SpeedKnight's "experiments"

[Ford Man]

I done a total grill block on my old '88 Escort and didn't seems to see any difference in FE, but when I did the warm air intake the FE made a tremendous jump. I would say approximately 10%. After doing the warm air intake the car got it's best mileage ever and that's saying a lot since the car is nearing 500K miles. The best previous highway mileage was 50 MPG, but on a short trip about a month ago I got 52.446 by the mileage on the odometer and 54.629 by the mileage my GPS measured. Pretty good for a car rated at 42 highway.

[SpeedKnight]

So it turns out that the Firestone guy that installed my new tires pressed them up to 45psi. I'm just going to leave them there.

I'm still going to see what I can do to get this thing over the 30 mpg mark while still NOT sacrificing much.

[SpeedKnight]

Filled up today. See my gaslog for more info. I took a hit on this one, as this round's FE was below my average (less than 27mpg this time).

I've been reading on some VW forms about guys opening up the inlet to their airbox such that more air gets in there while driving. Since I will eventually be racing in this car, I think I'll do this mod anyway. We'll see how it affects my mileage.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

less throttle actually means that the cylinder has to suck the air in from a smaller opening as well (pumping losses) it isn't much but it all adds up.

the concept of the warm air intake is that warmer air has less oxygen as warmer air expands more. less oxygen takes less fuel to burn and in a way, reduces the displacement of the motor. it doesn't actually reduce the displacement but the charge of air and fuel are reduced with every cycle as if you were running a smaller displacement motor.

I am actually in the middle of an experiment on my car where I am running a WAI vs the stock setup. hang around for another month or so and I should have the results. it is a really long test. I hope to have close to 2500 miles on this test and some good data to present. it is data on my car (which is unlike yours) but hopefully it will show people the potential.

[R.I.D.E.]

An engine is most effecient when it develops it maximum effective compression, without fuel enrichment.

A typical 4 cylinder engine producing 20 hp at 1500 RPM uses only 50% more fuel to produce 50 hp. That means the last 30 hp cost half as much as the first 20.

WAI increases the effective compression by allowing a larger throttle opening for the same amount of power, because the air is less dense. Air density drops 25% from 32 to 200 degrees temperature.

WAI also enhances fuel atomization. At some point as you reduce the intake temperature fuel atomization will simply not happen. It may be 80 below zero, but the effect of heat is better atomization as a general rule.

Most fuel mixtures in modern engines are ultimately controlled by the oxygen sensor. Other sensors determine a fairly precise mixture, but the untimate arbiter of mixture is the oxygen sensor, which measures the amount of oxygen left in the exhaust after combustion.

Utilizing the knowledge of maximum effective compression is the key to pulse a glide. You must realize that maximum effective compression has nothing to do with wide open throttle. Maximum effective compression can occur a very small throttle openings when the load on the engine is great. That is why pulse and glide works best in the highest gear, especially at low RPM.

regards
gary

[GasSavers_BEEF]

interesting little side note on the WAI that I have observed during my testing so far. at idle (at stoplights) and with the motor warmed up, I have observed that the HP (given by my scangauge) is around 5 hp (usually around 5.3 or so). with the WAI in place, it will go down as far as 4.7 HP. that may not seem like much but it is less wasted energy during the commute. using this knowledge, I would assume that when the car is coasting, it would be using less fuel when using a WAI. that is until the DFCO kicks in. I am assuming the accuracy in my scangauge at least to show the difference between the warm air and stock when the HP is shown differently. just to test this, I can turn on my headlights during idle and see the HP jump by about 3 tenths to show the added drag on the alternator. (I love the scangauge)

also, the fuel injection systems that I know are the MAF (mass air flow) system that you describe and the MAP (manifold absolute pressure) system which I have. it also uses an IAT (incoming air temp) sensor along with the MAP sensor. I have heard that it doesn't work with the MAF sensor type but I don't have one so I can't say either way for sure.

my test is more to show data. I have been running with the WAI for close to a year now (maye over a year) but decided to do a long term test to show more credible data of it working. this is after a particular user (who should remain nameless) decided to debunk it and call all of us stupid. this gives us all more info about the entire thing. I am not proving that it works for everyone but that it works for me and similar cars to my own.

I am on the 4th tank of 6 and am running around 400 miles to a tank. that is a total of around 2400 miles but I always run slightly over so I think it will be closer to 2500 miles total. it will take me at least 2 months to run that far and it is during regular driving because it is pointless to waste the miles just to gather data (my opinion).

(if any of this data has been mentioned before, I didn't read the entire thread)

[GasSavers_BEEF]

speedknight,

in your defense, when I came to this site, I was very skeptical and didn't believe a lot of this stuff. I really and truely had to do it for myself.

that being said, I still didn't want to do anything to my car to damage it so I proceeded with the utmost caution. I also cared about the appearance of my car. most of my mods aren't that noticeable unless you know what you are looking for.

we can give you data all day but until you try it for yourself, you won't be satisfied (that was true in my case at least). I am not saying to go and hack up your vehicle even though you don't think something will work. I am more saying to evaluate a particular modification and if you feel that there is merit in it, try it out.

my WAI cost me around $10 from generic parts from autozone, advance, or similar. I can also reverse it with a piece of aluminum tape. that is how I am doing this experiment. I have two openings in my airbox. the factory one and the new one. I simply cover one with tape to run either warm or cool.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I try to spread the knowledge, not corrupt it with my own agendas.

I have had similar experiences with other forums. there is one way, the only way and if you don't do it that way...you are an idiot.

I guess to them, I am the idiot.

also, I have a descent pic in my garage of my setup. you might also want some sort of temperature gauge for the intake. I use the scangauge but you are pre-obd2 so it won't work for you.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by BEEF

I try to spread the knowledge, not corrupt it with my own agendas.

I have had similar experiences with other forums. there is one way, the only way and if you don't do it that way...you are an idiot.

I guess to them, I am the idiot.

also, I have a descent pic in my garage of my setup. you might also want some sort of temperature gauge for the intake. I use the scangauge but you are pre-obd2 so it won't work for you.

My recommendation for monitoring intake temps in a pre-OBDII vehicle is to buy a wireless outdoor thermometer. Drop the "outside" transmitter in the airbox, and keep the receiver in the car with you.

-Jay

[theholycow]

In my VW there's a flex-hose that comes from the airbox (actually the engine cover) and goes to the grille. There it's open both to the engine bay and to the grille. If I block the grille it only pulls engine bay air (and the opening is still larger than the hose); if I block the engine bay side of the opening it would pull just cold air. I could disconnect the hose and bend it to somewhere else for a WAI, too.

Maybe your car is more like my GMC, where the airbox doesn't have a hose or snorkel of any kind coming off of it. However, for a CAI you'd add one (or replace the airbox), and then you could simply hook the hose to the CAI or the WAI.

The "hose" takes up most of the left 30% of this photo: