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Why more torque when cold?


cygnusx1

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When the car is still warming up, like when the water temp is about 1/8 of the way up about 2 minutes after starting the engine it has MONSTER torque down in the lower RPMs. What is it exactly that causes that? I would like to somehow emulate that and keep that power even when it's warmed up. Anyone else observe this also? I know all the intake parts are still cold such as the intake manifold and intercooler plumbing. Is it that simple or is there more to it?

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Do you pull your air from in front of or behind the radiator? Do you have emission controls that pulls crankcase air into the intake? As the engine warms up heat builds under the hood and the intake air becomes less dense resulting in less hp/torque.

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Guest bastaad525

or it might be you are running too lean when fully warmed up, so when it's nice and rich during warm up it makes the full power it should? Just speculation, I know that we've talked a lot about the BEGI unit, and I've always wondered how you get away with so much less fuel pressure when you're running nearly the same boost out of a much more efficient turbo than I am.

 

Didn't you also finally find some real evidence that you were running lean? Like clean spark plugs or such?

 

At any rate... my own car runs like crap until the temp needle gets about 1/5 of the way up....

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bastaad, my car definately runs on the lean side under full boost...I had never heard ping until a few weeks ago while accelerating hard on the highway. Since that I have raised the begi fuel pressure a bit. The car has been getting 22-23 mpg mixed driving with occasional hammer downs. It definately gets enough fuel when driving casually. I don't think it's a perfect fuel curve but it's as close to factory as it can get until boost causes the fuel pressure to rise from stock. Also, my N/A motor had, and my WRX has, more power right after and during warm up.

 

My hunch has always been that heat soak causes the loss of several foot pounds of torque. If it is mainly heat soak, too bad we can't figure out a way to keep the manifolds cold. The cold side of my intercooler is always very cold to the touch after a hard drive so I think that it's doing its job. I bet it's the intake manifold that gets hot and robs us of all that torque.

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You are correct, the engine runs stronger when it is cold. All of the active components are cool and the intake air is cooler. You want a fix, do what BMW has done with their engines, go with a carbon fiber/plastic comp intake and you will get overall better performance when the engine is hot.

Same thing as running on a nice 50 degree day as compared to a 90 degree day. The air is colder,denser and the engine runs better/stronger provided you can provide the additional fuel for the burn.

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Are there any coatings for the interior of an intake manifold that will inhibit heat transfer into the airflow? So, plastic/composite intercooler pipes and intake manifolds may be the way to go. Lots of people have laid thier own fiberglass and carbon parts. Has anyone here tried to make an intake out of fiberglass or carbon fiber yet? I did see the aluminum ones with heat blankets over them.

 

Thermal Coatings

http://www.speedoptions.com/articles/1213/

 

What about dip coating the intake tract parts with silicone or PVC?

http://www.piper-plastics.com/plastic-coating.htm

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  • 1 year later...

Post revival. Summer is here and the intake manifolds are hot. How to keep them cool? Can we get cool airflow in between the bottom of the intake maniflod and the exhaust manifold to keep the convection heat transfer down?

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I hope my larger intercooler (225 in2, up from 160 in2)will help, combined with cold air intake. I measured 100F intake charge temps last week here in SC and 75 - 85F at night with very noticable difference in torque. Heat is the enemy of turbo's. A good EFI with tuning does help alot.

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