Is there a way to improve fuel economy and add horsepower?
category: Fuel Economy
I am looking at getting a new performance air filter, If it really does improve my horsepower will I loose fuel economy? Is there anything that will give me both horsepower and fuel savings?
Wow, you all gave me great information. Thank you so much.
What kind of car? Generally speaking, more power = worse gas mileage. More air in the car via a high flow filter needs more gas to be equal. You picking up what I’m putting down? All the really fast cars get crap mileage and all the little slow hondas 4 bangers get great mpg. In fact worse mpg is kind of a good thing if your building power because that extra gas has to go somewhere and if its going to the engine,( as long as you have enough air to match) then you’ll have more power on the pavement. Making cars fast is all about getting as much air through them as possible. Thats why all the things you do to a car for power involves bigger air passages.
typically just a new air filter will not give you a noticeable performance margin. it may give you better mileage tho.
in order for you to get more horsepower, you will need to change more of your induction system to help the engine breathe better and more efficiently. this may decrease your mileage overall, but can give you in the tens of hp more. other ways to increase your hp will be to improve your exhaust flow and your fuel delivery, as well as decrease engine friction.
to get better mileage as well as more hp, these days you will need a chip to tell the engine to balance the other factors in a way that will give both.
i know this isn’t much, but the subject is pretty huge and not a quick answer. i’d suggest hanging out at some automotive forums and learning a bit before deciding how to proceed.
An intake will make a small improvement in power and economy – maybe 1-2% at best. Honestly, it is tough to make a lot of improvements on what the manufacturer spent millions of dollars to achieve. Here are a few ideas I had in a recent newspaper article I wrote:
1.One overlooked way to save fuel is to reduce idle time at signal lights. Not all signal light sensor loops are calibrated correctly or sometimes you may not pull up exactly centered over the hidden induction loop. A last second lane change might cause you to be out of alignment with the loop and the car might not be detected. If your car’s suspension has been raised or if the car does not have much steel near the ground near the centerline then it may take longer for the light to trip and may actually get tripped by another car next to you or by a car on the opposite side of the intersection. This has always been an inconvenience for motorcyclists who have to wait through many cycles of the light until someone else tripped the signal. I, for one, am a motorcyclist who gave up waiting and received a ticket for running a red light. These days the use of plastics and aluminum in our cars has left new cars with little steel to trip the signal and so they are having the same issues as motorcyclists. To solve this install a strong magnet under the front of your car positioned to slightly right of the centerline. Put it as close to the ground as possible. Use zip ties and/or double stick tape to secure the magnet in place. A commercial product exists that does this for cars, bikes and motorcycles (http://www.signalsorcerer.com) but a strong ferrite or rare earth hobby magnet can also be used. Be careful handling these strong magnets. They can pinch fingers, impact computers and negatively affect other electronic devices like pacemakers. If you have a light on your route that never seems to pick up your car then contact city or county traffic offices to report the problem.
2.Determine what the highest tire pressure is that you can run in your tires from the owner’s manual and keep your tires at that level. This may increase the ride harshness slightly. In a high mileage car like my Insight I can actually tell when a tire is going low as my mileage drops noticeably.
3.Fit air pressure sensing valve caps that change colors if your tires drop below the appropriate pressure. Also, electronic tire pressure sensors are a more expensive solution but can pay for themselves by warning you of a tire that is drifting down in pressure slowly. These are available for motorcycles, cars and tow vehicles with trailers. You could drive your car for some time with the tire pressure too low before it gets visually obvious. Kicking the tires or external appearance of the bulge of the tires is just too inaccurate to judge the pressure correctly. During that time the pressure is low your mileage will drop significantly not to mention the safety hazards of driving with low tire pressure. Electronic tire pressure systems have come way down in price and for about $100 to $200 you can get one installed when you buy your next set of tires. In a few years these systems will be coming on all cars but until then you will need to add a system unless you have a car from one of the early adopter car manufacturers. If you don’t have the valve caps or an electronic system installed check your tires regularly (weekly is ideal, monthly at a minimum) with an analog or electronic digital tire pressure gauge.
4.Gear your trips around right hand turns. Package delivery companies have spent a significant amount of time researching this and have concluded that by routing their drivers to avoid left hand turns and primarily make right hand turns they can save more gasoline due to less wait time at the intersections.
5.Next time you replace your tires fit the narrowest tire recommended for your car. Low profile wide tires look cool but add additional rolling resistance. Remember many of the Hybrid cars (Honda Insight for one) use narrow, high pressure tires to achieve part of their mileage savings.
6.Remove any optional bike, ski, kayak or other roof rack from your car when it is not in use. These may look cool but don’t leave them onboard when you don’t need them. Disrupting the flow of air over the roof of the car adds noise and reduces gas mileage. When you are shopping for a new vehicle resist the temptation of getting a factory roof rack unless the dealer option package forces it on you. These are often not capable of carrying heavy loads, bikes, skis or kayaks anyway. If you use an optional roof rack frequently, check with the dealer to see if an optional fairing is available to redirect airflow over the rack towers and crossbars. This will reduce turbulence and the accompanying noise and increased gas usage. If your vehicle has a trailer hitch receiver or ball type hitch, a hitch mounted bike or utility tray rack might be a better choice. Putting the bike or other gear
That Richard L guy above me is really highly intelligent.