Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bored? Sunday afternoon beers & racing - October edition

Get your free race schedule and desktop wallpaper for October....

I'm very excited about October... MotoGP has four events this month and Formula1 has at least 4 contenders for this season's championship with only 5 events to go.... Ferrari has made a remarkable comeback against Redbull... McLaren's consistency in performance, driving, and development is not too far behind and they may have a surprise up their sleeves... Yamaha after being so dominant has taken a step back, and Ducatti and Honda seem to have saved their fresh engines for a final death push against they Yamaha M1 ... 

Getting really exciting ... don't miss an event

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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Serious about Horsepower - Serious about FUN

I was at the gym yesterday trying to lower my weight (partly to improve my car's power to weight ratio.... partly to boost my own octane-less human power)... and during that hour in the gym I was watching Tom Cruise's so-so movie War of the Worlds (imdb)... in that movie Tom uses a stolen minivan to escape from the Aliens and drive across the country....


Now I understand the use of the mini-van (as apposed to his wrecked muscle car) to crystalize the idea in the viewers mind that he has transformed (due to very harsh events) from a single dad to a soccer mom and that he will now fend for his offspring (from his minivan) with vengence.... however, my honest thought was 'A minivan? How lame? Couldn't they have given him a cooler car?'

Today I happened to run into some people that could have probably delivered tom with a much more interesting vehicle for the job... people who seem to be serious about horsepower, off-the-leash off-road fun, and music ... check out the video and gallery below


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Monday, September 27, 2010

The Horsepower Calculator - Version 3.8

I created a customer satisfaction survey last week and sent it to all of my existing free and paid customers. 
As part of the feedback from that survey, I'm currently working on writing revision 3.8 of the Horsepower Calculator...

This revision will include the following updates:

  • Re-writing the Engine Calculator to give cam duration recommendations @ 0.050" lift rather than seat-to-seat duration or advertised duration.
  • Extending the Turbo Calculator to perform more accurate twincharger modeling including new illustration and temperature modeling for post-charger and post-intercooler intake air temps

  • Extending  the Engine Calculator to recommend a different static compression ratio for intercooled and non-intercooled applications.
  • Extending Charger Database with links to compressor maps and possibly plotting demand lines on the maps
  • Extending the E85 Calculator to become a 'fuel and octane center'... this allows for an anything goes of alcoholic, non alcoholic and oxygenated fuel mixes, calculating the final mixture's oxygenation, autoignition, and flame front parameters and then using the data as an input into the Engine calculator for calculating compression ratios.
  • Increased user friendliness (remember my car & inputs, better placement of next/back buttons, email me the illustrations not just the data...etc)
So this is going to be a hefty but very useful re-write and hopefully will take the software that extra step from being VERY good to being remarkable... I'll keep you updated

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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Tuner Report # 5

By Customer Request:

How to use the Supercharger Calculator to design a high compression all-motor to supercharged conversion...

 

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Friday, September 24, 2010

Budget Boost

Just this morning I was reading a great presentation (80+ slides) on how Hyundai strategically boosted its image and brand recognition in the United States making it the #2 quality and customer satisfaction automotive manufacturer in 2006 after Toyota/Lexus (according to JD Power). 

These strategic changes included new interior quality, different engine design for optimized throttle response, and altered exhaust systems for more engaging lower frequency noise.... with this optimization of several very minor changes on an already solid car Hyundai was able to maximize the new owner's perception of the sportiness, comfort, control and quality of the car (for very little money invested).

What I like about Hyundai's is that they have a very passionate customer base that is interested in modifying and boosting their cars. This allows a healthy aftermarket following to grow around the Genesis , Tiburon and Coupe platforms allowing us to build up 350hp to 450hp boosted versions of these cars for very little money and complexity compared to buying an 'off the showroom floor' 450hp car. 

This year ARK is bringing a 450hp Hyundai Gensis to Sema ... The APG basic kit is a Rotrex C38-81 trim intercooled and a re-tuned ECU...using our Supercharger Calculator, and factoring in the 8whp gain on the naturally aspirated 3.8 from the ARK exhaust, then we calculate that the kit is running a modest 6.4psi to achieve this power goal, which is agreeable with the factory compression ratio of 10.4:1

ARK's Genesis kit takes the basic 306-horsepower, 3.8-liter V-6 found in the Coupe and drills it out to 450 horsepower through Mahle pistons, Brian Crower connecting rods, an APG supercharger with intercooling, and ARK dual exhausts and a high-flow intake manifold.


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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

ProEFI and E85 Conversions...

I was using our Turbo Calculator and our E85 Calculator to help an old friend of mine confirm his choices for performance parts for his buildup. He is building an 800 horsepower 3000GT VR4 using a Borg Warner S372 single turbo, dual 38mm wastegates, 272* cams and an E85 Conversion using  Injector Clinic's FIC2150's ... 

During our conversation we ran into an amazing new engine management system by ProEFI. This system uses a GM style Alcohol concentration sensor mounted in the gas tank to linearly extrapolate between two tuned maps for your vehicle... the first map is a 100% gasoline fuel, timing and boost map, and the second map is a 100% Alcohol/Ethanol fuel, timing, and boost map...

Once those two maps have been dynotunes, the ProEFI system automatically figures out how close you are to either map based on what fuel you are carrying in your tank... and delivers the right amount of boost and power for that octane level.

If you're the kind of person that likes safeguards in your system, the system also comes with built in knock-retard in case something isn't quite right AS WELL AS a fuel pressure safety system that can detect a weak or clogged fuel delivery system, can detect a drop in fuel pressure and will put your car into a conservative low-boost tune accordingly to prevent catastrophic failure and save the motor.

I'm very impressed by this system because you can tell it was designed by the racers, for the racers as it covers power and safety which is what we want...

For more information on ProEFI go here

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Monday, September 20, 2010

SBT - Small Block Toyota

Back in 1999, I used to own a 1991 Celica GTS Hatchback. On this car I started learning the mythical craft of automotive performance and eventually I turbocharged that car's engine and got addicted to boost... 

Having said that, John has a project that brings butterflies to my stomach and reminds of all the crazy and fun times I had in that little lightweight hatchback car.... Even though my car was plenty fast with about 180 wheel horsepower from 10psi running on a 2.2 liter engine, what we have here today is something that is not only plenty fast, but also VERY ambitious...

The car is equipped with a Toyota/Lexus 1uzfe engine (4.0Liter V8) running at 14psi of water injected boost and putting down roughly 350hp at the rear wheels...

Posted by Horsepower Calculator via gmail

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