Forced Induction
One of the primary factors influencing engine performance is the ability to get as much of the air and fuel mixture into the engine as possible. It can be thought of as the engines ability to “Inhale”.
In order to produce power, an engine requires a fuel and
air mixture to be mixed together and then brought into the cycle. The concept of forced induction is essentially a method where we literally compress the air before we bring it into the process of combustion.
Think of an engine as a person who is gasping for air after a long run down the street. This person is gasping because they are trying to circulate as much air as possible through their lungs. Now imagine if you were able to force more air into their lungs then they would otherwise be able to suck in on their own. This would in turn help them out very much.
When this is made possible, it would help them so much that they would probably be able to run a lot longer without having to stop in order to “catch their breath”.
This would yield greater performance.
You can parallel this idea to an engine. The more air you get into it, the more performance you’ll get out of it. This is where the concept of forced induction was derived. While different systems have been designed to achieve the same result (e.g. Superchargers and Turbo Units) the Turbo unit seems to have dominated.
But, the two systems differ from one another by the means in which the compression process is powered. The turbo unit works by making use of exhaust gases in order to compress the intake while the supercharger mechanically translates the engines rotational power in order to do the same job.
At Pacific Motorsports, with all high performance considerations, we prefer to discuss these kinds of projects with the vehicle owner to make sure that realistic expectations regarding what is possible are understood by all parties.
Contact us at Pacific Motorsports and let us know your ideas and desired outcomes.
