srs5150
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2016
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Here's my first attempt at an article for TYF....
In a very general sense, our engines are nothing more than large air pumps. They suck in air (intake), mix it with fuel and spark to generate power in the combustion chamber, burn it, and spit the bad stuff out the (exhaust) tailpipe.
The better our engines breathe (the more air they can suck in) and the more air they can efficiently push out, the more power our engines will make.
Cars (including our trucks) – I use “cars” for short - are mass produced to be nice and efficient. Many government agencies see to it that our cars are produced to be quiet, fuel efficient, and good for the environment. All good stuff for the masses, I would agree.
The stock air box (intake) on mass produced cars is not made for horsepower, it is made with restrictive airways and a basic filter to keep it efficient and quiet. This chokes your engine from a lot of that good horsepower producing air that it needs to roar. Most engines off the assembly line aren’t allowed to roar, that would be un PC, and we can’t have that!
On the opposite end, the exhaust is the same way. Mass produced exhaust manifolds are used because they can be made cheaply, and easy to install (relatively speaking compared to headers). Next, your exhaust needs to push that air through at least one catalytic converter, mufflers and restrictive piping. The “cats” purpose is to get rid of most of the noxious fumes that your exhaust would normally spew into the air. Mufflers quiet the exhaust down and every angle or “turn” in the piping represents a point at which your exhaust is not breathing as well as it could.
Enough talk, let’s build some horsepower!
#1. Intake: So, when building horsepower, I think it is safe to say that most people start with the Intake (tube, not intake manifold). It’s a bolt on that can be done in under an hour and has noticeable results right away. It might not throw you back into your seat any more than it did before, but it will add a noticeable growl when you hit the GO pedal. And we all know from our Honda Civic friends that louder means faster. Oh, no, he did *NOT* just go there, did he? I’m allowed to, I had a hot-rodded Civic in a past life (without the fart tube, mind you). I also have ADD, back to the topic….
Cold Air Intakes (CAI) and ram air intakes simplify the stock air box by replacing it with a simple large diameter tube with a high flow filter on the end of it. Something to keep in mind is that (in addition to just “air”), your engine loves cold, dense air - so be careful which aftermarket intake you select for best results.
#2. Muffler: The easiest mod on the exhaust side is to replace your restrictive (un sexy sounding) stock muffler. Mufflers are relatively inexpensive and a shop can put one on for you in an hour or so. Depending on your selection, you will notice a dramatic sound in tone of your exhaust. This tone may be pleasing or obnoxious. I recommend spending some time on YouTube listening to different mufflers and listening to other trucks. Remember that the same muffler on a big block V8 will not sound the same as it does on a 4 cylinder Honda, so take the source into consideration, as well.
A twist on #2 is a “Cat Back” exhaust system. Here, instead of just doing the muffler, we are also swapping out the restrictive piping from the catalytic converter(s) to the exhaust tip. If you look at stock piping where it bends, it’s usually pinching at the turns. These pinches restrict air flow. If you have heard of the term, “mandrel bends”, this means that when the pipe turns, it does so gradually, without pinching, or changing the diameter of the tube. This maximizes air flow.
#3. Tune: If you’ve done the basic intake and exhaust mods, your engine should be breathing better. Air / fuel mixture is very important to generating horsepower so letting your car’s computer know you’ve changed the game a bit will help go a long way to taking advantage of the horsepower you have already freed up.
That’s the easy stuff, and It should free up horsepower. How much? I’m not going to say because it is so subjective and there are too many variables. Read up on each component to see what kind of gain you can get. Don’t take the manufacturer at their word, check where guys have dyno’d results. The gain from each mod individually might seem slight, but adding them all up together as a system will make for noticeable gains.
This has gotten a bit long winded. I have many more ideas on really taking it up a notch. If you guys feel this is valuable info, let me know and I can do a part two.
In a very general sense, our engines are nothing more than large air pumps. They suck in air (intake), mix it with fuel and spark to generate power in the combustion chamber, burn it, and spit the bad stuff out the (exhaust) tailpipe.
The better our engines breathe (the more air they can suck in) and the more air they can efficiently push out, the more power our engines will make.
Cars (including our trucks) – I use “cars” for short - are mass produced to be nice and efficient. Many government agencies see to it that our cars are produced to be quiet, fuel efficient, and good for the environment. All good stuff for the masses, I would agree.
The stock air box (intake) on mass produced cars is not made for horsepower, it is made with restrictive airways and a basic filter to keep it efficient and quiet. This chokes your engine from a lot of that good horsepower producing air that it needs to roar. Most engines off the assembly line aren’t allowed to roar, that would be un PC, and we can’t have that!
On the opposite end, the exhaust is the same way. Mass produced exhaust manifolds are used because they can be made cheaply, and easy to install (relatively speaking compared to headers). Next, your exhaust needs to push that air through at least one catalytic converter, mufflers and restrictive piping. The “cats” purpose is to get rid of most of the noxious fumes that your exhaust would normally spew into the air. Mufflers quiet the exhaust down and every angle or “turn” in the piping represents a point at which your exhaust is not breathing as well as it could.
Enough talk, let’s build some horsepower!
#1. Intake: So, when building horsepower, I think it is safe to say that most people start with the Intake (tube, not intake manifold). It’s a bolt on that can be done in under an hour and has noticeable results right away. It might not throw you back into your seat any more than it did before, but it will add a noticeable growl when you hit the GO pedal. And we all know from our Honda Civic friends that louder means faster. Oh, no, he did *NOT* just go there, did he? I’m allowed to, I had a hot-rodded Civic in a past life (without the fart tube, mind you). I also have ADD, back to the topic….
Cold Air Intakes (CAI) and ram air intakes simplify the stock air box by replacing it with a simple large diameter tube with a high flow filter on the end of it. Something to keep in mind is that (in addition to just “air”), your engine loves cold, dense air - so be careful which aftermarket intake you select for best results.
#2. Muffler: The easiest mod on the exhaust side is to replace your restrictive (un sexy sounding) stock muffler. Mufflers are relatively inexpensive and a shop can put one on for you in an hour or so. Depending on your selection, you will notice a dramatic sound in tone of your exhaust. This tone may be pleasing or obnoxious. I recommend spending some time on YouTube listening to different mufflers and listening to other trucks. Remember that the same muffler on a big block V8 will not sound the same as it does on a 4 cylinder Honda, so take the source into consideration, as well.
A twist on #2 is a “Cat Back” exhaust system. Here, instead of just doing the muffler, we are also swapping out the restrictive piping from the catalytic converter(s) to the exhaust tip. If you look at stock piping where it bends, it’s usually pinching at the turns. These pinches restrict air flow. If you have heard of the term, “mandrel bends”, this means that when the pipe turns, it does so gradually, without pinching, or changing the diameter of the tube. This maximizes air flow.
#3. Tune: If you’ve done the basic intake and exhaust mods, your engine should be breathing better. Air / fuel mixture is very important to generating horsepower so letting your car’s computer know you’ve changed the game a bit will help go a long way to taking advantage of the horsepower you have already freed up.
That’s the easy stuff, and It should free up horsepower. How much? I’m not going to say because it is so subjective and there are too many variables. Read up on each component to see what kind of gain you can get. Don’t take the manufacturer at their word, check where guys have dyno’d results. The gain from each mod individually might seem slight, but adding them all up together as a system will make for noticeable gains.
This has gotten a bit long winded. I have many more ideas on really taking it up a notch. If you guys feel this is valuable info, let me know and I can do a part two.
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