Quote:
Originally Posted by abently
I have to disagree with this statement. Oxygen alone does not provide useful energy. Remember anything beyond (leaner than) stoich means there is an excess of air within the cylinder just taking up space and therefore reducing power output.
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Don't forget about the effects of changes in efficiency ... If fuel consumption per engine cycle goes down 5% ... but the Efficiency goes up 6% ... there is a net 1% improvement in power , even with lower fuel consumption.
Separately ... I would also recommend keeping in mind the difference between power and energy ... MPG is about chemical energy consumed for a given distance... MPG is not directly about power ... just like MPH , or acceleration are about power but are not directly about energy.
Lastly ... Oxygen does contribute chemical energy to a chemical reaction like burning gasoline ... the total chemical energy is not exclusively from the fuel ( gasoline for example )... to clarify a bit ... if you react gasoline with something other than O2 you will get a different amount of chemical energy released ... it is not the gasoline alone that contains all the chemical energy ... All the reactants in a chemical reaction contribute to the result.