Quote:
Originally Posted by Christ
Believe it or not, a CAI can have a cooling effect on the engine.
Imagine what happens when you drink cold water. The first process for you to metabolize the water (as if there were such a thing) is for your body to bring that water up to temp. That takes energy, does it not? Some of that energy could have been used as propulsion, rather than wasted as heat in order to bring the air up to temp for combustion.
That's about the easiest way I could explain it.
It is the thermostat's job to open and close to maintain a specific temperature range within the engine, but the coolant's job is to extract heat, not provide or insulate it. The air temp is important in this respect, because colder air will also pull heat away, and since combustion provides heat to the engine, part of the heat that would normally be given to the combustion chamber is then given to the air.
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Uh-huh and a warmer intake charge "can have" a warming-effect.
You're not gonna burn many calories by drinking cold water. Energy in the muscles are in the form of ATP, so losing a couple of calories isn't taking anything away from what you have and not all of what you just consumed will be utilized either. Using your analogy to support my claim, drinking a lot of hot water will also make the body work to regulate its internal temperature. That too, takes calories, but you're losing electrolytes in the process of it. (Opening of the pores to relieve the body of excess heat) A CAI/SRI reduces the mechanical effort it takes for the engine to ingest air and has the benefit of increasing HP. Running your car at summer temperatures will have a negative effect on performance. Gasoline at too hot of a temperature will evaporate,
which I haven't heard you mention. So if you heat the air/fuel mix too much, you end up with less energy from the loss of matter. (Gasoline) That's not the most fuel-efficient way to go. I'd rather go with a CAI/SRI achieve the goal of better MPGs and getting more HP along the way than running my engine too hot, inevitably engaging the cooling fans and once again, putting more a strain on the engine. Not to mention the possiblity of evaporating those precious mists of fuel the injectors spray out.
It may not specifically work to heat the engine, but it's dependant on it. And at the temperature that the cooling system operates, heat will be transferred and distributed throughout its pathways, maintaining a consistent temperature. Conversely, if heat is drawn away from the engine and to the coolant, so that too creates a cooling effect which wasn't accounted for in your response.