Airflow importance

[kahaj]

How important is airflow to a non-turbo? I mean, I know airflow is important to any engine, but is it as crucial for performance to a non-turbo as it is for a turbo?

[Mrrlyn]

Any engine needs to breath. A Boosted engine needs more air than an equivilant boostless engine, but any engine will show improvement if airflow is improved (minimal in some cases, depends on your cars stock intake box).

The same goes for the other end (the exaust). On a turbo, your spooling it up with your exaust, so the more energy you can save to that point, the better. on a supercharged/regular system, and on a turboed system after the turbo, airflow is also important. size isnt as important as the shape of the airflow. it needs to be as laminar (smooth) as possible, as turbulence will "block" the exaust to some degree. again, marginal improvments in some cases, but you get that cool tone!

so to answer your question, no, airflow is not as important to a normally aspirated engine as it is to a boosted system, but it is important to some degree to any engine.

Hope that helps

[kahaj]

So would it really be worth the time & effort to upgrade my intake and have a look at the exhaust? I mean, what's the minimal amount of hp that it would probably add?

Thanks for the help.

[FanaticalKilla]

What kind of car?
Little 4 cyls aren't going to see the performance gains that say a LS1 would see.

[Dr. Disque]

both of your car would see noticable gains from a freed up intake since both of them have fairly restricted stock intake boxes (especially the continental)

[kahaj]

`95 Grand Prix SE -that's the one I'm trying to work up.


Now the debate begins -what's a good one to buy?

[RS/440]

Obviously you don't know anything, and thats cool, everyones been there at sometime or another.

Save your money for some form of forced induction if you want you little engine to do anything

[Dr. Disque]

www.rsmracing.com makes the only commercial intake I know of for your car.

[Mr Paint Job]

actually air flow on the intake side is more important for a car without forced induction.

[kahaj]

HeHe. Nope, not much at all. Just starting to get into doing more to cars than driving them.

[NotAMonte86]

actually air flow on the intake side is more important for a car without forced induction.
Whether or not you believe that, intake mods on a turbo car will yield much more power than intake mods on most n/a cars, including the Grand Prix SE. Is it worth spending $200 for 3 hp?

[Mr Paint Job]

Whether or not you believe that, intake mods on a turbo car will yield much more power than intake mods on most n/a cars, including the Grand Prix SE. Is it worth spending $200 for 3 hp?
that just means factory restrictions on most turbo cars are greater than most n/a cars. I'm not talking about changing the fucking intake tubing that goes to the TB. I'm talking about an intake manifolds, intake runners in the head, valve sizes and intake lobe sizes.

Look at it like this, you have a performer intake on a chevy 350 with a carb. It wants to rev to 6,500 but the intake wont let it so it makes pathetic power #s until it completely loses power at 5,500 since the intake wont flow past that. Now put a blow through turbo on it and it'll make power all the way to 6,500.

the intake side of the motor is less important when you have forced induction.

[408EK9]

that just means factory restrictions on most turbo cars are greater than most n/a cars. I'm not talking about changing the fucking intake tubing that goes to the TB. I'm talking about an intake manifolds, intake runners in the head, valve sizes and intake lobe sizes.

Look at it like this, you have a performer intake on a chevy 350 with a carb. It wants to rev to 6,500 but the intake wont let it so it makes pathetic power #s until it completely loses power at 5,500 since the intake wont flow past that. Now put a blow through turbo on it and it'll make power all the way to 6,500.

the intake side of the motor is less important when you have forced induction.

:werd: ..head work is where the power is at for N/A..

[NotAMonte86]

Porting the intake side on turbo car = more flow = less restriction = more power at lower boost levels.
I wonder why so many turbo Buick guys waste their money getting their heads ported.

[Mr Paint Job]

Porting the intake side on turbo car = more flow = less restriction = more power at lower boost levels.
I wonder why so many turbo Buick guys waste their money getting their heads ported.
opening up your intake will make more power for ANY TYPE OF ENGINE. i have massively ported heads and a supercharger.

My point is that on the same engine with a restrictive intake side a supercharger/turbocharger will "mask" the restriction more than the N/A motor will. Yes OBVIOUSLY a turbo charged motor will make more power after you port the heads. but the N/A motor will show more gains.

Your posts leads me to believe you have no idea how engines work and that is why you couldn't comprehend my RPM comparison in my last post. I don't see a point in trying to explain this to you again sine I already did it as well as i could. :uhoh:

You realize your post could also read "Porting the intake side on an N/A car = more flow = less restriction = more power at lower vacuum levels.
I wonder why so many N/A Buick guys waste their money getting their heads ported." and it would still be 100% true which PROVES you didn't do a very good job PROVING why turbo cars benifit MORE than N/A cars from opening up the intake.

[MistaFosta]

Porting the intake side on turbo car = more flow = less restriction = more power at lower boost levels.
I wonder why so many turbo Buick guys waste their money getting their heads ported.


Because they want every last bit of power. Paint job is right. Air reacts differently under boost, and it is not as affected by porting as an N/A car is.

[NotAMonte86]

Your posts leads me to believe you have no idea how engines work and that is why you couldn't comprehend my RPM comparison in my last post. .
EDIT: I read your post wrong.
But anyway, most modifications that give an n/a motor power, a turbo car will benefit more from it. Porting heads, removing exhaust restrictions, whatever. Think of the cars the people on this board own. Is it worth the ~$800 to do porting work on their head(s)? Maybe. But if they can't remove/reinstall the heads, they are lookin' at a ton of money for labor, and can't forget new HG(s), head studs, etc.

[NotAMonte86]

Because they want every last bit of power.
Porting the heads isn't like a last ditch effort at getting an additional 3hp. Most people report an approx. 5mph gain on mild combos, more (hp gains) with more (parts).

[Mr Paint Job]

okay then i take back my comment about you knowing nothing about cars.

I just was pointing out that opening up the intake helps n/a cars more than boosted ones. The exhaust is the exact opposite however.

[NotAMonte86]

The exhaust is the exact opposite however.
I can definitely agree with you on that.

In the case of turbo Buicks, more attention is spent on the intake side still.

[408EK9]

I just was pointing out that opening up the intake helps n/a cars more than boosted ones. The exhaust is the exact opposite however.

i agree.. i was reading up on Turbonetics and they not only modify the turbine and compressor housings, but they also port the exhaust manifold heavily.. they ported it so much it almost looked like the runners were gonna fall off of the flange..