Supercharger Performance and Engine Performance Parts

There’s an abundance of bolt on and custom application engine performance parts available for any vehicle, and the internet is full of advice, trials, and feedback from enthusiasts, brand promoters, magazine editors, and even racers about which performance parts are best for your car. This is the triple distilled guide on engine performance parts to help you make the most power with the least effort…..

Engine performance hinges on one of THREE general factors:

1-      raw power factors

2-      Efficiency factors

3-      Power boosters

2-      Efficiency factors:

Most of the bolt on performance parts available in the market are actually geared towards efficiency, to name a few : intakes, headers, exhausts, cams, cam gears, ignition systems, spacer plates and phenolic resin gaskets, PCV systems, catch cans, lightweight flywheels, clutches and pressure plates …etc

The focus of these parts is never really to INCREASE the performance of the engine above it’s possible potential. Rather, the focus of these parts is to be able to optimize the existing engine’s performance so that no power is wasted and every possible ounce of horsepower that can be made, is in fact made. Furthermore, we want every possible ounce of horsepower that is made, to reach the wheels rather than being ‘lost’ in friction, mistimed combustion or other problem areas.

My point is that although a lot of money is typically spent on this part of engine modifications because these parts are accessible and easy to install, it is usually the least effective modification for the money because as stated earlier the maximum potential gain of these systems is whatever efficiency the manufacturer decided to overlook when packaging the car. This typically leaves a good range of 10-20% to work with on older cars, but increasingly, and with better designed newer cars we find that an efficiency gap of 5-10% at most is not uncommon.

The reason for this trend of rising motor efficiency is that efficiency brings with it advantages of better mileage and lower displacement requirements to produce the same acceleration and user experience.

There are only 2 exceptions to what I’ve stated above in which it is worthwhile to invest money in improving the efficiency of your motor:

1-      If you have a vehicle where the car produces peak power at 5000 RPMs but the actual engine redline is at 7500 for example then the addition of 3 modifications: 

a.       A new intake manifold with the correct runner design

b.      A new camshaft with the correct duration

c.       A new exhaust manifold with the correct runner design

These three modifications can shift peak power from 5000 rpm’s to 75000 RPMs and this as we stated in Part 1 ( Raw Power) of this article can potentially boost power figures by the ratio of those two RPMs or 50% to be exact!

We have to be clear about what we are trying to achieve from our bolt on power parts. Are we trying to increase the efficiency of the motor using a more efficient intake and exhaust (and other parts) to gain a 5-10% power boost… or are we actually trying to shift our peak power rpm upwards to gain a significant increase in RAW POWER production… Most people don’t think about this and end up buying a mish mash of low rpm and high rpm optimized parts ending up with something that doesn’t perform to its best potential and becoming a big waste of money.

2-      Sometimes people spend a lot of money on bolt on parts but still end up with a poorly performing car, in this case it usually best to invest in the following:

a.       An air fuel ratio tuner

b.      An ignition timing controller

c.       A set of adjustable cam gears

When the car has been extensively modified but is still poorly performing it either has:

1-      A mix of parts that aren’t working together (ie are designed for different flow capacities and different rpm ranges… such as installing a stump pulling designed header that’s optimized for peak torque at the lowest possible rpm and a short straight runner intake manifold that’s designed for the highest rpm horsepower peak… in using those together we find that the when the engine is able to exhaust air efficiently it is unable to breathe air in efficiently to create exhaust gasses… so that exhaust manifold’s potential is wasted, at the same time, when we get up higher in the rpm ranges and the engine can breathe air in efficiently, that air is trapped from exiting through a poorly or miss-designed exhaust manifold which chokes the engine negating any effects the intake manifold could have created)….

2-      A bad tune that is incompatible with the car’s fuel, ignition, and cam timing requirements. Getting a performance tune can unlock the hidden potential of the performance parts already installed, and this tune becomes more and more important the more power you are trying to make …. It’s not uncommon for a turbocharged import to go into the dyno room with a 300 hp engine and come out making an extra 200 hp at the hands of a capable tuner.

So if I had to summarize part 2: efficiency factors:

                Before purchasing any efficiency modifications for your vehicle look and see if there is a big disparity between your current peak power RPM and your Redline, If so then know that you have the potential to gain a significant amount of power, if not, the know that no matter how much money you invest on bolt on engine auxiliary parts then the most you’re typically looking at is a gain of some 10-15%, which is fine, however people expect that every part they install is worth 3-7hp and that by installing 10 bolt ons they will have 30 to 70 more hp when in fact all they are doing is going from 85 to 90 to 99 to 99.99% efficiency of power potential limited by their displacement , RPM, stroke and last but not least forced induction which I will explain in part 3… stay tuned !

Technorati Tags: engine efficiency, header, RPM, Stroke, Tuners

Related posts:

1. Engine Performance Parts for supercharged performance
2. Engine perfrmance parts simplified – Part 1 – Raw Power
3. Engine Performance Parts for your Cayman S
4. Supercharger engine performance parts for your Dodge challenger
5. Engine Performance Parts Simplified Part 3 Boost