mmm import tricks ,....heaven forbid
actually i can grasp the concept your going for using the import as an example .......a typical honda transmission is smaller with lighter weight rotating parts ,the drive axels are shorter then ours and smaller ,ther's no drive shaft and the wheels the import guy's use are genrally alot lighter ......aside from balance that actually gives them an advantage becouse of enertia
enertia=the tendancy for objects in motion to remain in motion .......just the same objects at rest tend to stay at rest ....it takes energy to spin an object and the heavier the object the more energy it takes to spin it ....so if you want on object to go from 0 rpms to 6,000 rpms it only makes sence that the lighter the object the less energy it takes to spin it
i think it's kinda interesting that you mention imports.....i have a curios mind so rather then bash the import guy's i tend to want to learn there tricks ,then aply them to bigger moters .....i have a few friends that own an import performance shop so i've had the chance to learn alot of there tricks and see actually how those little moters work .....ive snooped around many a torn down import moters ......us v8 guy's could build some awsome engines if we used some of the same technoligie on v8 moters
can you amagine a v8 v-tec moter.....he he
......for those who don't know a honda v-tec moter there actually pretty neat ....
......they have variable lift cam set ups , the valves are opened by a set of three rockers sliding along each cam opening two vavles per intake an two per ex...total of six rockers per cylinder....
.......each set of valves is opened by the outer rockers with one rocker in the middle of the two.....the one in the middle rides along alot bigger of a lob on the cam ,when the rpms rise the two outer rockers lock into the middle one so that all three follow the bigger lode in the cam ........it's like switching from a stock cam to an x cam every time the rpms reach a certian level
........another trick is the inake set up works with the change in lift ........there's two sets of intake runners ....shorter ones and longer ones ....as the moter goes to it's higher lift mode and higher rpms the shorter intake runners are opened to increase the velocity of the intake charge
so jim ....having seen one of the same acura moters you were talking about torn down ,it does shed some light when you talk about cylinder egronomics ........those moters have a pop up in the piston ( sorta looks like a hump) that fits up into the heads chamber .....it's shaped so it fits to a clearance just between the 4 valves ,with the spark plug in the center of the cylinder ........if you look at the way the ports ,and the piston are shaped it does seem like a pretty effecient set up ......the mitsubishi moters have almost the same type desighn without the variable lift cam set up
if the same tech was used in a v8 it'd be a pretty mean set up ,.......but since we are using only two valves ,theres a bit of difference in the swirl of air .....you would think that the ideal way to flow air into the cylinder on a two valve engine would be to kinda agle the porting torward the center so the air doesn't flow torward one side of the cilinder ........
now i'm kinda off topic ,...suolda posted that in the speed secret #1 topic
back to rotating mass ........on that note ....i kinda thought it was ironic that the guys using drag radials are competing with the guy's running slicks in the ford series racing ......if you watch them and look at times and mph ......it would seem the drag radial guy's pull alot harder at the top of the track and clock some pretty high mph's .....smaller harder tires =less rotating mass and less tire resistance ??.......mmm
this has been some interesting reading ,thanks for giving us your time and wisdom