The Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing a High-Performance Air Intake
It may not be obvious, but you can think of an internal combustion engine as a gas-powered air pump. Air gets sucked in through the air intake, it mixes with gas, burns in the cylinders, and then it gets pumped out through the exhaust. If you could get more air into the engine, it would make more power, right?
This is the idea behind adding a high-performance air intake to your engine. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as just bolting a bigger pipe onto your air inlet. There are several other factors that need to be considered. In the following post, Automotive Training Center takes a closer look.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Choosing a High-Performance Air Intake
Before you install any aftermarket parts, you should research those new parts to make sure they will work with your car. Start the process with this list of do’s and don’ts:
- Do: Make Sure Your Car is in Decent Shape
Keeping your car looking rough on the outside can be cool, but make sure the car is in good shape where it counts. If you engineer a high-performance engine in a vehicle that can’t handle the power, you could end up with an unsafe car that puts you or your passengers in danger.
- Don’t: Expect it to Drop Right In
Some popular vehicles have complete air intake kits available. These kits can be great, but they’re usually expensive and offer few options for customization. A better option is a universal kit that you modify to fit your vehicle, but expect this to take more time and effort on your part. The plus side is, if you do the job right, you’ll end up with something that really turns heads.
- Do: Retune Your ECU
If your engine has a computer, the extra air from an upgraded air intake could confuse it and make your engine run poorly. If you want to upgrade the intake on one of these engines, you need to send your engine’s computer out to be reflashed, or hire a programmer who can do it for you.
- Do: Make Sure Your Car Can Handle the Extra Airflow
Getting more air into your engine is great, but it means you also need to have more fuel coming in. The stock fuel pump may not be able to provide enough fuel. If your engine runs too lean, the cylinder temperature will increase and you could damage the engine.
If you want to learn how to get the maximum performance from your ride, or if you want to learn more about what it takes to venture into automotive engine performance as a potential career, we can help you get the training you need. Contact us today to speak with a representative from Automotive Training Center or click here to request more information.
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