The two most misunderstood measures of an engines power is horsepower and torque. So let's
just clear it up.Torque is your engines actual power,horsepower is how
fast you get it. Make any sense? Torque is the twisting force or
energy placed on the crankshaft and horsepower places a time factor
on how fast it makes that power.Most people read up on horsepower
that a particular performance engine produces and they in turn want
that kind of power.Now remember,torque is what you feel when you put
the hammer down when the traffic light goes green.Making
modifications that help produce low end torque is what you want for
the street.Face it,if you've got any sense at all (and we KNOW you do)
your engine is not going to ever see 6000 rpm on the street.
There are a number of things you can do to increase your engines
low end torque and still maintain drivability.All of us (yes,even the
guys that don't think they want it!) want more power when we hit the
gas. Let's keep in mind that the average 500 horsepower engine is not going to idle
very well in traffic and will rarely see 22 mpg! Unless of course it's either supercharged or has a turbo installed. 100,000 miles between
tune ups are a thing of the past when you consider anything more
than trying to gain the free horsepower that your engine already has.
Lets think about headers,cat-back exhaust systems and cold air
intake systems for a minute. Headers help to balance
compression,scavenge exhaust gasses and the engine breathe better. All a
plus when thinking about performance and efficiency. Cat-back systems
are just that,exhaust systems that are bolted or welded on after the
catalytic converter. Almost all cat-back systems reduce back pressure
by seriously reducing those tight wrinkle bends in your restrictive
factory system helping your engine breathe better.Headers and a
decent cat-back system can help you gain very noticeable power. More
so if there are other performance mods already in place.You might want to invest in a decent set of aftermarket cats too!
Now cold air intakes are something relatively new to the bolt on
performance scene.The performance gain comes from the engine getting a
smoother,straighter flow of air into the intake manifold. Now when
you introduce fresh "cold" air into the equation then the performance
value comes in.The colder the air you have coming into the
manifold,the denser the air/fuel charge and the more air/fuel you are
going to get into your engine.The air intake system will basically
give you better efficiency due to the straighter,smoother air coming
in but,chances are it will be a colder denser charge that adds to
performance so you may not see much of a fuel economy increase
but,you may see a power increase or you could get both,I've seen and
heard of both.
There are various other mods you could do like chip up
grades,having your car or trucks computer parameters re-vamped or
power programmers.It depends on your budget.If your Canadian like
me,then a lot of us either get performance parts and upgrades to our
vehicles or presents for the kids at christmas. With the products and
parts that are available today,you could actually save yourself a
little cash at the pump with some modifications because they increase
your engines efficiency,that of course would depend on how you
drive.
Now,one could argue that is these things are modifications work so
well ,why doesn't the vehicle come out of the factory like that?
Well simple,from my point of view cars and trucks are built on an
assembly line and it's easier and cheaper for the factory to do what
they do. They also do it the way the do to keep things quiet,now for
anyone that loves and respects that throaty rumble it's not what we
are looking for. However,the factory does builder your engine with
durability and efficiency in mind. And the majority of consumer want
their vehicle to be quiet and smooth.
