Performance Guide

Hi

Does anyone know where i can get a guide to performance upgrade? My performance knowledge comprises of 'induction kit' loooool and that is about it. I have been trying to search on internet but nothing solid is comming up. Ill really appreciate if any of you can point me to a website regarding this matter.

There's not really a give all guide to performance upgrade. It varies car to car, manufacturer to manufacturer. What kind of car do you drive and what are your performance goals?

Most people usually start off with a better air intake and cat-back exhaust.

there's a good thread in the racing - non specific forum, it's called 10 steps to hot roding. it gives good info on how to release power from a carbed engine. some of those don't apply to an efi car (which, im asuming, is what you are looking for) so ignore anything to do with carburators. I'd post the link but i think AF is being screwy, what with the style change, and not letting me see the threads in the forum.

Basically there's a few ways to increase power:

1) Make the engine breath better. Allow gases to get in and out as quickly and easily as possible. you want good flow so that the engine doesn't have to work as hard to push them out, work that can be used to go fast rather than push gases. you also want the gases to have a high when they enter into and out of the cylender, i'll explain this in the next section.

2) Get more oxygen into the cylender. This is the most common way to increase power. when you stuff more oxygen into the cylender you can put more gas in to burn and make more power. Forced induction forces more air into the cylender so you can burn more fuel. if you don't want to install a turbo or supercharger, you can get a free flowing intake. it will add more air into the engine by making the passage into the cylender easier so the air can flow faster. when it flows faster, it carries more momentum and can thus it will more willingly stuff more of itself into the cylender.

resonance tuning helps this as well. if you know how sound works this will be easy to understand, just in case you don't, ill give you a basic explaation. sound is when air undergoes a compression and decompression (or rarefaction, when the air is less dense), when this happens many times in succession, it creates a sound (so you get a wave made up of high density air followed by low density illustrated like this | | | | |||| | | | | |||| | | | | where the tight lines are high density air). when a valve in the head closes, the air behind it rams into it and gets compressed, it then rebounds and sends a chockwave back through the intake that looks alot like a sound wave. when this hits the end of the intake tube some of the wave bounces back. you want the valve to open exactly when the shockwave hit it so that the dense air enters into the cylender.

Velocity plays a part in power because of something called exhaust gas scavenging. this is when the exhaust gases leave the cylender and the intake valve opens before all the gases are out because the exhaust will leave a low pressure area behind it and suck more air in. resonance tuning applies to exhausts because the same shockwave will be sent back through the exhaust tubing but rather than wanting the dense gas hitting the valve, you want the low pressure hitting the valve so that it sucks the exhaust gases out faster.

Another way to add oxygen is to introduce nitrous oxide into your intake. Nitrous oxide's chemical formula is N2O. air is around 21% oxygen, nitrous oxide is 33% oxygen. when it goes into the cylender there is more oxygen to burn more fuel = more power. nitrous decomposes into nitrogen and oxygen at around 500 degrees. that kind of temperature is more than achieved in the combustion process.

3) increase the efficiency of the engine. This includes increasing the efficiency of the combustion by increasing the compression and releasing more of the BTU's (or joules of heat energy) contained in the fuel. or you can tune your engine. tuning valve timing to get the most air into the cylender, tuning the ignition. you want the spark to fire before the piston reaches top dead center. this is because you want the fuel to start burning so that when the piston reaches tdc the burning gases start pushing down on the piston. you can also remove rotating mass, this allows the engine to use that energy that used to be used to turn something to up the power output. removing friction does pretty much the same thing.

There's more that i can say but i've spent enough time on this, i hope this helped answer your question. if you want even more info, you can personal message me.

If you're looking for parts for your car, think about what is restricting your engine, then try to remove it. if your factory exhaust is restrictive, get a better one, etc.

Hello turboimport and beef_burito

I really appreciate that quick explaination you gave me there. I am just trying to increase my own knowledge about performance upgrade. As i said, right now my knowledge is limited to induction kit. I dont even know if the loud sound comming from the sports exhaust is a good thing or a bad thing. If it is a bad thing why do have noise killers.

I personally drive a Honda Civic VTEC 1.5 Auto. I love that car but its a 4 door sedan and i am looking for a 2 door coupe. But that wont be for the next 9-10 months. So im just trying to get the knowledge together about performance upgrade :). I dont intend to work on my current civic coz i just dont see it going anywhere. I will pm you if i have some more questions, but plz, if you ever get time, i will really appreciate to hear more of your thoughts on this matter.

Turbo mports, my performace goals are supprisingly suttle. I am not looking for a ridiculously high bhp or something like that. but a nice body kit maybe, maybe an induction kit ( loooll putting my knowledge to use. I dont even know what the damn thing is. I will google it tho ) and just decent power ( 300-400 bhp max ). But as i said, there is too much time befor this happens and im just trying to learn as much as i can :)

if you're looking to get a civic, there are literally tones of things you can buy for that car. it's such a popular car, plus alot of young people buy them and modifiy them that the demand is there.

The reason loud exhausts are good for performance is because they generally provide better exhaust flow. a muffler has all kinds of walls and bafflers to deaden the sound, but it also creates backpressure that prevents the exhaust from flowing at high speeds. a bigger, less restrictive exhaust with a straight through muffler will allow more exhaust to flow at a higher speed. however, just adding a muffler will give you little or no performance gains (as in under 1hp) because it's generally the exhaust piping that is restricting flow. curtis73 posted some good info a few pages back about intake and exhaust flow. ill just summarize what i got out of it since i haven't found it (or rather i haven't looked for it). there's no point in increasing the flow characteristict of one particular part if it's not the most restrictive part in the system. your intake or exhaust system can only flow as much as the most restrictive part. so if you have heads that flow 250cfm and an intake that flows 150cfm, there's no point in getting higher flow heads because it won't give you more power, you should upgrade your intake piping, get less bends and a polished pipe (polished inside becaus that won't restrict flow as much). then once you upgrade that to one that will flow 500cfm, you upgrade the next most restrictive thing. the same goes for exhaust, if your muffler allows more gases to get out than your piping, there's no point in replacing it untill you need to.

The hard part comes in determining the most restrictive part. when you're upgrading, you should upgrade everything, so if you're going to get a better intake, upgrade your throttle body, intake plumbing, intake manifold, and heads. if your wallet doesn't allow that, upgrade what seems right first, so get a cold air intake, then a throttle body, then some new intake runners (or manifold). one thing you'll notice is that you will see bigger power gains the more you upgrade, so adding a new intake will get you maybe 3-5hp. if you get a bigger throttle body first, then the intake might get you maybe 5-7hp.

If i were to upgrade a car, I'd start with the basics, get everything to breath better (intake/exhaust system upgrades), then get the engine to run better (remove unwanted rotating mass, lighten things, better oil, advance timing, etc), then if i wanted more power i'd look into forced induction (so a turbocharger system or supercharger system) and get the required modifications (forged internals, lowered compression, retarding the ignition timing, etc). after that if i wanted evern more power on pump gas i'd look into things like alcohol injection + increasing boost, higher compression with alky injection, etc.

the problem with upping power is that the first power gains are pretty cheap, but after a point every horsepower gets more expensive.

Step one---try this. Go to amazon.com
Buy a book or three related to Honda performance.
Step two---Read about it and understand it.
Step three---Do it.
Believe me, you'll be happier and money ahead if you get the basics out of a book rather than from the internet. Once you've got an understanding of the basics, then you can go back to the internet for further info. And now you'll know enough to be able to pick out the wheat from the chaff.
A I've said a hundred times before- you get what you pay for.

A civic would be a great place for you to start your learning. though at some point it will leave you wanting more and that means a better base car to start with. I have not yet decided which is better: A. Getting a cheap car and learning on it, then getting a good car (one that you will keep forever) and making it what you want. or B. Saving the money spent on the cheap car and instead buying the car you WANT and then slowly and carefully learning and modifying that.

I kind of did the latter with my MR2 but i have been researching sports/race cars for a while and i have enough knowledge and mechanical skill/experience do modify it the way i need to without really ruining things.

One thing i can tell you is to keep reading everything you can. A whole lot of it will be bullshit but if you are somewhat intelligent and consider the sources, you will be able to weed out the BS.

I also suggest reading as much as you can about actual race cars: engines, chassis, aerodynamics, suspensions, tires, everything you can. This way you will know what you are trying to accomplish with your mods. even if it is just body work, it is better to mimmic race cars than to just rice it out and have it look tacky.

Find out how everything in your car works at www.howstuffworks.com check the auto section there and jsut read up on everything.

One more thing...

I am not sure what kind of performance you are going for but it seems like you dont want gobs of power but you would like your car to be more fun to drive. If this is correct then if i were you i would start modding my civic by getting slightly wider wheels and tires but keep a small diameter, then i would give it a good performance suspension so you can take twisties quick (cause the twisties are where the fun is). then i would get a lighter flywheel. then i would do your intake (aka induction kit), exhaust, and chip.
i hope that helps. you seem like a smart person who isnt just trying to mimmic the fast and the furious.

Hello beef bourito, black lotus and Reed :)

First of all, once again thank you for taking the time to giving me just enoug information which i can digest at my current undderstanding level. I do not like spoon feeding so i will try on my part to completely understand what you guys are telling me. I might have a few silly questions but i hope you guys are patient enough to bear me :). Im sure we can turn this thread into a 'Performance Guide' thread and later on which will be useful for other beginners in this field, maybe a stcky if the moderator agree.

First of all, I did a search on induction kit and i believe i understand what it is for. But a quice question, is 'pipecross induction kit'

Beef burito:

Really appreciate what you had to say. I understand it. But i did not know what some of the terms means. But i just googled them and found out. There are a few things which you mentioned that i am not sure of. But i will ask you about those later. I now know what a 'throttle body', 'intake plumbing' and 'intake manifolds' are for and their function. 'Cold air intake' is reffering to an induction kit. Correct? As for the 'Exhaust system upgrade' do you mean something like this :

http://www.roadraceengineering.com/3g/parts/greddy/v6-greddyexhaust-parts.jpg

What is the intake referring to? Also if you can, i will really appreciate if you briefly explain ' remove unwanted rotating mass, lighten things, better oil, advance timing, etc '. You mentioned 'foced induction' which from googling, i found to be a bit too much for me personally. Also, wouldnt it effect the fuel economy? more fuel being mixed with air meaning more fuel it needs? Correct? If you can, will you please elaborate on your last paragraph? Im googling the terms as i write this post but i cant get information on some of them. From your last paragraph, i know now about 'forced induction', 'super charger system', 'turbo charger system' and ' Alcohol injection' ( http://www.rjcracing.com/SMC_Alcohol_Injection/smc_alcohol_injection.html ).

Black Lotus:

I found 1 book which was releated to civic called 'Civic Duty: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Popular Sport Compact Car the Honda Civic'. IF you have other sujjestion , then i will really appreciate that :)

Reed:

I am a honda civic kinda guy :) i love that car. Especially becoz it was my first car and i have just fallen in love with it. I was getting a 2000 Toyota celica from my uncle but i refused. for me, it will be to sell my current 4 door sedan and get a 2 door copue and then work on it :) Would you have any good websites on race cars as you mentioned? is so, i will appreciate if you pass them on to me. I too will google for them :) i will also be checking out the howstuffworks.com regarding the terms mentioned by beef burito. And yes, i dont want gobs of power. I have no intention to go into professional racing loool. maybe an occasional race here and there wont hurt but mostly, i want to upgrade the car for MYSELF. It is MY car. I will drive it and I want to feel damn good when i drive it :) and yes i do plan to getting new tyres and rims and suspension for my car. The stock tyre and rim suck ( plus i was doing burnouts on them and now they suck even more )

I have a general question. Does modifing your car increase your fuel intake? or does it improves it?

it geneally increases it though if you are just improving the efficiency and reducing pumping lossed then you will gain gas mileage. reducing pumping losses means letting the motor breath better (intake, exhaust). improving effeciency mean has to do with that and reducing the mass of the rotating assembly. the rotating assembly is anything in the motor that moves pretty much. if you reduce the weight of the pistons, cams, rods, crank shaft, valves, flywheel, clutch you are reducing the weight of the rotating assembly and therefore making the fuel do less work (aka letting more of the work result in power to the wheels).

oh yeah...

most of us hotrodders/tuners/racers dont really give a damn about fuel economy, we only care about power. (though not all of us)

but those things that i mentioned can be used also to increase economy.

go check out www.turbod16.com they're full of info on boosted D series stuff....

Hello Reed and Schister

Reed:

Unfortunate i have to give a damn about fuel economy as the price of gas in uk is just ridculous :banghead:. That is one of the reasons i want to be descent in its upgrades.

Schister:

Thanks for the link. I found some very interesting articles in there.

I have been looking at a few body kits and i noted that with these body kits on, my car would be nearly touching the ground. I have been googling about 'Adjustable Height Kit' from KONI on this issue. Are 'normal' shocks better than air shocks? From what i gather, i can raise my car with a shock and/or strut. Can you briefly explan this to me? Also, what is a 'Stage 1' upgrade or 'Stage 2' Upgrade? i havent found anything definative on this.

Hello All

I was reading that an induction kit can actually reduce the power of a car if it has a small engine. Does 1.5 constitues as a small engine? what about 1.8?

A throttle body is the part of the intake that controls the airflow into the engine. it has a plate that will open up or close depending on where your foot is. when i said an exhaust system upgrade i just meant upgrading some of the exhaust, so buying performance headers, high flow catalytic converter, or catback exhaust system. the intake system is where the engine sucks in air. it starts with the head (the part on top of the cylenders) in the intake ports, then the manifold, then the throttle body, then either a filter or some plumbing (meaning some tubes) and then the filter. if you have a turbo or supercharger it will be put in either before the throttle body or between the throttle body and the filter. the manifold is the assembly of tubes that runs into the head right after the throttle body or carburator.

Removing unwanted rotating mass means that you remove mass that is spinning. when the engine has to turn something that's power that could be used to turn the wheels instead. you may not think that it matters that much but when a few pounds spin at 1000+rpm, it can add a significant ammount of power. better oil means oil that lubricates just as well or better but isn't as resistant. this doesn't mean that you switch to a thinner oil, that could kill your engine because it was desined to use that thickness so a thinner oil won't lubricate enough. i mean using a synthetic oil, they are more expensive but they can free up alot of power, think 5 horsepower on a civic. lightening things involves getting pistons, connecting rods and a crackshaft made of lighter materials. lighter matterials are easier to accelerate than heavy ones (basic physics: F=ma force equals mass times acceleration).

if you make the engine mroe efficient there're fewer pumping losses (when you use power to turn the engine itself) so you don't need to use as much fuel to accelerate the car if there is less of the energy being wasted. if the engine can breath better 9with a better intake system and exhaust system) it doesn't have to work as hard to suck the air in so you get better gas mileage. higher compression will make the engine more efficient so you don't need as much gas. same goes for better oil.

Forced induction isn't that big of a deal. a supercharger is pretty easy to install if it comes in a kit because it will be designed for your car and will bolt right up. a turbocharger will be more difficult because you might have to weld your exhaust (or you could get a shop to do it for you). the thing about a supercharger is that it isn'tgood on gas mileage because it is always compressing air and you're always using it. at idle it will decrease your gas mileage alot compared to normal. you can argure that it will require less throttle because it gives more power but it takes power from the engine to make power so it decreases efficiency. a turbocharger only works when you want it to so you have better gas mileage than with the supercharger butit will still decrease the mileage because it's a restriction in the exhaust when it's not spinning.

hope this cleared things up for you. for alot of info on cars, go to howstuffworks.com and go to the auto page, read almost everything there, it's good info, especially if you don't know much about cars. that's where i started, then i found this site and got even mroe info. i find that their info on turbochargers isn't that great though, unless they changed it.

Hello Beef Burito

Thanks again for the explaination. I have to say, my knowledge has increased a lot. Just the other day i was taking to a friend of mine and i was supprised that i knew things that he didnt. Ususally im the one who is quite when some talk of car modding perks up. I have a question tho. There was a link provided on either this forum or another forum which had something to do with the width of the tyres and the diameter. It said at that bottom that say for example, if i put on 18 inches on my honda, my car will cover more distance in a shorter span of time ( since the cirumferunce is larger ) but the speedometer will display the wrong speed. So if the speedometer shows 60mph, im actually doing 80 mph. I cannot remember which website it was, but i will find it out an post it here. But is the above true?

your speedo reads the rpm coming out of the transmission, if the tranny turns at a certain rpm, the speedo reads a certain speed. when you add larger tires, the tires will be spinning at the same rpm as when they were smaller but since the circumference is bigger, you'll be going faster. you can, however, get your speedometer adjusted for the bigger wheels. you can get a honda dealer to do it for you. but if you only add bigger rims but keep the overall diameter the same (so you get bigger rims but tires with smaller sidewalls) you won't need to have it adjusted.

Hello Beef Burito

I was looking at alloy wheels at http://www.performancealloys.com and something occured to me. Some people do have bigger rims but not the tyres. As a result, the width of the tyre from ground to the edge of the rim is very small. I hope you understand what im trying to say. Its gives the impression that the tyres are very 'thin'. Now is someone is with those speeds is driving fast , wont the tyres just blow out? Since there is no room for them cushion on?