Hello guys ! I been an observer for most of my time here at NAM but today i have a question for you all!. i have a 02 MC and i always wanted to add a turbo for an extra need boost. I have noticed several turbos out there but the prices and the fact that they might not be carb aprove (i live in Cali)prevents me from getting one. I recently notice that there are ELECTRIC BLOWERS made for cars. I liked the idea since it looks like there easy to install/remove and they might give me an extra ponny or two! My question is are they for real or they are more trouble than they seem and what should i look for if they really work!?.

p.s. Please don't tell me to get a MCS . I love my 02 MC and besides I am more aerodymanic since i don't have that scoop in the hood to slow my down !!!

 

i dont think that there bonnet scoop is slowin any of us down.. har

can you send us a link for this new-fangled electric blower? If you don't, i'm just going to post a link for a hair blow dryer, and no one will laugh.


welcome to the world of nam!

 

He's right. Electric blowers are nothing more than a hairdryer sans heating element Waste of money.

 

I do love that scoop was just kidding ! here is a link i found any thoughs?

http://www.electricsupercharger.com/index.htm

 

I'm guessing that the increased power comes from a larger filter that they sell with it, and an artifical RAM-air effect. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I don't think that a fan like that can create very much of a pressure change. I seem to remember trying to blow a baloon up with a fan attached to the end of a funnel. It doesn't work all that well as I recall.

That is why air compressors are more than just a really large fan attached to a tube.

The "Up to 15 more horsepower* GUARANTEED" is pretty funny though... Up to 15 more horsepower also includes 0 more horsepower... keep that in mind.

Any real Mech Engrs. out there feel free to correct my "fan theory"

 

Thanx for that! It looked good on paper . I guess i like the idea of having a switch to turn it on/off whenever i wanted some small boost . Has M7 finish developing that turbo for the MC?

 

eRam is claiming they guanretee 4% from 3000 to 6000 RPM. That 4.6 HP on your 115HP MC. You can get that with a decent exhaust, though I dont believe a word they say. I bet it would give you less than 1lb-ft of torque, which is what you really want when you say you want 'oomph'/

 

So You guys/gals don't thing this type of supercharger works at all!!?? 'Cause there are several types and designs out there ! I do like the idea of it been light, small and the fact that you can turn it off/on with a switch. I have seen several diffrent designs that look promising(check ebay). Besided a turbo is also just a fan base air propulsion delivery system!!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

 

well... we still like you.

even if you are a bonnet scoop hating heathen!!!

harharhar jk too

 

It's all a numbers game. They say the thing will flow 1000 cfm..... So, what does a Mini drink? I like simple numbers.

Mini = 1600 ccs of displacement. That's around 100 cubic inches, or 0.0565 cubic feet. At 7000 RPM, devided by 2 (it's a four stroke motor), times the boost ratio (that's ~2 @ 15 psi boost), and there's a temp effect, but this goes in absolute degrees, so can call this one for the volume estimation....

Drum roll please.... The total flow is ~400 cfm! (interesting this is normally aspirated small pushrod V8 numbers....)

So really the question is, what kind of pressure gradient does this thing set up at a flow of 400 CFM? If it's any bigger increase in pressure (absolute units) as a percentage of ambient than it is an increase in gas temp (absolute degrees again! and remeber the ideal gas law, PV=nRT), then it's a win.

If the thing will really flow 1000 cfm against no pressure gradient, then why not a half a psi or so of pressure @ 400 cfm? That would be about a 3% increase in absolute pressure. A 3% increase in temp is about 90 C!

The numbers work. This should give a bit more air charge to the system, equivalent of always running at sea level, when you're used to driving in Denver!

There's a lesson here, look at the IDEA, then look at the NUMBERS then rush to judgement!

Matt

 

I'm not saying that it doesn't work, I just wouldn't expect rubber burning numbers from it. I think most of the boost that it gets is from a RAM-Air effect. Any time you can force more air through the filter and into the engine you will get some kind of boost.

 

Nor do they claim that. If you look at the website, and read the dyno sheets, you'll see that some results that vary from so-so to pretty darned good! When you compare the $300 retail price to the cost of a CAI (a bit more) to an exhaust system (about half) and look at the likely gain, it looks pretty appealing.

Right now I'm running a HAI, and there's lots of room under the hood.... I wonder what it sounds like? Some of the video clips are real loud!

I've made an offer to the company to do a Mini test. I'm real cheap, and my car budget is about to be impacted by the addition of a new baby (Alison Jane Richter is on the way as we speak! Stanford's L&D area has wireless, and my wife is at 5 cm right now!) so my budget for go fast goodies will shrink a bit...... Anyway, let's see if they bite, and we can see some numbers from a MCS!

Matt

 

No way, no how does that hair dryer flow 1000 cfm at any meaningful pressure differential. If you do the tests, it would be interesting to see the pressure both upstream and downstream from the unit, the electrical power consumed, and the dyno results. I suspect you'll possibly see a slight gain at the low end of the powerband where air usage is light, then a net loss as the revs climb and the fan becomes an impediment to airflow.

 

This DIY works better than anything on the market:



http://www.bimmers.com/m3/hoax/

The eRam is an excellent waste of time and money. If that's what you're after, by all means put one in your Mini.

 

ROFL!

 

What's funny about e-ram is that it's just an electric ducted fan that's used for model airplanes. You can buy these for $35-$200 depending on motor and configuration. I would worry about the fan coming loose and getting sucked into your engine. This would turn your inexpensive mod into a tragically costly mistake.


http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXFFK7&P=7

 

I'm not sure... These toy ones are only 75watts/9amps while they're claiming 791watts/57amps. They do seem to have a fan base in their testimonials (pun intended)

 

listen, there's a hot asian chick holding one of them on their website, so it must be good.

 

uuuh, yeah, anybody know wherei can get some of those "hi speed fender bolts" for my tires? theyre good for 15hp!

 

No, no, no...the bolts are only worth 5 hp. You have to get into that high quality stuff like stickers to get 15 fake cf wings might even get 20!!!

 

Were there not sports cars from the 50s or 60s that had electrically operated superchargers, instead of gear or belt driven ones? I thought they were made by Roots?

 

There are real electric superchargers. My other car is a Honda Insight and there are some guys trying to get a group buy going for an electric supercharger to use at high rpm's where the electric assist is inefficient. The big difference is that the Insight has the batteries for it and the MCS doesn't.

 

Someone posted a link to a web site that does sell real, credible electrically-driven blowers (looks like a Roots or Lysholm type):


This thing eats LOTS of juice, and is best suited to drag racing.
http://www.boosthead.com/home.php

 

So true. When you need that to sell it, then it must be a total winner.

 

I really don't understand this at all. Someone had a good idea on paper, and did something about it. I cranked back of the envelope numbers, and this little gizmo would have made more power in my oringinal 289 with a four barrel holley (stock heads and cam would never pull much more than 400 cfm or so....).

This thing does work (energy over time kind) on the air, and this energy added could be either through increased number density, temp increases or both. If enough goes into number density, and the temp delta is small (and everything I know about thermodynamics says it shouldn't be that much), thenit adds power! And that's what it's all about.

If you wanted to be real objective about it, you could ask how much integrated power over the rev range of interest it gave per unit dollar, and rank the adders on cost effectiveness. I'd bet that many here didn't start with the "most effective" mod (me among them). This may not be the best, but I'm sure it's far from the worst.

Electric motors are getting better and better. Brushless motors can have near zero "friction" (you could even go to an air bearing if you wanted real low parasitic losses), why is it so hard to belive a hot little motor in your intake wouldn't help? Heck, the computer modeling for the fan blade is becoming easier and easier, I bet you could make a very efficient package (and maybe these guys in Aptos did!)

I think in the absence of any data HERE to refute the data on the web site, one would be prudent to be a little more open minded. If one really wants to dump crap on something, it is best to come armed with little more than conjecture and attitude.

This has the potental to be a power adder for any motor that flow less than it's max flow at 0 pressure. What RMP range that is over, how much benefit there is, and when it becomes worse than nothing at all are just details for the particular configuration.

Anyway, these are all things to think about.......


On some real important news, I'm a new daddy! Alison Jane Richter wass born yesterday at 1:08 pm CA time. We're all pleased as punch! (But the car seat for the Mini isn't here yet )

Matt