High Performance Academy

There's a lot to think about when it comes to designing an intake system, and one of the key considerations is the length of the intake trumpet.

This can have a significant effect on the shape of the engine’s torque curve if we get it right, it improves the cylinder filling and providing more power and torque. What we gain at one specific rpm though we often lose at another and one of the techniques used to reduce the peakiness of the power delivery and provide a wider torque curve, is to use unequal length trumpets on an engine.

This is commonplace on sport bikes and can be seen here on this V8. Of course this does effect the cylinder filling on different cylinders across the engine as we move through the rev range. If we have two cylinders that have different masses of air inside them then this will also mean that the mass of fuel being delivered needs to be different in order to maintain the same AFR, and the optimal ignition timing may also vary. This is where individual cylinder trim tables become valuable, allowing the fuel and ignition to be altered to suit. Of course optimising the fuel delivery to each cylinder like this ideally requires individual cylinder lambda sensors.

Wiring isn't necessarily a difficult task, but to do a good job it does require some thoughts and consideration beyond just running wire from A to B and calling it job done.

Check it out: hpcdmy.co/qualitywiring

Quality Wiring Is All In The Little Details Wiring isn't necessarily a difficult task, but to do a good job it does require some thoughts and consideration beyond just running wire from A to B and calling it job done.

If replica wheels are just as good as the genuine articles like many claim, why don't we see them used in top-tier motorsport?

Check it out: hpcdmy.co/realwheelsf

Are Genuine Wheels Worth It? If replica wheels are just as good as the genuine articles like many claim, why don't we see them used in top-tier motorsport?

Are you still using an older analog style wideband controller or in the market for a new one and not sure what the advantages of CAN Bus based device are? This video is for YOU!

Watch here: hpcdmy.co/widebandf

The Problem With Analog Wideband Controllers Are you still using an older analog style wideband controller or in the market for a new one and not sure what the advantages of CAN Bus based device are? This video is for YOU!

The KOVAL EVO is one of the most successful roll racing cars in Australia and has seen a few iterations, owners, and a couple of catch cans over the years, as well as 80-90PSI of boost and up to 11,000rpm.

Watch here: hpcdmy.co/1200hpevo

1200hp+ EVO | 11,000rpm & 'Illegal' On The Track The KOVAL EVO is one of the most successful roll racing cars in Australia and has seen a few iterations, owners, and a couple of catch cans over the years, as well as 80-90PSI of boost and up to 11,000rpm.

Heat is a natural byproduct of compressing air, but heat is the enemy of power as it’s less dense, meaning it contains less oxygen for a given volume. The typical solution on turbocharged or supercharged engines is to incorporate an intercooler in the charge air plumbing which is simply a heat exchanger that can reduce the temperature of the inlet charge air. There’s nothing new here but it may surprise you to realise that not all intercoolers are created equal.

Over the years we’ve had the opportunity to test a wide variety of intercoolers including OEM products, generic off the shelf intercoolers, and intercoolers from name brand manufacturers like Plazmamanracing and have found a few key differences that can be easy to overlook. There is of course the age old debate of bar and plate vs tube and fin which relates to the construction method of the intercooler core, however we’ll leave that discussion for another post. The more important design consideration we’ve found is with regard to the internal fins inside of the intercooler.

These fins add surface area to the intercooler which gives the hot charge air more area to contact and hence this aids heat transfer from the charge air into the aluminium of the intercooler (the reverse happens when the cooler ambient air flows through the fins on the other side of the intercooler in the same way).

What we’ve seen with a number of the cheaper generic intercoolers is that these internal fins are either dramatically reduced, or in some instances completely missing, presumably to reduce costs. From the outside the intercooler looks normal but the lack of internal fins greatly reduces the ability to remove heat from the charge air. In one dyno test conducted with this style of IC core we saw IAT reaching 70-80 deg C at only modest boost levels. Swapping to a core with internal fins like the one pictured reduced IAT by around 45 deg C and resulted in an additional 60 horsepower at the wheels!

A pair of 2JZs, both making 1,000+ hp, might need very different internal clearances. Why?

The difference comes down to the components inside them and how they’re used. The clearances chosen for a street engine will likely differ from those suited to drifting, land-speed racing, or a jet boat. Peak horsepower alone doesn’t tell you how long an engine stays under load, what RPM it operates at, or what temperatures it reaches.

The components themselves also matter. A piston designed for much higher output may have different dimensions and mass, which affect its clearance requirements, and that means we need to work from the requirements of the actual piston we’re installing.

Bearing clearances also need to accommodate what happens under load. Crankshafts and connecting rods flex, and the clearance measured during assembly has to work when those components are hot and loaded. Increasing bearing clearance also affects oil flow, so oil viscosity and pump capacity should be considered alongside it.

What this all means is that there’s no universal “1,000hp clearance”. We need to start with the component manufacturers’ recommendations, account for the engine’s intended use, and measure and record what we assemble.

This is something that Tom from Hughes Race Built understands better than most, and will make sure he gets exactly right when the time comes to piece the HPA Legends 1000+hp giveaway 2JZ together live at this year’s PRI show in December.

What's the advantage of fitting an exhaust gas temperature sensor and how can we leverage that data for our tuning?

Watch here: hpcdmy.co/whyEGT

Why Fit An EGT Sensor? What's the advantage of fitting an exhaust gas temperature sensor and how can we leverage that data for our tuning?