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Old 01-20-2012, 11:18 PM   #18 (permalink)
pete c
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ellington, ct
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You can always spot an ecomodder noob when the topic of warm air intakes is brought up.

It comes from the fact that the rest of the world is trying to squeeze more power out of their engines rather than just better mpg.

To the noobs, of which I sort of am, but, been here long enough to 'get' WAI.....

CAI allows you to stuff more O2 into a cylinder for a given throttle opening. More O2 means more fuel and more power.

You might consider this more "efficient" in that you are making more power. But remember, the name of the game here is to make just enough power to push your car at a desired speed.

So, since power as a function of throttle opening, is higher with CAI, a WAI throttle must be opened further than a CAI throttle to get to the desired power output.

And since pumping losses decrease with throttle opening, the WAI will have lower pumping losses which means higher efficiency.

It requires a different way of looking at things and remembering that it all revolves around pumping losses and possibly better fuel atomization.

I am sure there is a better worded explanation somewhere around here. Perhaps someone could post a link to it.
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