Horse Power Isn't Cheap
11-25-2006, 05:38 AM
#1
5th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: California
Posts: 4,132
Horse Power Isn't Cheap
I pulled this from another forum... it's a decent write up... enjoy-
No,Im not the technical wizard and this post is NOT the bible ,but I feel like I have some good info to share for guys who are where many of us were at one point and were'nt really sure where to begin .
I have seen a lot of guys who are new to the performance game ask many of the same questions over and over again. Nothing wrong with that, we have all been there trust me.
You work hard like many of us,and you want your cash to pay off in HP upgrades. And you certainly dont want to waste that cash on mod's that look pretty and gain ****ty (nice huh). So here are some important pointers when you are considering what to spend that hard earned cash on. This post describes a scenario in a modern modular motor (and pushrod in most cases)....
Debunking the CAI (cold air intake) hype....
First off,what is the purpose of a CAI ? A CAI is supposed to cool the inlet charge or allow cooler/more air into the combustion chamber. The cooler the air,the denser the oxygen, therefore you theoretically have more oxygen in the same amount of space compared to warmer air in the same space. Its simple,more air/fuel mixture equals more power right ? Cooler air makes more power right ? Yes and no..Says the manufactuers .
When they claim 10-15 hp gains with their CAI,where do you think they do the tests ? In the desert where cold air would really be a benefit to your motor? Nope. In a controlled enviroment with the right enviromental conditions so they can give you big numbers under the absolute best conditions. Guys when your car is sucking in 95 degree heat,its not gonna create 60 degree air. Its like the small print you read at the bottom of a weight loss commercial. When they say "you can lose 20 pounds in 4 weeks" , dont you notice the small print at the bottom of the screen ? It says,results may vary blah blah. You get the point.
Is a CAI useless ? Nope. But is it the RIGHT investment for your first mod ? Not in my opinion,and the opinions of people who have been chasing big HP numbers for years. Read on.
1) A nice cold air intake system certainly looks better that the factory intake,but are a waste of money as a FIRST or second mod. Its like a hot chick that wont give up that ***, SHE LOOKS GOOD BUT WHATS THE POINT ?. The factory air intake is actually capable of handling significant air flow . A K&N filter is a good choice because is will flow better than the factory paper cone. Thats its only purpose.
2) For an average name brand CAI you may spend around $150 new. Now ask yourself, how much air are you moving ? You have factory cams and heads (PI in a best case scenario ) and a restrictive factory exhaust. Are you making so much airflow that the factory engineered intake just cannot handle your massive HP ? No.
3)So you may be asking " Well if a CAI is better at creating cooler/denser air as said earlier,then how come its not a good investment ?" Its not a bad investment. Its just not a good FIRST investment .You need a plan of attack when looking for sizeable HP gains. And you cant build big HP from the Autozone shelves. Unfortunately,HP costs money.
"Ok OK I get it." Im not moving tons of air,therefore I dont really need to cool what air Im moving now. So whats the plan of attack ?
OK,it breaks down like this among guys in the know ..
GEARS -- The biggest vote getter in terms of first mod's is usually gears. A gear change is possibly the most difficult thing you can do on your car. Not because its so mind boggling confusing,but because the room for error is extremely minimal. Pay a pro if you cant find someone experienced to walk you through it. You can generally get a set of Ford Racing gears installed along with Royal Purple differential fluid for around $400 . Anything higher than that is maybe to high. $450 tops .
Your Stang probably came with 3.27 gear ratio in late model modular Stangs. Thats fine for factory performance and fuel economy and your factory tire size.. But they do not optimize the potential of the factory power. Picking the right gears for your car can result in a very nice gain in performance. Not more HP,but better utilization of the factory power.
What gears should you get ? First off lets explain what a gear ratio is . A gear ratio is the number of teeth on the ring divided by the number of teeth on the pinion. Its like this.... if there are 41 teeth on the ring and 11 on the piston the gear ratio is 3.73 (technically its 3.7272727272 repeatedly but its rounded up to 3.73). Just divide 41 by 11 on a calculator on you will see.Things like a larger tire size or automatic tranny dictate what gear ratio works best for your car....
Example ;If you upgrade your tire size,you need a higher gear ratio. Why ? Because the larger tire takes longer to rotate .So basically the more teeth you have,the faster you tranny will rotate the rear tires,resulting in faster speeds. On the other side of that ,if you keep the factory tires and upgrade your gears,you will see a big jump in performance as far a getty-up movement. Now you might say that "in that case Ill go with a real high ratio" . Logical thinking ,but incorrect in most cases .The higher the gear ratio,the more heat you create in the differential, which COUlD cause fluid breakdown. So there is a fine balance of what you desire and what you really need. Bigger isnt always better .
Same logic applies to a automatic tranny versus a manual. So to save you time, Ill just give away the answer to your question . Whats the best gears for an automatic ? MOST guys who know their stuff will say something like 4:10 gears because of the fact that you lose HP from the time its made in the motor to the time it actually reaches the rear tires a.k.a parasitic loss .Thats in a automatic. So its beneficial to have more teeth for a auto . .A manual ? 3:73 . You dont need as many teeth because a manual doesnt lose as much power along the drivetrain as a automatic does.You will really feel a big difference with gears.
OK, lets jump to what you really wanna know- Horsepower and the best way to get it ! This topic could be typed for days and still could not be explained in its entirety ,so lets go over the short version.
First of all, I dont care if you have a supercharged 460 big block making 600 HP under your hood. If you cant get that air out the back of tha car,your killing your performance,which brings us to ......
EXHAUST -- Now which exhaust is a LONG and opionated debate . Some x-pipes sound great while others sound like hell with certain mufflers blah blah blah . Thats just really a matter of taste. But what I can tell you is that when your ride left the factory ,it left with multiple cats (up to 6) fuggin up your flow. So yes,you should definately upgrade your exhaust . Headers are a big job,so you may wanna start with the mufflers and mid-pipe and go from there like most people do. If you choose a O/R-pipe ,your car will be louder and illegal in most states.But hey, the odds are slim that you will get caught by the fuzz anyways .So thats on you . You can also choose high flow cats which may or may not pass emissions tests . So basically ,a nice 2.5 system is the typical way to go,and you have to experiment with what set-up you want.
Now we get to the good stuff. Making real power....
You can buy a CAI, a 70mm TB ,plenum and every other bolt-on you can think of for under your hood,and you still are not gonna get the gains you could if you save that money for something like a more agressive cam profile and tune or a good port job.. Why ? Because those parts dont "make" HP . Not in the conventional sense .They are good investments eventually .They are mainly a support system for the more expensive parts to put it bluntly. As said before,HP aint cheap.
CAMS -- What does a cam do ? When the cam spins ,its lobes (egg shaped grooves on
No,Im not the technical wizard and this post is NOT the bible ,but I feel like I have some good info to share for guys who are where many of us were at one point and were'nt really sure where to begin .
I have seen a lot of guys who are new to the performance game ask many of the same questions over and over again. Nothing wrong with that, we have all been there trust me.
You work hard like many of us,and you want your cash to pay off in HP upgrades. And you certainly dont want to waste that cash on mod's that look pretty and gain ****ty (nice huh). So here are some important pointers when you are considering what to spend that hard earned cash on. This post describes a scenario in a modern modular motor (and pushrod in most cases)....
Debunking the CAI (cold air intake) hype....
First off,what is the purpose of a CAI ? A CAI is supposed to cool the inlet charge or allow cooler/more air into the combustion chamber. The cooler the air,the denser the oxygen, therefore you theoretically have more oxygen in the same amount of space compared to warmer air in the same space. Its simple,more air/fuel mixture equals more power right ? Cooler air makes more power right ? Yes and no..Says the manufactuers .
When they claim 10-15 hp gains with their CAI,where do you think they do the tests ? In the desert where cold air would really be a benefit to your motor? Nope. In a controlled enviroment with the right enviromental conditions so they can give you big numbers under the absolute best conditions. Guys when your car is sucking in 95 degree heat,its not gonna create 60 degree air. Its like the small print you read at the bottom of a weight loss commercial. When they say "you can lose 20 pounds in 4 weeks" , dont you notice the small print at the bottom of the screen ? It says,results may vary blah blah. You get the point.
Is a CAI useless ? Nope. But is it the RIGHT investment for your first mod ? Not in my opinion,and the opinions of people who have been chasing big HP numbers for years. Read on.
1) A nice cold air intake system certainly looks better that the factory intake,but are a waste of money as a FIRST or second mod. Its like a hot chick that wont give up that ***, SHE LOOKS GOOD BUT WHATS THE POINT ?. The factory air intake is actually capable of handling significant air flow . A K&N filter is a good choice because is will flow better than the factory paper cone. Thats its only purpose.
2) For an average name brand CAI you may spend around $150 new. Now ask yourself, how much air are you moving ? You have factory cams and heads (PI in a best case scenario ) and a restrictive factory exhaust. Are you making so much airflow that the factory engineered intake just cannot handle your massive HP ? No.
3)So you may be asking " Well if a CAI is better at creating cooler/denser air as said earlier,then how come its not a good investment ?" Its not a bad investment. Its just not a good FIRST investment .You need a plan of attack when looking for sizeable HP gains. And you cant build big HP from the Autozone shelves. Unfortunately,HP costs money.
"Ok OK I get it." Im not moving tons of air,therefore I dont really need to cool what air Im moving now. So whats the plan of attack ?
OK,it breaks down like this among guys in the know ..
GEARS -- The biggest vote getter in terms of first mod's is usually gears. A gear change is possibly the most difficult thing you can do on your car. Not because its so mind boggling confusing,but because the room for error is extremely minimal. Pay a pro if you cant find someone experienced to walk you through it. You can generally get a set of Ford Racing gears installed along with Royal Purple differential fluid for around $400 . Anything higher than that is maybe to high. $450 tops .
Your Stang probably came with 3.27 gear ratio in late model modular Stangs. Thats fine for factory performance and fuel economy and your factory tire size.. But they do not optimize the potential of the factory power. Picking the right gears for your car can result in a very nice gain in performance. Not more HP,but better utilization of the factory power.
What gears should you get ? First off lets explain what a gear ratio is . A gear ratio is the number of teeth on the ring divided by the number of teeth on the pinion. Its like this.... if there are 41 teeth on the ring and 11 on the piston the gear ratio is 3.73 (technically its 3.7272727272 repeatedly but its rounded up to 3.73). Just divide 41 by 11 on a calculator on you will see.Things like a larger tire size or automatic tranny dictate what gear ratio works best for your car....
Example ;If you upgrade your tire size,you need a higher gear ratio. Why ? Because the larger tire takes longer to rotate .So basically the more teeth you have,the faster you tranny will rotate the rear tires,resulting in faster speeds. On the other side of that ,if you keep the factory tires and upgrade your gears,you will see a big jump in performance as far a getty-up movement. Now you might say that "in that case Ill go with a real high ratio" . Logical thinking ,but incorrect in most cases .The higher the gear ratio,the more heat you create in the differential, which COUlD cause fluid breakdown. So there is a fine balance of what you desire and what you really need. Bigger isnt always better .
Same logic applies to a automatic tranny versus a manual. So to save you time, Ill just give away the answer to your question . Whats the best gears for an automatic ? MOST guys who know their stuff will say something like 4:10 gears because of the fact that you lose HP from the time its made in the motor to the time it actually reaches the rear tires a.k.a parasitic loss .Thats in a automatic. So its beneficial to have more teeth for a auto . .A manual ? 3:73 . You dont need as many teeth because a manual doesnt lose as much power along the drivetrain as a automatic does.You will really feel a big difference with gears.
OK, lets jump to what you really wanna know- Horsepower and the best way to get it ! This topic could be typed for days and still could not be explained in its entirety ,so lets go over the short version.
First of all, I dont care if you have a supercharged 460 big block making 600 HP under your hood. If you cant get that air out the back of tha car,your killing your performance,which brings us to ......
EXHAUST -- Now which exhaust is a LONG and opionated debate . Some x-pipes sound great while others sound like hell with certain mufflers blah blah blah . Thats just really a matter of taste. But what I can tell you is that when your ride left the factory ,it left with multiple cats (up to 6) fuggin up your flow. So yes,you should definately upgrade your exhaust . Headers are a big job,so you may wanna start with the mufflers and mid-pipe and go from there like most people do. If you choose a O/R-pipe ,your car will be louder and illegal in most states.But hey, the odds are slim that you will get caught by the fuzz anyways .So thats on you . You can also choose high flow cats which may or may not pass emissions tests . So basically ,a nice 2.5 system is the typical way to go,and you have to experiment with what set-up you want.
Now we get to the good stuff. Making real power....
You can buy a CAI, a 70mm TB ,plenum and every other bolt-on you can think of for under your hood,and you still are not gonna get the gains you could if you save that money for something like a more agressive cam profile and tune or a good port job.. Why ? Because those parts dont "make" HP . Not in the conventional sense .They are good investments eventually .They are mainly a support system for the more expensive parts to put it bluntly. As said before,HP aint cheap.
CAMS -- What does a cam do ? When the cam spins ,its lobes (egg shaped grooves on
11-25-2006, 03:25 PM
#4
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location:
Posts: 304
RE: Horse Power Isn't Cheap
ORIGINAL: JD1969
This actually a really good write up.
This actually a really good write up.
Anyway, this is just IMO and I really did like the technical explanation in plain english. Just wanted to clear up some stuff and I'm sure folks with a lot more experience than me have a lot to say too.
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