I lifted this from another thread recently opened by Rumble relative to engine temps and chrome plating.
Yes, it does look great, and I had the same questions on my mind for a while now. My thoughts began when discussing Reinhart's Cobra exhaust, and it's ceramic "jet-hot" coating acting as a heat barrier. Considering how deep the lower intake sits in the valley between the heads, I thought that if ceramic coating keeps heat in, it should keep heat out too, and I set out to investigate how ceramic coating the lower intake could improve combustion.Originally Posted by shannon corkill
First, I sent a spare upper and lower intake manifold out for treatment by MirrorLook in Naperville Il. www.mirrorlook.com The lower intake was 100 percent ceramic coated inside and out, no other treatments, or, internal polishing. The upper intake was polished on the outside only. Both came back looking very sweet. The bonus in appearance is one thing, but what I didn't expect is how the ceramic coating inside the lower intake seemed to smooth things out just a bit. It's just an impression, whether this was going to be any benefit or not was what I had to investigate. Larry did a great job of it too.
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/...t/last1/page/1
Next, I ran a base line on the dyno to establish where in my powerband I was getting the best performance. I did not do your typical performance pull, but drove the car from a dead stop through to the top of third gear, to simulate a 1/4 mile run. While it's true that the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts will cause spikes in the overall RWHP and RWTQ number, I wasn't concerned about skewing those final numbers. I wanted to track where the power came on and to see if I could improve that. BTW, I track all my performance measurements directly from the EEC. Engine temps, fuel trim, voltage, ect., all with the Davis CarChip EX. External gauges and measurements are fine, but I want to see what the EEC sees, and reacts to.
My Kenny Brown Vortech supercharger delivers an air charge that is a stable 10 degrees lower than outside air at the point where IATs are measured, and my belief was that if I could keep this air colder longer in the combustion process, I should expect more power. Since there is no way that I know of to measure the air charge temp this deep in the intake process, I had to look at other areas to note any change. The best I could think of was AFR and power curve on the dyno.
The AFR was a clean 13-13.5 prior to the mods, and my engine temps have always been very stable at 180-185 degrees. After the intake was installed, and Paul's intake spacer added, I went on for the "after" dyno." The rationale for adding the spacer was simply to increase intake volume. How much power this spacer adds, is mostly opinion and seat-of-the-pants measurements, however, the whole point of supercharging is to increase volumetric efficiency, so, it can't hurt to give the air charge a little more elbow room up top.
I lost almost 10 RWHP off the top end, no big deal to me right now. My AFR has dropped into the "pig rich" 11.-12. range, and engine temps are down to 175-180 degrees. Fuel consumption has dropped to 20 MPG HYW as well. What does this mean? I'm running way rich and need to retune the engine for better performance. Considering where I was at prior to this upgrade, this is good news to me. Moreover, my 1-2 and 2-3 shifts are comming on much too soon, 4500 and 5500 PRM respectively, again a sign of a need to retune, but likewise a plus.
My engine builds power from 2500 through 6000 RPM, so, I'm not getting the best of my powerband. However, I did gain 7 RWHP at 4000 RPM, just before the 1-2 shift, and 12 RWHP at 5000 RPM, just before the 2-3 shift. I believe that if I can see that now, I know there is more to reach for with tuning, and tuning safely away from deadly detonation thresholds and running lean. BTW, I have a second knock sensor and an '04 EEC installed last spring.
My results seem bleak at this time, but I'm not done. My projection is that I will not see any great improvements on the dyno, but already my SOTP meter is telling me this was a good mod.
Was it worth it? Is there any "bang for the buck?" Ummm...Yes, it's there, but within a very thin margin. Paul's intake spacer alone seem well worth the 80 bucks, and you'll feel it in the low RPMs. The performance gains of ceramic coated lower intake and polished upper intake do not justify their combined cost of 500 bucks, but they do look great too. Labor costs are minimal, changing out the intake is a DYI afternoon project.
Next up, is actually polishing the interior of the intake, and a few other tricks. Zack's going to take that on.
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/...t/last1/page/1
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/...t/last1/page/1
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/...t/last1/page/1
http://www.mercurygallery.net/mmnet/...t/last1/page/1