Other Horsepower Increasing Methods
- Stuff more into each cylinder - If you can cram more air (and therefore fuel) into a cylinder of a given size, you can get more power from the cylinder (in the same way that you would by increasing the size of the cylinder). Turbo chargers and super chargers pressurize the incoming air to effectively cram more air into a cylinder. Many manufacturers make aftermarket turbos and super chargers for many different cars.
 Guang Niu/Getty Images The Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 has outstanding horsepower. |
- Cool the incoming air - Compressing air raises its temperature. You would like to have the coolest air possible in the cylinder because the hotter the air is the less it will expand when combustion takes place. Therefore many turbo charged and super charged cars have an intercooler. An intercooler is a special radiator through which the compressed air passes to cool it off before it enters the cylinder.
- Make everything lighter - Lightweight parts help the
engine perform better. Each time a piston changes direction it uses up
energy to stop the travel in one direction and start it in another. The
lighter the piston, the less energy it takes. Lighter parts also allow
the engine to rev faster, giving it more horsepower.
- Increase the compression ratio - Higher compression ratios
produce more power, up to a point. The more you compress the air/fuel
mixture, however, the more likely it is to spontaneously burst into
flame (prior to the spark plug igniting it). Higher octane gasolines
prevent this sort of early combustion. That is why high-performance
cars generally need high octane gasoline - their engines are using
higher compression ratios to get more power.
- Increase displacement - More displacement means more power
because you can burn more gas during each revolution of the engine. You
can increase displacement by making the cylinders bigger.
