider this a wise choice—especially if your high-powered Pony is used primarily as a street car that needs a trunk. Aeromotive’s drop-in Mustang Stealth A1000 pump setup addresses this conundrum head-on, by allowing use of an unmodified OEM fuel tank to create a full, return-style fuel system that will support big power.

For a firsthand look at the installation and testing of this gear, we joined Aeromotive’s Jared Cox and Jesse Powell at MC Racing in Overland Park, Kansas, to take part in a pump installation, return-style conversion, and dyno tests on Robert Brunkow’s Kenne Bell-supercharged ’12 GT500, which you’ll learn more about by perusing the photos and captions.

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On The Dyno

From the baseline to final numbers, the graph and accompanying chart confirm the marked improvement in both rear-wheel horsepower and torque allowed by installing Aeromotive’s new Mustang Stealth A1000 fuel pump (and converting the fuel system to return-style) made on Robert Brunkow’s ’12 Shelby GT500.

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The pump (PN 18682; $749.95) is designed to support 1,000 crankshaft horsepower in Shelbys that are influenced by aftermarket superchargers and large turbos. However, the pump and conversion components were not available as a complete, soup-to-nuts kit at the time of our experiment. Everything you need to perform the installation in the same manner is available directly through Aeromotive or its authorized dealers.

Simply installing the return-style fuel system and Stealth A1000 fuel pump—with no tuning—netted an impressive gain (note the A1000 columns in the dyno chart) over the stock, twin-pump/returnless fuel system; both were performed using standard 93-octane gasoline. The final test was conducted after swapping the 3-inch blower pulley with a 2⅞-inch wheel, and adding five gallons of VP Racing Fuel's C-16 race gas. With the race gas, Justin Kalwei was able to make aggressive timing increases, which enables the GT500 to now make an easy 750 horsepower at the feet with plenty of room to grow.

Stock Pumps
Stealth A1000
Pulley
Difference
RPM Power Torque Power Torque Power Torque Power Torque
3,500 386.46 579.94 405.79 608.89 433.51 650.51 47.05 70.57
3,600 396.04 577.80 420.53 613.53 449.76 656.11 53.72 78.31
3,700 406.65 577.24 435.84 618.65 471.03 668.61 64.38 91.37
3,800 420.92 581.75 449.19 620.84 485.17 670.56 64.25 88.81
3,900 437.04 588.53 464.52 625.54 497.86 670.48 60.82 81.95
4,000 453.33 595.23 478.11 627.78 507.02 665.74 53.69 70.51
4,100 468.17 599.70 494.23 633.08 525.46 673.07 57.29 73.37
4,200 482.92 603.89 507.63 634.80 541.07 676.62 58.15 72.73
4,300 496.54 606.48 521.39 636.84 557.63 681.08 61.09 74.60
4,400 508.76 607.29 532.95 636.15 571.91 682.68 63.15 75.39
4,500 520.97 608.04 550.35 642.33 584.13 681.76 63.16 73.72
4,600 533.28 608.87 563.39 643.25 598.86 683.75 65.58 74.88
4,700 544.90 608.91 576.22 643.91 609.12 680.69 64.22 71.78
4,800 555.94 608.31 588.50 643.92 621.98 680.54 66.04 72.23
4,900 566.66 607.38 602.13 645.40 638.54 684.43 71.88 77.05
5,000 577.90 607.04 610.75 641.55 648.54 681.24 70.64 74.20
5,100 588.37 605.92 622.72 641.29 663.42 683.20 75.05 77.28
5,200 599.03 605.04 632.66 639.01 673.70 680.46 74.67 75.42
5,300 610.45 604.93 641.14 635.36 685.31 679.12 74.86 74.19
5,400 619.84 602.86 649.49 631.71 695.76 676.72 75.92 73.86
5,500 629.86 601.48 658.27 628.60 707.43 675.54 77.57 74.06
5,600 639.78 600.04 667.05 625.64 720.53 675.78 80.75 75.74
5,700 651.40 600.22 673.46 620.54 725.28 668.30 73.88 68.08
5,800 662.81 600.20 681.05 616.73 733.24 663.99 70.43 63.79
5,900 673.08 599.17 684.25 609.12 734.92 654.23 61.84 55.06
6,000 676.87 592.51 690.71 604.63 743.81 651.10 66.94 58.59
6,100 677.79 583.59 690.68 594.68 744.25 640.82 66.46 57.23
6,200 679.18 575.36 693.38 587.37 745.61 631.63 66.43 56.27
6,300 683.75 570.04 698.81 582.59 747.12 622.87 63.37 52.83
6,400 683.22 560.69 692.80 568.58 750.02 615.50 66.80 54.81
6,500 684.75 553.30 n/a n/a 725.87 586.62 41.12 33.32

Horse Sense: While Aeromotive rates its ’07-’12 Shelby GT500 A1000 fuel pump (PN 18673) as capable of supporting 1,000 crankshaft horsepower, the company offers an Eliminator pump for more-radical 5.4-powered Shelbys (PN 18683); it flows enough fuel to satisfy 1,400hp appetities. The company also offers versions for ’05-’09 and ’10-’13 Mustang GTs.