OK, a few days have passed on this, but I wanted to quantify a few things.
Firstly, I have NOTHING against GSR, or the folk that run it (or any other 'tuning company' for that matter). I know they (used to be?) involved on here and the Alfa forum and I'm sure their stuff has had good results for some people, etc, etc, etc, etc.
What I'm simply saying is that there are LOTS of things that can affect the relative 'tuning' of a given engine and, whilst it would be nice to have simple 'bolt on' increases in power, the truth is very often far from that.
Munkul - I've read your thread - there's no doubting you know plenty, so I won't insult your intelligence about tuning - but please recipricate and don't insult mine in any replies.
Some brief history - as the founder of what is now known as 'Club Polo' (although a LOT has changed since I handed over the reins - not all of it to the benefit of the club or the scene), I was also the first person in the UK to run a 1.3 Polo GT on carbs (twin 40 Webers - a magazine featured car in 2003), was heavily involved in the initial work carried out by 'Hiflowheads' (
http://www.hiflowheads.co.uk/) and the development of 'Ecotek' (
http://www.ecotek.eu/index.htm) amongst other things, and have many 'contacts' in the tuning world, most of whom are well known and widely regarded.
That being said, whilst I know many folk, my own knowledge is kind of limited, but all I can say is I know what I know, have no vested interests, approach things from the view of a sceptic and don't blow smoke up anyone's rear end for the sake of a freebie!
So - all that having been said, back to the topic of induction kits.......
Munkul - the figures you produced didn't have any quantifiable starting point. (BTW - not having a pop at you, just it was you that was saying I was talking bull****.....
)
But let's assume the '3-4 bhp' gain was from a 60 bhp engine.
So that's 5%. (ish)
The widely ackowledged rules of
ANY engine tune is that
GAINS of 5% are
NOT noticeable to the majority of drivers.
Where margins so small
DO become noticeable is when they are
LOSSES of those sorts of figures.
That isn't what I say - that's a recognised set of rules in the tuning world.
So - let's talk about 5% and how such margins can be achieved and throw some variables in there that have more of an effect.
Engine bay temps. The bain of ANY induction kit's life. The normal running temp of an engine will rob about 3% for every 20 degrees raise in temp.
Ambient temp - driving on a cold, foggy day and your engine (any engine) will feel MEASURABLY more powerfuil than the equivalent engine on a warm, dry day (cold, humid air is far more dense - dense air carries more O2, more O2 makes for betting combustion = more power ...... simple physics).
Now - let's be specific.
MODERN engines have had shed loads of R&D dosh thrown at them. If they could eek out 10% more power (Munkul et al's claim of '6-7 bhp' in a 60 bhp engine) in the factory by a simple change in the induction system, wouldn't you think they'd do that?
Now - rather than me droning on, I'm simply going to throw a few links at you.
Suffice to say that there aren't anyone tryong to flog you anything, so they're a bit more impartial.
Make your own minds up as to what works......
http://www.squidoo.com/car-tuning-myths
http://www.torquecars.com/tuning/induction-kits.php
http://g35driver.com/forums/intake-exhaust/352807-dynoing-out-myth-intake-mods.html
And last, but by no means least
LOTS of
VERY good info from a race engine builder with
NO axe to grind whatsoever......
http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/gentune.htm
