Michael Accardi 
If you’ve been paying attention you’ll know the folks over at Lingenfelter Performance Engineering aren’t afraid of big HP. The company has just begun working on a new project featuring the new Magnuson Magnum PI supercharger kit for General Motors 7.0L LS7 engines.
When bolted to an LS7 the kit’s performance straight out of the box is impressive. Lingenfelter’s dyno runs show – get this – 1,078 hp at 7,000 rpm and 920 ft-lbs of torque at 4,500 rpm. More than even the 10.4L ZZ632 Big Block V8 crate engine Chevy Performance revealed at SEMA. However, do keep in mind the LS7 used for the runs isn’t totally stock.
Lingenfelter lists a short stack of modifications that help crank up the performance: an upgraded 8-inch crank damper, a 120mm Nick Williams throttle body, and some timing adjustments. The blower has a 70mm pulley installed, which spins the 2.65L TVS2650 rotor set at approximately 20,000 rpm.
The LS7 compatible Magnum PI blower uses unrestricted discharge port openings to feed a large plenum which allows for max flow across the intercooler, the compressed charge air is less useful if it’s coming in super hot from compression. The inlet ports use Magnuson’s patented dynamic flow technology (DFT). All ports have been CNC-machined in order to achieve the best consistency.
Additionally, the kit features a vacuum bypass system with instantaneous boost response designed to unload the supercharger at engine idle and part-throttle for improved fuel economy. It also uses a clever trick to use recirculate the intercooled bypass air through the supercharger to facilitate rapid cooldown.
Magnuson first announced the Magnum PI blower family during SEMA 360 back in 2020, the virtual edition of the annual trade show that was necessitated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the blower kits didn’t hit the market until mid-2021. At the time, Magnuson only announced blowers compatible with GM’s supercharged 6.2L LSA V8, the naturally aspirated 6.2L LS3 V8, and the supercharged 6.2L LS9 V8. All of these engines have since been discontinued by Chevrolet Performance.
The LS7 kit shown here would also be compatible with the two race engines derived from its design: the LS7.R and the LSX. With its cast-iron block, the LSX has shown capable of supporting 2,000 hp in big turbo applications. If you can get your hands on an aluminum block LS7.R then let’s be friends, because those were never really sold to the public. The other option is the C5.R block available through the Chevrolet Performance catalog, which can be outfitted with LS7 heads.
