Increasing car engine power: instructions and possible ways

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

Every year cars are getting faster and more powerful. Manufacturers are trying to get the most out of engines. Various methods and technologies are used for this. But what if you want to increase the engine power of an already used car? Consider a few effective options.

Turbine installation

Perhaps this is the most effective way to increase the power of motors. The bottom line is extremely simple - more air will flow into the engine, and, accordingly, the output of the motor will increase. Not only power increases, but also torque.

At the moment, there are whole kits for supercharging engines. Most lucky in this case, the owners of Japanese cars. There are many examples when a turbocharged GTE was made from a naturally aspirated JZ engine. As a result, the power of the car from 180 forces increased to 280-300. The turbine allows you to get the most out of the engine. But you need to understand that not every motor can withstand such loads. Should be a strong piston. Otherwise, the resource of the motor will decrease significantly. It is possible to increase the power of the VAZ by installing a turbine only after finalizing the motor itself.

Thus, tuning with a turbine has one serious plus. This is a significant increase in power. But there are quite a few cons. Firstly, it is a big expense for the purchase of the turbine itself and related attachments. Secondly, refinement of the internals of the motor is required. Therefore, this method is not used so often by motorists. Basically, this is done for the car to participate in drag racing or other sports competitions.

Compressor

Not so long ago, cars (for example, the Mercedes C-class) used a supercharging compressor. This is, one might say, a "light version" of the turbine. The essence of the compressor is as follows. The unit is driven by a crankshaft pulley through a belt drive and pumps air under low pressure. Unlike the turbine, which blows from one to one and a half bar, the compressor produces no more than 0.3. Of course, because of this, such a high increase in power cannot be obtained. But there is a big plus: such a compressor can be installed on a standard VAZ engine, or on the engine of any foreign car, without replacing the piston group. Since the motor does not tolerate heavy loads, its resource will remain the same. But there is also a drawback. The compressor is larger and in most cases there is nowhere to put it under the hood.

Refining the motor itself

Nowconsider how you can increase the production capacity of the engine without installing superchargers. The first way is to install a wide-phase camshaft. This tuning is one of the most affordable, simple and budget. After installing a wide-phase camshaft, better filling of the combustion chamber at high speeds is provided.

Another option to increase the engine power of the Niva and other VAZ vehicles is to reduce the friction force. How can this idea be realized? The emphasis is on reducing the friction of the pistons against the cylinder walls. To do this:

• Reduce the thickness of the rings.
• Shorten the piston skirt.
• Change the fastening of the connecting rod to the piston by shifting the element into the bosses.

The next option for tuning the motor in order to increase power is to reduce the weight of the piston. To do this, it is necessary to replace the standard connecting rods and pistons with lighter ones. Now even ready-made lightweight piston kits are on sale. Basically, these are kits for VAZ engines. But as practice shows, the increase in power after this operation is not significant.

That is, of the above improvements, the installation of a sports camshaft is considered the most optimal. It costs less than a lightweight piston, and the effect of it is much greater. But you need to understand that the return will be only at high speeds. You will have to turn the engine to the red zone, and this does not suit everyone.

Is it relevant to install a 16-valve head instead of an 8-valve one?

Nowvery popular tuning in this direction. Heads with two camshafts are installed on old motors. As practice shows, the effect of this is. Due to the better filling of the cylinders, the engine power increases. However, with proper technical tuning of an 8-valve, you can achieve no worse results than on a 16-valve. If it is still possible to install dual-camshaft "heads" on the engines of front-wheel drive VAZs, then you should not bother with the "classics". Installing a compressor will be much more efficient.

Cylinder boring

This is already a more efficient way to increase the power of a VAZ engine without installing a turbine. However, this is a very costly method. The bottom line is to increase the working volume of the engine. As a result, an ordinary one and a half liter engine turns into 1.6 or 1.7. This way, more fuel gets into the chamber, and accordingly, the performance of the internal combustion engine increases. Of the minuses of boring cylinders, only increased fuel consumption is worth noting, since now the engine will need more energy to produce torque.

Chip tuning

Perhaps this is the most popular way to increase power. In this case, the engine control unit is reflashed. At the same time, the design of the engine remains the same. What is the feature of chip tuning? Many manufacturers lay down a certain power reserve, which is limited due to electronic blocking. When replacing the ECU software, the engine works a little differently. Increases power and torque. Especially thisnoticeable on turbocharged engines. Here it is realistic to achieve an increase in power by as much as 20 percent. On atmospherics, this figure is twice as low. However, even under this condition, chip tuning is very popular.

Now there are many firmwares, especially for the ECU of domestic VAZs. Through simple manipulations, the specialist changes the software, thereby improving the performance of the car.

Among the advantages of this method of increasing power, it is worth noting:

• Easy tuning. No need to disassemble the engine and change any parts.
• Saving money. Since the revision requires only the replacement of the software, the price of the revision includes only the cost of the firmware and specialist services. Increasing the capacity of the Niva will cost about 15,000 rubles.
• Good performance. Yes, the engine will not be twice as powerful. But still, you need to understand that only the software part is changing here, and not the technical nodes.

Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting the reduction in engine life. Since the motor is loaded more than it should be, it will require repair sooner. This must be understood in advance before increasing the power of the car in this way.

Installing a straight-through muffler

This is rather not a way, but an additional option for improving performance. When installing a straight-through muffler, exhaust gases leave the combustion chamber faster. Improved cylinder clearance. Due to the large diameter of the outlet, the gases seem to be drawn out of the engine into the atmosphere.

But it is worth noting that this refinement is not effective if other ways to increase power have not been made before. That is, on a standard engine, forward flow will be ineffective. The standard muffler optimally copes with the release of gases, and the engine does not suffocate. What can not be said about the "charged" internal combustion engines: after installing the turbine, the volume of exhaust gases increases significantly. As a result, the engine chokes on its own gases.

Thus, the installation of a direct-flow muffler will only have an effect when paired with the installation of a turbine, sports shafts or after boring the block. On a factory engine, increasing power in this way will not work (or the result will be within the margin of error).

Zero resistance filter

Often, motorists practice the installation of the Federal Tax Service together with a straight-through muffler. What do experts say about this? Again, this filter should only be used if the engine is turbocharged or has other modified specifications. On a factory engine with the installation of the Federal Tax Service, results cannot be achieved, just like with a straight-through muffler. But after installing the turbine, the Federal Tax Service is simply necessary. The factory filter cannot cope with such a load and is not able to clean such a volume of air in such a short time.

Catalyst removal

This is another way to slightly increase power. Every gasoline engine is equipped with a catalytic converter from the factory. This is a special filterlocated behind the exhaust manifold and is designed to clean gases from harmful substances. Over time, this catalyst becomes clogged. The car stops developing normally, consumption increases. The reason is simple - the engine suffocates with its own gases. The way out of the situation is to remove the catalyst. This can be done in several ways:

• Knock out the ceramic filler.
• Replace the whole catalytic converter with a spacer or a flame arrester.

As a result, free running of exhaust gases is ensured. But you need to understand that this method will not add significant power. The difference will be noticeable if you have previously driven a heavily clogged catalyst.

Increase diesel engine power

Unlike gasoline engines, diesel engines are more difficult to modify due to their more complex design. However, at the moment there is a good way to increase power. This is the installation of a block that changes the mode of operation of the injectors. The advantage of the method is that the unit can be used on engines with any fuel equipment. This can also be called a kind of chip tuning. The design of the engine is not subject to change. This increases the torque of the internal combustion engine.

What are the downsides? Of the minuses, it is worth noting that the engine still tolerates higher loads. Accordingly, the resource, although a little, will be reduced.

Summing up

So, we looked at ways to increase engine power. As you can see, there are a lot of options. The most effective of them is the installation of supercharging. The least effective is the installation of forward flow and the Federal Tax Service. If you do not plan to make a sports car out of your car, then chip tuning will be a compromise option. After flashing the ECU, the motor will respond faster to the pedal, and there is no need to think about replacing the piston with a lightweight one, or installing sports camshafts.