Drawing in warmer air than the outside air does not automatically equate to a horsepower loss..
11-08-2006, 09:10 AM
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Drawing in warmer air than the outside air does not automatically equate to a horsepower loss..
I know that manufacturers will claim and provide tests to justify their products. This I found from Neuspeed's P-Flow. It an interesting read, what do you guys think:
The Science Behind an Air Intake
You've probably heard this before on the internet, "...colder air is denser air, and that means more horsepower." In fact, you've probably heard this enough times that you're convinced it's true, right? Well this might throw you for a loop then: It's entirely possible to gain horsepower with just an open element intake. Drawing in air that is warmer than the outside air does not automatically equate to a horsepower loss when the stock airbox has been removed. Now here is the science behind that statement.
When looking at the properties of gases (and air is a gas) the actual scientific equation for density is:
Density = mass / volume
A quick review of our science book tells us to increase air density you could increase the mass, or reduce the volume. To increase mass, you could increase pressure or reduce temperature. To reduce volume you could increase pressure or reduce temperature. So air pressure and temperature are the two common variables that we have to work with. Everyone likes to talk about temperature, but very few people ever address pressure. Pressure and temperature are equally important.
The complete article:<ul><li><a href="http://www.neuspeed.com/faq/faq_view.asp?id=15&ltype=ns_import">Neuspeed</a></li></ul>
The Science Behind an Air Intake
You've probably heard this before on the internet, "...colder air is denser air, and that means more horsepower." In fact, you've probably heard this enough times that you're convinced it's true, right? Well this might throw you for a loop then: It's entirely possible to gain horsepower with just an open element intake. Drawing in air that is warmer than the outside air does not automatically equate to a horsepower loss when the stock airbox has been removed. Now here is the science behind that statement.
When looking at the properties of gases (and air is a gas) the actual scientific equation for density is:
Density = mass / volume
A quick review of our science book tells us to increase air density you could increase the mass, or reduce the volume. To increase mass, you could increase pressure or reduce temperature. To reduce volume you could increase pressure or reduce temperature. So air pressure and temperature are the two common variables that we have to work with. Everyone likes to talk about temperature, but very few people ever address pressure. Pressure and temperature are equally important.
The complete article:<ul><li><a href="http://www.neuspeed.com/faq/faq_view.asp?id=15&ltype=ns_import">Neuspeed</a></li></ul>
11-08-2006, 09:23 AM
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And what does pressure have to do with their open element intakes
If anything, you might lose some pressurized intake air when you have an open element intake. To me, this sounds like misinformed logic.
11-08-2006, 09:31 AM
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The engine is a pump: delta-P (pressure derived between intake and peak cylinder pressure)...
matters. So a turbo is VERY neat.
But an intake would need a good bit of feed to develop inlet pressures above ambient that make a difference. I.E.: you'd have to be going plenty fast for ram air to make a big difference. CFM is the key, and a 10,000 rpm turbo or supercharger is way better. It neds cooling of the charge air to ensure the density remains high and the engine ECM doesn't scale way back to avoid detonation.
But an intake would need a good bit of feed to develop inlet pressures above ambient that make a difference. I.E.: you'd have to be going plenty fast for ram air to make a big difference. CFM is the key, and a 10,000 rpm turbo or supercharger is way better. It neds cooling of the charge air to ensure the density remains high and the engine ECM doesn't scale way back to avoid detonation.
11-08-2006, 09:39 AM
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Are you thinking about getting the Neuspeed?
If so, I think it's best paired with the Tornado Intake that you shamelessly plugged earlier. There's a very good chance you'd see a 50-60 hp increase and increased gas mileage all around.
11-08-2006, 09:41 AM
#6
flow isn't necessarily pressure, it's volume
You don't need pressure to get additional volume, it could also be more surface area. An open cone should be able to ingest more volume than a panel filter and possibly make more power if the panel filter solution is volume limited. An open cone pulling hot air could provide enough additional air to offer better performance than the panel filter.
However, given two cone filters which can flow equal volume the one that is pulling in colder air should provide more power.
However, given two cone filters which can flow equal volume the one that is pulling in colder air should provide more power.
