Car Enigne + Leaf Blower = Video

[kach22i]

Leaf Blower Power:
http://videos.streetfire.net/Player.aspx?fileid=AB544E3B-5DFF-416D-9CFD-A1AD23CA9564&p=0

Gotta get one for the Porsche.

[stomachmonkey]

Funny.

So we should all go out stick gas powered leaf blowers under the hood and feed em from a split in the fuel line.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Funny.

So we should all go out stick gas powered leaf blowers under the hood and feed em from a split in the fuel line.

I saw a cord, hook it up to your battery.

[onewhippedpuppy]

You know something? It's only a matter of time until one of us pulls up to a primered beat up Civic, with a hose coming from under the hood to a leaf blower in the passenger seat. Look closely, and you might spot the NOS bottle duct taped to the leaf blower intake.

[flashgordon13]

I'm on my way to Home Depot to pick up some true performance!! I am planning on using the storage areas behind the rear wheels but I'm worried about blower lag because it's so far from the engine. What do you guys think?

[kstar]

Using a gas powered leaf blower as a forced induction method is absolutely silly.















Anyone knows you need two such leaf blowers.

Best,

Kurt

[kach22i]

I stand corrected, there is NO cord on the leaf blower they are using.

However there are cords on the blue and red centrifugal leaf blowers on the floor in front of the S-10 pickup truck as seen in the last few seconds of the video.

They did have a white fire extinguisher poised for action while doing this. Gives you something to think about.

Knowing kids and how they like to pull one on you, I'd have to say this is a joke.

I still remember "Winding Road" and the fake Z-06 Vette, they have no credentials and never will.

[Aerkuld]

If that is an advert for a buisness, which it appears to be, then I would steer well clear. Even IF I had a Honda Civic.

[the]

Obviously would be very easy to fake, but . . . is it impossible for it to work?

The leaf blower would have to put out enough flow to be greater than the intake is sucking in at full throttle/full RPM (otherwise it would just be an impediment).

But a gas powered leaf blower seems to put out quite a bit of air.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I don't know the flow rates, but most gas leaf blowers put out air at 200 MPH or greater. If the air volume was sufficient, I would think it would have a ram type effect. The NOS thing is very much plausible, because all systems do is fog the intake anyway.

All I was thinking is I hope those are their cars, and not a customer's.

[Aerkuld]

I was thinking about this and trying to do a quick calculation. These are very rough guesses at best, but please correct me if I’ve done anything really stupid…

Assumptions:
Engine: 2.0 liter 4 cylinder
Peak power @ 6000rpm
Volumetric efficiency of 80% (how much of the cylinder volume is actually filled during the induction stroke)
Leaf blower flow rate: 250cfm

For each revolution of the engine only two cylinders will see an induction stroke. So at 6000rpm the engine would have a theoretical air demand of 6000 liters per minute which is 212 cfm (cubic feet per minute). With a volumetric efficiency of 80% the engine can only actually pull in 80% of this volume, so the actual air demand will be just about 170 cfm. So it does seem as though a leaf blower that can flow 250cfm would provide sufficient air flow to feed a 2.0 liter engine in this situation. Using the same rpm and volumetric efficiency assumptions, that leaf blower should be able to keep up with an engine up to almost 3.0 liters.

There are a few problems that I can see though.
1. The leaf blower is probably designed with significant clearances around the impeller. This is fine for moving a large volume of air but won’t be very good at generating much pressure. This means that the flow rate of the leaf blower will only be true if the inlet and outlet of the blower are unrestricted. Once you start to restrict the outlet by connecting it to the engine then the flow will go down and the ‘boost’ effect wouldn’t be as great as it appears in the calculation.
2. I doubt that the induction system would actually be designed to hold pressure so it probably leaks. This will further reduce the boost effect.
3. Even so, I doubt that a stock engine management system would be able to cope with a significant increase in air pressure. The most likely effect would be that it cannot deliver enough fuel so it will run lean. I doubt it would be able to run like this for any period of time.

Bottom line is that it is does seem possible that you can cram more air into an engine than it could normally consume by using a leaf blower. If you can cram in more air and corresponding amount of fuel into the engine then you will get more energy from the combustion and more power out of the engine. Whether this would work in a practical situation is another matter altogether.

[rammstein]

Its really dumb.

HOWEVER-
At least SOME of the kids out there are thinking about how to add power in a way that, at least in its primary idea, aren't insane.

I mean, cramming more air into the engine IS a way to make more power. This just isn't a good way to do it.

The kids that concern me are the ones putting the huge wings, 22' wheels, fart-cans, and blue light bulbs. Those are flawed from the get-go.

These guys need to know that a Type-R sticker would add WAY more power than a leaf blower.

EDIT- Awesome analysis Aerkuld- your problems section is particularly awesome.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Aerkuld

3. Even so, I doubt that a stock engine management system would be able to cope with a significant increase in air pressure. The most likely effect would be that it cannot deliver enough fuel so it will run lean. I doubt it would be able to run like this for any period of time.

This is what I was thinking, I think you are right.

[DARISC]

I tried the opposite approach (forced evacuation):

I put heavy duty castors on my heavily modified Sears Shop Vac, duct taped the hose to my exhaust pipe and snapped the tow chain when I speed shifted into 5th gear.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Aerkuld, you make some good points. For a non-turbocharged car that is not designed to see positive manifold pressure, it is doubtful that the engine management would adjust the fuel volume to provide for a proper AFR and more power. Though their gains of approximately 10 HP with only the leaf blower are not obscenely large, so I'd say it is still plausible, if not likely.

Their biggest gains were by shooting a spray of NOx into the leaf blower (intake), which is far more believable. Basic nitrous systems are no more than a fogger head that inserts into the intake pipe, and blows in NOx. What they did is the same concept, but with less precision and control of the fogging.

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by DARISC

I tried the opposite approach (forced evacuation):

I put heavy duty castors on my heavily modified Sears Shop Vac, duct taped the hose to my exhaust pipe and snapped the tow chain when I speed shifted into 5th gear.

Maybe the extension cord for the shop-vac got caught up on something?

[Jims5543]

So that whole Ram Air induction that Dodge toted back in the day was probably a load of crap too?

It works on a dyno because the car is sitting still. Redline in 4th gear = how much speed = how much air pressure at the front of the car?

We did something like this with a guys RX7.

Typical 2nd gen Turbo RX7's have a hood scoop for the top mount intercooler, when you go to a front mount its basically become a decoration. My mechanic / friend made a very trick air box to put on the hood scoop and feed the turbo outside air and when at speed under pressure.


We put the car on the dyno and did a pull with the hood down. I cannot remember the exact RWHP right now, then we did a second pull with a leaf blower blowing at the front of the car just in front of the hood scoop. The car picked up about 15 RWHP.

Why?

Because it was getting some clean cool air, much like it would on the street doing 60+ MPH.