mild turbo to overcome altitude

here is my situation: I bought the Mustang GT V8 because I wanted a V8 power and sound. Fun times. I did a ton of research, and the Mustang GT is the car for me. I bought it, then took it up to my local track and pulled a 14.8. That is because my local track is at 5800ft. I did not know the altitude would have such a huge effect. It is bothering me. I have this great car with a great engine, but really, if I am honest, I am probably pulling something like 250hp at the flywheel way up here in Denver. We just bought my wife a beater 01 volvo with a 5 cylinder turbo, and I swear, that thing is nearly as fast as my GT. I was at a local road course getting whooped up on by a BMW 1-series. The 1-series has a turbo, so its actually getting much closer to factory power numbers even up high. So, my questions, is there a good, mild turbo I can bolt on that will get me into the 320hp range? I am not looking to push the limits of the engine, just want something that will get me into the performance most people get with a NA 4.6L at sea level. I know there is a procharger mild supercharger, but I am concerned about the loss of low end torque on those.

thanks for the info everyone. I figured this would be an interesting topic to put out to the group. I have not been able to find much info on the subject of power and altitude. Here are the things I know:

Stock Mustang GTs pull 15s flat at the local track (Bandimere). That is compared to 13.8 at sea level. I think that is a pretty significant difference. If you run those times in a standard HP calculator for a 3500lb car, your looking at 240hp.

I was talking to a pilot friend of mine, and he told me you NEED a turbo prop plane to fly over the Rocky Mountains. A naturally aspirated engine will not make it over the mountains, so turbos do preform better at high altitude.

Ford just ran a publicity thing for the ecoboost V6 in a lincoln, that match the performance of some german NA V8s up here on Loveland pass. Now, the ecoboost is a turbo, rated at 350hp, the V8s are NA, rated at 420hp, but... up in high altitude, the turbo won out. So its clear that a NA engine will be more negatively effected by altitude.

You know those beasties they run up pikes peak? They have upwards of 1000hp. That is, they are rated at 1000hp at sea level. By the time the car makes it to the peak, they are looking at only 3-400 hp because there is no air. (Those are definitely turbos), but the point remains that altitude kills power. And, you never see a NA engine posting great times climbing the peak.

@walter - I have not had a custom tune from a local shop (dont know of any), but I do have a C&L Racer intake and tune. The tuner allows me to fiddle with the fuel mixture, and I have, but not seen any significant changes.

forensicsteve said:

Research nitrous some. You don't need a huge amount...just a small shot may suffice. You'll deliver more oxygen to the engine. With forced induction, you will still be working off the available oxygen which is diminished at high altitude.

In the deep south with oppressive humidity, we don't race during the summer months for the same reason...two many H2O molecules and not enough O2...all the forced induction cars at the track suffer.

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Interesting idea, thanks for the input. I guess I had not considered nitrous, because I saw it as a quick way to blow-up your engine. If its safe though, yeah, makes a lot of sense. I'll look into it...