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#16
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that is the funniest damn thing i've ever read in my life! |
#17
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here's an idea. what if you take the cooling element out of one of those coolers you plug into your cigarette lighters and mount it in the intake somewhere?
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#18
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The whole supercharged lawnmower thing was a lame proof-of-concept idea. I had toyed around with the idea of using a gas-powered leaf blower to supercharge a car. There was something comically appealing about pulling alongside some beefed-up muscle car in my POS Honda, and, while he's revving his engine, I'd just yank the pull-starter cord on the dash and start revving my leaf blower. The thought of whooping somebody with a rusty Honda and a leaf blower was enough to inspire me to at least give it a shot.
I built a primitive pressure tank around the carburetor and gas tank of an old lawnmower (because they're attached together and fairly small) and then literally duct-taped an electric leaf blower to the assembly. I replaced the mower blade with a 25-pound barbell weight and used a heavy leather welding glove and my bare hands to measure torque. Normally aspirated, it was possible for me to roll on the throttle and still stop the spinning barbell with a fair bit of effort. It wasn't easy to stop. I'm pretty sure that with only slightly more power it would have been nearly impossible to manage, so that seemed like a pretty good test to me, even if it's not exactly scientific. If I thought I was having some degree of success I was planning on building an actual band brake and using a fishing scale to measure the braking effort required to control RPM at WOT. ...but it never came to that. Anyway, by the time I was content that the whole thing was a waste of time, I'd played with the fuel mixture, removed the flywheel key to advance the spark timing, and even with three leaf blowers I didn't notice any real difference other than that it idled a little smoother, but not any faster. The contraption was primarily constructed of duct tape and vacuum cleaner hose. I measured the pressure by placing a small piece of hardboard over the opening of the vacuum cleaner hose. I added and removed weight until the pressure from the blowers was just barely able to lift the hardboard. Using the area of the opening of the hose and the weight of the hardboard and weights, it's possible to get a reasonably accurate calculation of pressure. ...which wasn't very much. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but it was less than a pound. My leaf blowers were all electric, so it's likely that gas leaf blowers are more powerful, but I don't think it'd be enough to make a substantial difference. In theory, there must have been a slight increase in power or I somehow failed to get the fuel mixture quite right. I think there was an increase, but it was so small that it was simply imperceptible. I think those motors have either a 7.5:1 or 8:1 compression ratio. (I used to know.) It's pretty low, whatever it is. Perhaps that low ratio is why a small increase wouldn't be noticeable. Sorry, no pictures. If it had worked, there probably would have been. The "super sucker" idea isn't exactly a new one, but it doesn't make much difference in most engines. There's a similar idea that actually does make a difference though. Off the top of my head I don't remember what it's called, but it's basically a crankcase vacuum pump. (That might be what it's called.) People often knife-edge the crankshaft counterweights and other parts to reduce drag. Another way to reduce drag inside the engine is to remove all the air. It's horribly turbulent inside there, and by removing the air it's supposed to be possible to gain five to twenty horsepower, depending on the engine. The vacuum pumps draw relatively little power, and the power you get by reducing drag is free power. The downside is that the pumps need to be cleaned very often and also suck a lot of oil out of your crankcase too. I would think that perhaps some sort of oil trap and recirculation sump might be able to recover the oil. I think they use some sort of positive displacement gear pump and that's why they need constant cleaning, but I haven't looked into it much, so I don't really know. It's good for drag racing, but not much else. |
#19
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damn...i was half kidding... that story rocks though...i totally dig the mad scientist aspect of car ownership
__________________
I Leave late and STILL manage to arrive early Car #26..'97 SVX Silver (120k and climbing) previous SVXi: Car #24..'94 SVX Ebony 216k (sold) car #18..'97 SVX LSI "Ebby" Pearl 175k (sold) car #19..'97 SVX LSI Brilliant Red 103k (sold) car #14..'92 SVX Claret LS-L Touring (sold) car #13..'94 SVX Laguna Blue LS (sold) |
#20
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#21
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"today we are gonna "suckercharge" our SVX using a belt sander and a leaf blower....*PAFF*... there goes harold"
i can change if i have to.... i guess
__________________
I Leave late and STILL manage to arrive early Car #26..'97 SVX Silver (120k and climbing) previous SVXi: Car #24..'94 SVX Ebony 216k (sold) car #18..'97 SVX LSI "Ebby" Pearl 175k (sold) car #19..'97 SVX LSI Brilliant Red 103k (sold) car #14..'92 SVX Claret LS-L Touring (sold) car #13..'94 SVX Laguna Blue LS (sold) |
#22
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heres another idea run some duct work from our air conditioners to the intake so the air it sucks is ice cold hehehe any theories on that one?
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#23
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Awsome idea! Soup up the blower motor and you have a cold air induction electric supercharger with 3 selectable boost levels!
KuoH Quote:
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#24
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Hey that suckercharger things sounds a little X-Rated .don't you think Watch your language there are kids here
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#25
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The problem with this is that it takes power to run the AC compressor. Any advantage the cold air might give you would be offset by the power required to run the compressor. Dave |
#26
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I kinda get the idea that this post kinda has a 50/50 mix of people posting... half who are messing around with dumb ideas and half who are taking them seriously
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1995 Red LSi Mods: ECUTune Stage One, Smallcar shift kit, removed side SVX badges(weight reduction ) Future plans: Alcyone emblem, black out taillights (Not that I think it looks overly good I just like people having no idea what it is and want to add to the confusion) |
#27
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I don’t think it would work because the flow rate would not be high enough, but that isn’t to say that a heat exchanger driven by the AC compressor couldn’t be used to cool the air intake. To offset a 1 hp draw from the AC (only an assumption) would require the amount of oxygen to increase by .4%. Without doing the math, it would require cooling the air only 1 or 2 degrees. |
#28
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The only A/c cooling advantage to the intake system is on turbo/supercharged cars. My brother is still in College to be a mechanical enigineer and this was going to be part of his thesis project on his z. it was too bad that ford beat him to the punch by doing it on their 2005 prototype of the Lightning. Iteresting setup though, the freon was run through their custom intercooler for a quick 30 second blast. it ended up giving the car an extra 50hp at the wheels but the problem is, You don't want to run the A/C while racing so it is to charge it up and then have it released to the intercooler to cool it down. I thought it was really smart idea but I don't think they are going to put it into production. A naturally aspirated car is not afected by heat differences as much as a forced induction car is. Thats why I beat Tom at the track on a 100degree day.
Tom |
#29
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Now you could have the intake A/C charge only under braking so that not only will it slightly help slow you down but also be ready to go when you step on the gas.
(think regenerative braking on electric cars)
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David B. SVXipedia @ SVX-IW.COM -- SVX Information Warehouse 2.0 coming...eventually! Ebony 1992 SVX LS-L 5 spd Koni/GC Stebro 187k miles RIP (Rust In Pieces) 1993 SVX 5 spd Koni/GC Stebro Polyurethane bushings still available! |
#30
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A supercharger is much more effiecient than a compressor is, so this does not hold true for superchargers Dave |
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