Hi guys,
What are the upgrades that doesn't cost very much and does improve your car performances. I know a couple but want to hear from you guys.Aluminum racing pedals. I hear the yellow ones will afford you an extra 10-25 horsepower! And that’s to the wheels man! To the wheels!
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There’s some pretty good ideas about custom ducts for getting colder air into your intake in another thread here. There’s always cutting your speed limiter. Taking stuff out of the car (rear seats, carpet, spare, jack, etc.)
I heard from someone it’s good to clean out your MAF every once in awhile, because some crap does get in and get stuck on it. You could always run better spark plugs and upgrade to premium gas. Use better motor & transmission oil. That’s pretty much all I can think of right off the top of my head, but most of it is pretty cheap and will provide worthwhile gains.
PS. The guy that said clean the MAF also said be careful not to damage it 
My understand on gas octane is the combustion camber is only set to detonate at so high a temp… and each grade of gas whether 87-92 or even race gas… all detonates at his own temp and if the combustion chamber is set and really only runs so hot as to detonate "regular or “super” depending on compression? so if your only able to burn 87 but put in 92… is the extra 5 octane not being wasted and being turned into unburnt fuel ? I only ask because I raced motocross for a number of years and on a 2 stroke engine thats not modified many would run a high octane VP fuel around 110 octane but never ran hot enough to actually burn it so was wondering if it works the same with a 4 banger
I’ve heard that if you upgrade your spark plugs that there is some power to be made by running higher octane fuel on your car. I can’t stand by it 100% and guarantee it, but it seems right in theory.
just plugs… i doubt it… an ignition system to enhance the over all power of the spark then yes. But even that I believe is for high combustion vehicles or if back firing is a problem then msd could be used to correct it by strengthing the spark to make sure whatever is in the chamber is
being burnt…
not saying I’m correct either… but a spark plug no matter the plug will only create so powerful a spark ? ? ?
Yeah you’re right.
The higher the octane the “harder” it is to detonate.
Most older cars don’t take real advantage of this, new ones however (like my altima or v6 accords) have knock sensors and are mapped to assume you run premium and then pull back on the ignition timing if it “hears” detonation. (because you put in less than premium)
You might notice a gain in power by running premium because it tends to burn more evenly than 87 but really if the motor isn’t designed for it you won’t see much…
Now… if you advance timing AND run more octane you’ll see a boost in power.
Just advancing timing alone will probably result in knock and the car retarding your timing (resulting in a loss of power), run 91 and it won’t knock plus you’ll gain power.
Why?
Because the higher octane gas has a more “controlled” burn it can be timed “better” so that the blast wave hits the piston at JUST the right moment. Ideal would be if the wave hit the piston JUST after top dead centre, any time before and you’ve got serious problems, any amount of time after is wasted work. (i.e. if you are biking and you don’t start pushing on the pedal until it’s half-way down it’s a lot harder to get up to speed, or if you push down before it’s rotated past the top then either your brakes kick in (on like old BMX bikes) or it does that ratcheting thing so you don’t go anywhere)
87 needs more leeway because it burns faster and anything that is faster is harder to control, so mixture should be detonated later than when you’re running 91.
The actual spark is always before the piston reaches the top (timing is measured in degrees BTDC, Before Top Dead Center) since it takes time for the blast wave to reach the piston, running more “advanced” timing means the spark fires earlier.
If I messed any of this up please someone correct me (and please point out what was wrong)
Just pumping high octane fuel into you car will give you extra power. The octane raiting is mearly the fuels resistance to knock. There are 2 primary standard referance fuels used in determaning the octane raiting of fuel. They are isooctane and heptane, isooctane does not knock in an engine but is very expensive so it is not used in gasoline. Heptane knocks saverely. Isooctain has a octane # of 100, heptane has a octane # of 0. When prosessed fuel of unknown octane is being tested it is put in a single cylender engine and the severety of knock is tested. Then they use different mixtures of isooctane and heptane to match the same severety of knock as the unknown octane fuel. They use the percentage of isooctane used to creat the same knock severety, to come up with the octane raiting. So if they used 85% isooctane and 15% heptane to creat the same knock severety then the octane raiting of 85 is given to that fuel.
Unless you have advanced your timing, boosted your engine or have high compresion then you really don’t need high octane fuel. Unless you have high combution tempratures or bad timeing your engine should not knock and there for you only need regular gas. If you do use high octane in an engine that does not need it the fuel is still burnt/used the same but you are waisting money!
Now if you want a slight rais in power then advance your timeing and use high octane fuel.
It seems we were answering this one at the same time.
You are right nocage higher octaine does have a more controled burn.
But i am not sure you are right about all the timing stuff or maybe I am not clear on your opinion.
Here is my take
Normal combution occurs gradually. The flame front (the edge of the burning area) advances smoothly across the combustion chamber untill all the A/F mixure is burnt. Detonation accurs when the flame front fails to reach a pocket of mixture before the temperature in that area reaches the point of self-ignition. The start of the combustion cycle raises the preasure and temperaure of everything in the cylender. The last part of the mixture is affected by both of these things and the combanatoin of these 2 factors can raise the mixture to the self-ignition point. When that happens the remaining mixture burns almost instantaneously. The 2 flame fronts creat a preassure wave between them that can cause serious engine damage.
Maybe you are trying to explain somthing else. Let me know!
My understand on gas octane is the combustion camber is only set to detonate at so high a temp… and each grade of gas whether 87-92 or even race gas… all detonates at his own temp and if the combustion chamber is set and really only runs so hot as to detonate "regular or “super” depending on compression? so if your only able to burn 87 but put in 92… is the extra 5 octane not being wasted and being turned into unburnt fuel ? I only ask because I raced motocross for a number of years and on a 2 stroke engine thats not modified many would run a high octane VP fuel around 110 octane but never ran hot enough to actually burn it so was wondering if it works the same with a 4 banger[/quote]
wrong.
upgrade your ignition system (plugs, wires, coil/coil packs, cap, rotor) and advance your timing a few degrees. run 91 octane. you’ll see a huge huge difference on a stock motor. if you are equipped to burn a higher octane, it will improve your performance.
I just did it without getting into details of knock itself, I just simplified how advancing the timing can cause you trouble if you don’t run higher octane.
If the flame wall hits the piston before it’s at TDC then obviously the mixture wasn’t already compressed enough to ensure a proper even burn and then you end up with the knock you describe above.