part1] Suspension components and its geometry , some of these are static factors and some are dynamic..i.e change based on the way the suspension encounters the road contours/temperature,water etc
(a) Centre of gravity
(b) Instant centre
(c) Roll centre and roll moment
(d) Toe
(e) Camber
(f) Caster/SAI
(g) Bump steer
(h) Weight transfer
Friday, 21 September 2012
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Getting my head around suspension tuning
Upgrading the suspension is not as easy as buying a kit with adjustable coilovers or lowering springs etc.
Market is full of too many options with so many variations it becomes too confusing, too difficult to decide what is the advantage of one setup vs the other...I thought I knew I had the basics covered and could select what I wanted but once I started my research I realised I had a long way to go before I could even think of upgrading my wheels or buying new coilivers ...
I too was overhelmed with so many options available...this was my starting point of my research on where to begin from..
To begin we need to think of the suspension tuning as combination of tuning of these individual components
part1] Suspension components and its geometry
part2] Dampers and their settings
part3] Springs and their settings
part4] Tyre and wheel combination
All these 4 are covered in great detail afterwards.
All these 4 are dependant on each other - you can tweak any one part or all of them ..and be happy as there is no right or correct feel to a car most of the time.I said "most of the time" as this is related to the those areas which relate to the "the subjective feel/ride quality" of the car.
Some areas there are no 2 ways about it - there is only one right way. ..e.g w.r.t to C.G and roll centre etc. You can't argue taller C.G is good or bad. Its just bad ..thats why all SUVs are a peice of shit.
I spent nearly 6 years reading up on what constitutes as right way/wrong way and how does it really work ? everytime I thought I have finally understood it ..some new factor comes along or a better product comes along.
Some of this things I would consider before stating off on platying with my suspension.
Some more thoughts before getting to the 4 parts...
Firstly you need to have the right platform to begin with - this is most critical ..
I would not bother with a high C.G or "cab forward" styled car..like the new Honda civics.. its just not a good platform its just inherently bad design. SUV's are a total waste of time and money.
All the obese muscle cars out of the picture..they are just too heavy..certain cars exceeding a particalur weight can never be made to handle how much ever you try to tune it.
The suspension should be either a double wishbone or a multi link to begin with.. Struts can also get the job done and some good handling cars too have struts.. But my point being why not start with something which is a superior engineering design in the 1st place ?
But if you have a strut based suspension .. u can live with it but can't argue its superior to a double wishbone.
Also the position of the engine and gearbox will make a diff to how your car behaves to the suspension tweaks etc. A car with its engine load ahead of the front axles or way behind the rear axles will not rotate as welll as a car with its engine/gearbox heavier portion closer to the middle of the car.
Dont listen to what crap the magazines, car shows say like 50%, 50% is a good ideal balance.. hardcore racers and suspension tuners say thats not what is important..only what matters is how much towrads teh centre of the car weight is concentrated makes a car handle better(means it will alllow to change its direction quickly with minimuim wight transfer = minimum change in corner loads = better chance of not distrubig the suspension)
Considering all thse factors or a compromise of these factors a propr platform should be selected..
A simple low slung, double wishbone coupe in stock mode can out handle a more expensive heavier custom tuned car with struts.. simple basic example
96-99 civic vs any new post 2000 accord (diff in suspension,CG)
any mazda rx8 vs any shitty heavy muscle car (diff in suspension setup, overall weight)
any mini coper vs any car (short wheelbase)
Without any tuning a superior stock vs stock design is a better candidate for tuning.
Details below
part1] Suspension components and its geometry , some of these are static factors and some are dynamic..i.e change based on the way the suspension encounters the road contours/temperature,water etc
(a) Centre of gravity
(b) Instant centre
(c) Roll centre and roll moment
(d) Toe
(e) Camber
(f) Caster/SAI
(g) Bump steer
(h) Weight transfer
part2] Dampers and their settings, types of dampers and what are the differnces in each type
(a) Frequency of the road..
(b) Bump, fast bump and slow bump
(c) Rebound, fast rebound and slow rebound
part3] Springs and their settings, how do we select what we need
(a) Corner weights and weight distribution
(b) Spring selection, spring constant
(c) Pre load
part4] Tyre and wheel combination
(a) Wheels - +ve and -ve offset, track width
(b) Scrub radius
(c) Sidewalls, Air pressure
Market is full of too many options with so many variations it becomes too confusing, too difficult to decide what is the advantage of one setup vs the other...I thought I knew I had the basics covered and could select what I wanted but once I started my research I realised I had a long way to go before I could even think of upgrading my wheels or buying new coilivers ...
I too was overhelmed with so many options available...this was my starting point of my research on where to begin from..
To begin we need to think of the suspension tuning as combination of tuning of these individual components
part1] Suspension components and its geometry
part2] Dampers and their settings
part3] Springs and their settings
part4] Tyre and wheel combination
All these 4 are covered in great detail afterwards.
All these 4 are dependant on each other - you can tweak any one part or all of them ..and be happy as there is no right or correct feel to a car most of the time.I said "most of the time" as this is related to the those areas which relate to the "the subjective feel/ride quality" of the car.
Some areas there are no 2 ways about it - there is only one right way. ..e.g w.r.t to C.G and roll centre etc. You can't argue taller C.G is good or bad. Its just bad ..thats why all SUVs are a peice of shit.
I spent nearly 6 years reading up on what constitutes as right way/wrong way and how does it really work ? everytime I thought I have finally understood it ..some new factor comes along or a better product comes along.
Some of this things I would consider before stating off on platying with my suspension.
Some more thoughts before getting to the 4 parts...
Firstly you need to have the right platform to begin with - this is most critical ..
I would not bother with a high C.G or "cab forward" styled car..like the new Honda civics.. its just not a good platform its just inherently bad design. SUV's are a total waste of time and money.
All the obese muscle cars out of the picture..they are just too heavy..certain cars exceeding a particalur weight can never be made to handle how much ever you try to tune it.
The suspension should be either a double wishbone or a multi link to begin with.. Struts can also get the job done and some good handling cars too have struts.. But my point being why not start with something which is a superior engineering design in the 1st place ?
But if you have a strut based suspension .. u can live with it but can't argue its superior to a double wishbone.
Also the position of the engine and gearbox will make a diff to how your car behaves to the suspension tweaks etc. A car with its engine load ahead of the front axles or way behind the rear axles will not rotate as welll as a car with its engine/gearbox heavier portion closer to the middle of the car.
Dont listen to what crap the magazines, car shows say like 50%, 50% is a good ideal balance.. hardcore racers and suspension tuners say thats not what is important..only what matters is how much towrads teh centre of the car weight is concentrated makes a car handle better(means it will alllow to change its direction quickly with minimuim wight transfer = minimum change in corner loads = better chance of not distrubig the suspension)
Considering all thse factors or a compromise of these factors a propr platform should be selected..
A simple low slung, double wishbone coupe in stock mode can out handle a more expensive heavier custom tuned car with struts.. simple basic example
96-99 civic vs any new post 2000 accord (diff in suspension,CG)
any mazda rx8 vs any shitty heavy muscle car (diff in suspension setup, overall weight)
any mini coper vs any car (short wheelbase)
Without any tuning a superior stock vs stock design is a better candidate for tuning.
Details below
part1] Suspension components and its geometry , some of these are static factors and some are dynamic..i.e change based on the way the suspension encounters the road contours/temperature,water etc
(a) Centre of gravity
(b) Instant centre
(c) Roll centre and roll moment
(d) Toe
(e) Camber
(f) Caster/SAI
(g) Bump steer
(h) Weight transfer
part2] Dampers and their settings, types of dampers and what are the differnces in each type
(a) Frequency of the road..
(b) Bump, fast bump and slow bump
(c) Rebound, fast rebound and slow rebound
part3] Springs and their settings, how do we select what we need
(a) Corner weights and weight distribution
(b) Spring selection, spring constant
(c) Pre load
part4] Tyre and wheel combination
(a) Wheels - +ve and -ve offset, track width
(b) Scrub radius
(c) Sidewalls, Air pressure
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
lowering the car
People usually associate lowering of the car with sportier handling..yes definately true if you do it right.
How hard can it be ? Buy a set of stiffer lowering springs and go down by 3 inches, job done.
Slap on a set of low profile tyres and there you go - car definately feels low slung and riders harder ..isn't stiffer suspension = sportier and softer = non sporty ?
What are we missing here ? havent we lowered the centre of gravity of the car ..isn't that a good thing Ferraris and all other sports cars sit lower definately cant be a bad thing.
What happens to camber when u lower the car ?
what happens to the bump steer ?
<to be continued...>
How hard can it be ? Buy a set of stiffer lowering springs and go down by 3 inches, job done.
Slap on a set of low profile tyres and there you go - car definately feels low slung and riders harder ..isn't stiffer suspension = sportier and softer = non sporty ?
What are we missing here ? havent we lowered the centre of gravity of the car ..isn't that a good thing Ferraris and all other sports cars sit lower definately cant be a bad thing.
What happens to camber when u lower the car ?
what happens to the bump steer ?
<to be continued...>
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Shifting gears
You may have been driving for more than 10 years with a stick shift but probably you may have still not heard of these 2 techniques..
1] Synchro rev match :
2] Power shifting : ..no use for non turbo engine..
1] Synchro rev match :
2] Power shifting : ..no use for non turbo engine..
Monday, 25 June 2012
whats more fun ?
driving a light car with no driver aid - no Abs, no Anti lock , no power steering..
direct steering to the wheels..
open pipe, no cat, straight through muffler ... hear the pop and crackle of the unburnt fuel..
small hi revving 4 valve simple single cam fuel injected engine .. ? no turbo no super charger just direct instant throttle response...
awesome grippy tyres on wrapped around "smaller than stock" wheels.
no stereo
no AC ...
It's more fun to drive a smaller slightly underpowered raw car on the edge..
I'd need a veyron to hit 250 mph to get same thrills..
Either u get it or u don't
direct steering to the wheels..
open pipe, no cat, straight through muffler ... hear the pop and crackle of the unburnt fuel..
small hi revving 4 valve simple single cam fuel injected engine .. ? no turbo no super charger just direct instant throttle response...
awesome grippy tyres on wrapped around "smaller than stock" wheels.
no stereo
no AC ...
It's more fun to drive a smaller slightly underpowered raw car on the edge..
I'd need a veyron to hit 250 mph to get same thrills..
Either u get it or u don't
Interesting crazy cars
1] JCW mini cooper clubman turbo
2] BMW 135 twin turbo
3] Dodge Challenger - god knows what happens when some fucker puts a twin turbo to its 6400 cc lazy ass and wakes up the beast
4] Mazdaspeed Protege turbo - awesome attempt.. should have beeen a hit
5] Jeep Sahara - awesome purpose built no nonsense brute
6] Subaru Wrx STI wagon ..
2] BMW 135 twin turbo
3] Dodge Challenger - god knows what happens when some fucker puts a twin turbo to its 6400 cc lazy ass and wakes up the beast
4] Mazdaspeed Protege turbo - awesome attempt.. should have beeen a hit
5] Jeep Sahara - awesome purpose built no nonsense brute
6] Subaru Wrx STI wagon ..
Most pointless/boring/sloppy/stupid cars
1] Honda Accord - Most boring
2] Mazda Rx8 - Stupid
3] BMW x6 - LOL, stupid
4] Mustang Boss 302 - Pointless
5] chevy Impala - sloppy boring
6] Hummer H2 - hahahaha fuckers still drive it.. stupid posers.
2] Mazda Rx8 - Stupid
3] BMW x6 - LOL, stupid
4] Mustang Boss 302 - Pointless
5] chevy Impala - sloppy boring
6] Hummer H2 - hahahaha fuckers still drive it.. stupid posers.
Friday, 8 June 2012
ideal car for the true petrol head...with translation for the non petrol head
Petrolead- No power steering, none of that hydraulic/electric power steering ..I need to feel the road thru the tyres, steering rack. No thanks I dont need any artificial assistance..
Non petrol head- I need power steering, it makes it easier to park my car.
--> What it means:
No power brakes, should know exactly how much bite I can get from my brakes.
I will control how much braking I need
Cable driven clutch - no hydraulic crap.
Manual 6 speed/dog type sequential with straight cut gears
Low slung -
Non petrol head- I need power steering, it makes it easier to park my car.
--> What it means:
No power brakes, should know exactly how much bite I can get from my brakes.
I will control how much braking I need
Cable driven clutch - no hydraulic crap.
Manual 6 speed/dog type sequential with straight cut gears
Low slung -
Friday, 25 May 2012
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Wheel selection ..
Wheels can make a lot of difference tot he handling if they are selected correctly and matched to your suspension and tyres and driving style.
1] Wheel diameter
A lot of people think going bigger in size is a good thing; you can put bigger tyres with lower profiles giving you more contact patch and lesser flex in the side walls etc. These things are just a few very minor "pros" as compared to the cons.
Firstly the gains made by stiffer low profile tyres will not be felt unless the suspension is also upgraded and "setup" accordingly( will cover the setup part in diff post)
Stock suspensions are designed for comfort, reliability, ease of maintenance and cost effective for selling the car at a particular price...
(A) Loss of ride comfort
Most of the times the big wheel-low profile tyre combo only introduces a bumpy ride, puts extra load on the shocks since we have now lost the cushioning provided by the slightly higher profile stock tyres.
(B) Final drive ratio (drive ratios details will be taken up in diff post as it will need a bigger explanation)
Another most overlooked con is - loss of accearation, bigger wheels alter the effective final drive ratio. The engines are designed to make torque at a particular rpm, the gearboxes are designed and ratios selected for each gear based on this effective powerband and the size of the wheel. If you use bigger diameter wheel the gear ratios for each gear become taller.
E.g. if your car was designed to have T1 Nm of torque @ n1 RPM and travelled at X1 MPH in 3rd gear
Now since the drive ratio is changed the car will now be doing X1 MPH at a lower RPM. This means now your engine is turning at an RPM which is lower than what was originally designed by the factory, which again means you are not in the power band and will be accelarating slower. Max accelaration happens when the engine is making the max torque within a paticular range of RPM and is able to transmit it via gearbox for a specific size of wheels.
Overall the car will be slower in doing 0-60mph,0-100 kmh etc
(C)Contact patch
This will increase with bigger dia wheels if the tyres are also bigger, which means if you select lower profile the effective circimfrence of the tyre will remain closer to stock... but if you try to go for bigger tyre with biger wheels you will get a bigger contact patch which means more rubber touching the road.
This could even reduce braking distance by 1-2 feet, which is good.
(D)Unsprung wieght
Anything not heldup by the suspension and shocksis unsprung wieight - like axles, differentials and wheels.
The unsprung weight can increase slightly with bigger wheels and tyres., this increases decreases the responsiveness of the suspension over bad roads.. suspension is not able to react as fast as possible to this extra weight of wheel and tyre.
Apart from comfort factor the car will not feel responsive to quick steering changes
(E)Rotational inertia
Bigger wheels and tyres are heavier and add to the rotational mass, it makes the engine work harder to spin that extra weight of the wheels.; this is in case of ricers putting oversized bling rims on crappy underpowered FR cars.
(F) Cornering
People may argue that bigger wheels and tyres may corner better due to rigidity of the sidewall (lower profile) and more contact patch they can get more grip.
More grip means they can go harder into corners and carry more speed while turning...You will get more "G" during the cornering.
Ok - how about this argument - since you are now suddenly having so much extra grip can ur suspension handle this ? during cornering the outer tyre is now having so much traction it will cause the entire weight to transfer to this side which will cause the inner wheel to not have any weight or even be lifted off the surface of the road..slightly reducing the contatc patch or even lifting off completely.
This will now reduce the overall grip as the inner is now not being effectively used wjhile going atound corners.. can the suspension handle this exyta grip is my question..
2]Offset/ET
Let's start this simple and later add the more technical calcuilations..I'l be going slowly here as it get's complicated pretty soon.
There are 4 things involved in order to understand this:
(a) Hub face :This is the mounting surface on which the actual wheel is bolted on with lug nuts; hub us what u see when u remove the wheels.
(b)Centre line of the wheel : The centre of the wheel when seen from top of the car .. the centre line will be parallel to the hub face.
(c)Plane on which the the lug nuts are located on the wheel: The nuts are not always on the centreline line of the wheel. this plane is determined by the shape/design of the wheels. This will also play a role in moving the distance between the hub surface and the wheel centreline
(d)Distance between the (a)hub face and (b)centre line : This will become your offset.
Imagine looking at the car from the top , we are considering the front right wheel
The hub face is on the left side, the wheel centre line is on the right side.
Consider the wheel as a sleeve which mounts on the hub.
How deep the sleeve/wheel covers the hub is determined by where the mounting surface of hub meets the inner face of the wheels mounting surface.
After mounting if the wheel has more +ve offset(more gap between the centreline and hub face) the wheel wil sit deeper into the wheel arch i.e. closer to the body.
Visualise it like this - more the offset. more the gap between mounting surface of hub and wheel mounting surface, therfore in oder to make them touch we will have to push the wheel further towards the hub to make them meet, this means towards the body of the car
Worst case : It will touch the inner part of the suspensing/steering mechanism and begin to rub.
After mounting if the wheel has -ve offset(less gap between the centreline and hub face) the wheel wil sit outwards in the wheel arch i.e. away from the body.
Worst case : It will poke outside of the wheel arch and put extra load on the suspensing/steering mechanism
This means on stock rims we can use widest tyre we can want till the point will have sufficient gap between inner surface of tyre and the suspensing/steering mechanism.
If we still want to go wider we will need to replace the stock wheels with a diff wheel which increases the gap between the body and tyre..ths is where ur ET comes in.
3] Suspension and steering geometry
Camber, toe in toe out, steering axis inclination, scrub radius.. <to be continued>
4] Gear ratio (Final drive accounting for effective circumfrence)
<to be continued>
1] Wheel diameter
A lot of people think going bigger in size is a good thing; you can put bigger tyres with lower profiles giving you more contact patch and lesser flex in the side walls etc. These things are just a few very minor "pros" as compared to the cons.
Firstly the gains made by stiffer low profile tyres will not be felt unless the suspension is also upgraded and "setup" accordingly( will cover the setup part in diff post)
Stock suspensions are designed for comfort, reliability, ease of maintenance and cost effective for selling the car at a particular price...
(A) Loss of ride comfort
Most of the times the big wheel-low profile tyre combo only introduces a bumpy ride, puts extra load on the shocks since we have now lost the cushioning provided by the slightly higher profile stock tyres.
(B) Final drive ratio (drive ratios details will be taken up in diff post as it will need a bigger explanation)
Another most overlooked con is - loss of accearation, bigger wheels alter the effective final drive ratio. The engines are designed to make torque at a particular rpm, the gearboxes are designed and ratios selected for each gear based on this effective powerband and the size of the wheel. If you use bigger diameter wheel the gear ratios for each gear become taller.
E.g. if your car was designed to have T1 Nm of torque @ n1 RPM and travelled at X1 MPH in 3rd gear
Now since the drive ratio is changed the car will now be doing X1 MPH at a lower RPM. This means now your engine is turning at an RPM which is lower than what was originally designed by the factory, which again means you are not in the power band and will be accelarating slower. Max accelaration happens when the engine is making the max torque within a paticular range of RPM and is able to transmit it via gearbox for a specific size of wheels.
Overall the car will be slower in doing 0-60mph,0-100 kmh etc
(C)Contact patch
This will increase with bigger dia wheels if the tyres are also bigger, which means if you select lower profile the effective circimfrence of the tyre will remain closer to stock... but if you try to go for bigger tyre with biger wheels you will get a bigger contact patch which means more rubber touching the road.
This could even reduce braking distance by 1-2 feet, which is good.
(D)Unsprung wieght
Anything not heldup by the suspension and shocksis unsprung wieight - like axles, differentials and wheels.
The unsprung weight can increase slightly with bigger wheels and tyres., this increases decreases the responsiveness of the suspension over bad roads.. suspension is not able to react as fast as possible to this extra weight of wheel and tyre.
Apart from comfort factor the car will not feel responsive to quick steering changes
(E)Rotational inertia
Bigger wheels and tyres are heavier and add to the rotational mass, it makes the engine work harder to spin that extra weight of the wheels.; this is in case of ricers putting oversized bling rims on crappy underpowered FR cars.
(F) Cornering
People may argue that bigger wheels and tyres may corner better due to rigidity of the sidewall (lower profile) and more contact patch they can get more grip.
More grip means they can go harder into corners and carry more speed while turning...You will get more "G" during the cornering.
Ok - how about this argument - since you are now suddenly having so much extra grip can ur suspension handle this ? during cornering the outer tyre is now having so much traction it will cause the entire weight to transfer to this side which will cause the inner wheel to not have any weight or even be lifted off the surface of the road..slightly reducing the contatc patch or even lifting off completely.
This will now reduce the overall grip as the inner is now not being effectively used wjhile going atound corners.. can the suspension handle this exyta grip is my question..
2]Offset/ET
Let's start this simple and later add the more technical calcuilations..I'l be going slowly here as it get's complicated pretty soon.
There are 4 things involved in order to understand this:
(a) Hub face :This is the mounting surface on which the actual wheel is bolted on with lug nuts; hub us what u see when u remove the wheels.
(b)Centre line of the wheel : The centre of the wheel when seen from top of the car .. the centre line will be parallel to the hub face.
(c)Plane on which the the lug nuts are located on the wheel: The nuts are not always on the centreline line of the wheel. this plane is determined by the shape/design of the wheels. This will also play a role in moving the distance between the hub surface and the wheel centreline
(d)Distance between the (a)hub face and (b)centre line : This will become your offset.
Imagine looking at the car from the top , we are considering the front right wheel
The hub face is on the left side, the wheel centre line is on the right side.
Consider the wheel as a sleeve which mounts on the hub.
How deep the sleeve/wheel covers the hub is determined by where the mounting surface of hub meets the inner face of the wheels mounting surface.
After mounting if the wheel has more +ve offset(more gap between the centreline and hub face) the wheel wil sit deeper into the wheel arch i.e. closer to the body.
Visualise it like this - more the offset. more the gap between mounting surface of hub and wheel mounting surface, therfore in oder to make them touch we will have to push the wheel further towards the hub to make them meet, this means towards the body of the car
Worst case : It will touch the inner part of the suspensing/steering mechanism and begin to rub.
After mounting if the wheel has -ve offset(less gap between the centreline and hub face) the wheel wil sit outwards in the wheel arch i.e. away from the body.
Worst case : It will poke outside of the wheel arch and put extra load on the suspensing/steering mechanism
This means on stock rims we can use widest tyre we can want till the point will have sufficient gap between inner surface of tyre and the suspensing/steering mechanism.
If we still want to go wider we will need to replace the stock wheels with a diff wheel which increases the gap between the body and tyre..ths is where ur ET comes in.
3] Suspension and steering geometry
Camber, toe in toe out, steering axis inclination, scrub radius.. <to be continued>
4] Gear ratio (Final drive accounting for effective circumfrence)
<to be continued>
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
All in the name of controlling pollution, cleaner air and greener environment..
So lets pass engine oil spray, exhaust fumes, unburnt airfuel mix, carbon and anything else which sludges up and carbonises the engine in your throttle body.
In short lets just make the engine eat its own shit ..
Hell of a way of recycling the crap coming out of the engine and keeping the environment clean.
Think I'm joking guys ? Why would manufacturers do this ?don't they know whats good for their engines ? you dont think Honda/Toyota/Nissan/BMW/Mercedes etc dont know how to make cars ?
Of course they know how to make engines.. but to meet pollution/emission standards they need to do all this.
..Aanything and everything which is bad for the engine is being done, it is being passed back into your throttle body for a second pass to ensure nothing escapes into the clean green fresh environment.
Apart from the fumes and exhaust gasses its the engine oil and blow back which is also a major contributor to the crap we feed into our throttle bodies.
Let me explain in more detail.. I'm sure at the end of this every petrol head is going to open his throttlebody and clean it, or atleast put his finger behind the throttle plate to see how much crap is being recycled..
probably the more insane/extreme petrolheads will reroute the breathers/pcv's/egr's etc ..
Lets get into the details..
Starting with the basics -Whatever is fed into the intake or the throttlebody will find its way into the injectors and coat the inner parts of the intake plenum and the runners.
[I should include a diagram here..I'll do it later..]
This is what is found in ur typical stock intake system in this order, this is how the path of air flows through your system, the red highlighted ones are the entry points from where the crap is fed into your system.
Anything downstream of these entruy points gets a decent dose of the oily gunk..
(a)resonator(commonlyfound)/airbox
(b)intake pipe with IAT(intake air temp sensor)
(c)throttlbody inlet
(d)throttle plate conected to TPS(throttle position sensor)
(e)map sensor
(f)throttle body(main barrel)
(g)intake runners
(h)injectors
(i)intake valves
-Now, what is actualy being recirculated ?
Cocktail of the following :
(a) Blowback directly into the TB
(b) Exhaust fumes courtesy of the EGR directly into the TB
(c) Oil splashes courtesy of the PCV directly into the TB
(d) Oil splashes courtesy of the breather directly into the TB or upstream into the intake pipe
<to be continued..>
In short lets just make the engine eat its own shit ..
Hell of a way of recycling the crap coming out of the engine and keeping the environment clean.
Think I'm joking guys ? Why would manufacturers do this ?don't they know whats good for their engines ? you dont think Honda/Toyota/Nissan/BMW/Mercedes etc dont know how to make cars ?
Of course they know how to make engines.. but to meet pollution/emission standards they need to do all this.
..Aanything and everything which is bad for the engine is being done, it is being passed back into your throttle body for a second pass to ensure nothing escapes into the clean green fresh environment.
Apart from the fumes and exhaust gasses its the engine oil and blow back which is also a major contributor to the crap we feed into our throttle bodies.
Let me explain in more detail.. I'm sure at the end of this every petrol head is going to open his throttlebody and clean it, or atleast put his finger behind the throttle plate to see how much crap is being recycled..
probably the more insane/extreme petrolheads will reroute the breathers/pcv's/egr's etc ..
Lets get into the details..
Starting with the basics -Whatever is fed into the intake or the throttlebody will find its way into the injectors and coat the inner parts of the intake plenum and the runners.
[I should include a diagram here..I'll do it later..]
This is what is found in ur typical stock intake system in this order, this is how the path of air flows through your system, the red highlighted ones are the entry points from where the crap is fed into your system.
Anything downstream of these entruy points gets a decent dose of the oily gunk..
(a)resonator(commonlyfound)/airbox
(b)intake pipe with IAT(intake air temp sensor)
(c)throttlbody inlet
(d)throttle plate conected to TPS(throttle position sensor)
(e)map sensor
(f)throttle body(main barrel)
(g)intake runners
(h)injectors
(i)intake valves
-Now, what is actualy being recirculated ?
Cocktail of the following :
(a) Blowback directly into the TB
(b) Exhaust fumes courtesy of the EGR directly into the TB
(c) Oil splashes courtesy of the PCV directly into the TB
(d) Oil splashes courtesy of the breather directly into the TB or upstream into the intake pipe
<to be continued..>
Approach to tuning/types of tuning
I'm trying to categorize the types/levels of tuning into categories..
If you are in a hurry ..skip to any step u feel like, but for others who would want to build their machines one step at a time, understand how their machines behave after each upgrade..and really want to experience the actual process of tuning ..try the following steps
1st get the stock machine to factory specs, make sure the base on which we are going to build our car is worthy of the upgrades ?
This includes :
a) Checking the engine - how much life it has left in it, do a compression test
b) Chasis
c) Body
d) Suspension and steering
<to be continued..>
If you are in a hurry ..skip to any step u feel like, but for others who would want to build their machines one step at a time, understand how their machines behave after each upgrade..and really want to experience the actual process of tuning ..try the following steps
1st get the stock machine to factory specs, make sure the base on which we are going to build our car is worthy of the upgrades ?
This includes :
a) Checking the engine - how much life it has left in it, do a compression test
b) Chasis
c) Body
d) Suspension and steering
<to be continued..>
Saturday, 22 October 2011
best road trips so far ..only pix
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Wisconsin deserted freeways.. |
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| bear mountain , New york |
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| thanksgiving time, drive thru griffith park in LA |
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| La Jolla, on the way to San Diego |
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| LA to Vegas through the Mojave desert.. |
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| Snow in Minnesotta, try driving with a FR layout with summer tyres :-) |
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| Driving around Times square, get to see some awesome exotic sports cars |
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| beautiful old bridge on the way from Pasadena to LA |
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| San Diego |
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| Solvang..really worth the drive from SantaBarbara |
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| awesome senic drive to St Croix from Minneapolis.. |
F1 - is it really such a big deal ?
Don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of F1 racing ?
I find it pretty boring ..
It's not that I dont understand it so I'm calling it boring .. I gave it a fair amount of time to really understand it.
I even tried to understand what other saw in it in case I was still missing the point; I gave it my best effort to understand what makes it so exciting ..
I spoke to some hardcore F1 fans..and asked what's in ths sport that makes it so exciting ? I'd like to join the F1 party ..what part of F1 am I not getting.
I was told - stuff like Driver skill, Race strategy, Pit stops, challenging tracks, the beauty of a F1 car and the way it sounds etc, the danger involved etc
To all of these points
I find it pretty boring ..
It's not that I dont understand it so I'm calling it boring .. I gave it a fair amount of time to really understand it.
I even tried to understand what other saw in it in case I was still missing the point; I gave it my best effort to understand what makes it so exciting ..
I spoke to some hardcore F1 fans..and asked what's in ths sport that makes it so exciting ? I'd like to join the F1 party ..what part of F1 am I not getting.
I was told - stuff like Driver skill, Race strategy, Pit stops, challenging tracks, the beauty of a F1 car and the way it sounds etc, the danger involved etc
To all of these points
US Diesel Nationals - September 18 2010
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| couldn't tell if they were drag racing or hauling load ..? |
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| after a few runs ..I stopped clicking, it was too boring |
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| jet engined dragsters starting up..more interesting then the diesels.. |
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| one of the monsters warming up.. |
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| monster trucks doing their thing. |
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| another round of the dragsters.. |
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| a beautiful long nose peterbilt specimen.. |
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behind the scenes, big tyres are replaced with smaller ones to help move the trucks around in the pit area |
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| smaller tyres, note the suspension.. |
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| closeup of the jet dragster |
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its just a basic chasis with a jet engine bolted on and a 1 peice body on top..so simple.. |
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| that torpedo shaped thingy is the fuel tank, just enough for 400 metres.. |
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Not joking ..but the smell from your car can tell a lot..
For people who have sensitive/sharp sense of smell thsi could be helpfull:
1] Smell of burnt cardboard/paper : Your clutch is burning
2] Smell of engine oil : Either some seal/gasket is gone and spraying on the hot engine bay
3] Burnt oil : Either u have not changed your oil and its buning up or there is some issue with your engine and oil has managed to reach the hot exhaust (this will also show as white smoke)
4] Sweet toxic smell : Coolant has spilled onto something hot, probably your coolant hose is leaking or something has damaged the radator.
5] Burnt rubber : :-) You have been having fun..
1] Smell of burnt cardboard/paper : Your clutch is burning
2] Smell of engine oil : Either some seal/gasket is gone and spraying on the hot engine bay
3] Burnt oil : Either u have not changed your oil and its buning up or there is some issue with your engine and oil has managed to reach the hot exhaust (this will also show as white smoke)
4] Sweet toxic smell : Coolant has spilled onto something hot, probably your coolant hose is leaking or something has damaged the radator.
5] Burnt rubber : :-) You have been having fun..
Building a fast street car .. otherway around
I see a lot .. or actually 99% of people trying to make fast street car in a very haphazard unorganised manner.There is no planning/calculation done by these people..just bolton any crap in any order as per availability in random order in favourite color which sounds cool...something like that.
Sounds like a very vague description but then a vague behaviour/pattern cannot be described in a more precise and technical manner.
The title of the post says ..otherway around ..this is exactly opposite of what the people do.
What does a typical tuner/ricer/newbie enthusiast do ?
<..more to come >
Sounds like a very vague description but then a vague behaviour/pattern cannot be described in a more precise and technical manner.
The title of the post says ..otherway around ..this is exactly opposite of what the people do.
What does a typical tuner/ricer/newbie enthusiast do ?
<..more to come >
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