Quote:
Originally Posted by thevisionseeker
See now I'm confused because I was just reading something on this site where it said having more air flow will make the ECU add more gas. This I understand but then I read that having warmer air actually helps the acceleration more. See I come from a racing side of things. For us it was the cooler the air the cooler the motor, the faster we go so when I was thinking about all this stuff I was thinking that adding a CAI or a Short Ram would allow colder air but I wouldnt be driving like I used to and in turn it would allow me to gain more mpg. But from what I just read that would not be the case.
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I do too. We don't all come from ecomodding backgrounds, ya know.
Colder air makes more power with compression, period. Colder air contains MORE oxygen than hot air, it's condensed. Therefore cold air intake creates more power because most setups are pulling colder air from a fenderwell or in an area where the air is not hot.
And what I told you is exactly correct, rich = more gas added. Adding more air makes the ecu add more gas. Some think it's going faster than it really is and it richens up the mixture, but sometimes it causes it to run significantly richer. This varies from ECU to ECU and it is designed. But what I'm getting at is that just because you add an intake that adds more power doesn't mean you are going to get more miles per gallon.
So think of it this way... if your stock intake runs great and is more efficient for your ecu why change it? You may actually end up losing mileage if you go with a cold air intake or ram air. generally a short ram/ram intake is pulling hot air from the engine bay and improves power yes, BUT CAI is more effective for power because you're getting colder more condensed air that will make more power into the engine for compression.
But we're talking miles per gallon efficiency, not power efficiency.
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Back to an ecomodding perspective.
The underbelly pan reduces drag from components UNDER the car, making the air flow smoother. That's known as co-efficient of drag. The lower the co-efficient of drag, the less resistance there is, the less the car has to work and push itself to maintain speed/accelerate, etc.
If you want a cool example of this look up the early Lamborghini Diablos. They had the underbody of the entire car "smooth" with an underbelly pan setup. Very cool as an example, less drag.
On daily driver cars if you can decrease this on them you can pull more efficiency out of it on the highway which will increase your miles per gallon as well. The car is quite literally not "fighting" the wind as hard to push itself to maintain speed.
Ever put your hand out the window at highway speed? Stick it flat it's like a brake, tilt it like a "bird wing" and it's fine right? Same thing, if you can stop oddball un-aerodynamic disruptions in the car body, underneath it, anything that "catches" that airflow there is less resistance, you "cut" through the wind better at speed.
Wheel covers for example, smoother wheels, there is less air resistance as it isn't beating on your spokes and is simply "flowing" over a smooth surface.