Hi All. Does any care to speculate about the effects of altitude on aftermarket ECUs available for the MCS? I live in Denver (5280ft up). The thin air here robs all internal combustion engines of power. (I've contemplated moving to sea level for this reason alone). One of my possible next upgrades is the EVOTECH ECU. Obviously, I don't want to get it if it cannot handle the altitude properly. Thoughts anyone?

Owen

 

True the thin air does rob HP. But at least the car in the car next to you is driving under the same conditions! :smile:

 

Here In México city we live at 7217 feet, and yes thin air dos rob HP from youre Engine, People here told me that if I wanted to buy a ECU for my car I had to tell the the altitud for my city.

 

Owen,

I have driven the EVOTech ECU upgrade, and it does make power here in Denver - but there may be a better solution. A programmable software upgrade that can be tuned on the dyno is the best option, and one that I am working on once I catch up with everything going on.

The intake, exhaust and EVOTech does not make close to 200 hp though! That is an important point, as it takes quite a bit of massaging befroe you get to that number.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Randy

 

>>True the thin air does rob HP. But at least the car in the car next to you is driving under the same conditions! :smile:

And I like to think that us forced air breathers are less disadvantaged at altitude.

 

>>>>True the thin air does rob HP. But at least the car in the car next to you is driving under the same conditions! :smile:
>>
>>And I like to think that us forced air breathers are less disadvantaged at altitude.>>


Right!

 

>>>>True the thin air does rob HP. But at least the car in the car next to you is driving under the same conditions! :smile:
>>
>>And I like to think that us forced air breathers are less disadvantaged at altitude.

Actually, not really. What you are referring to is known as the "absolute altitude" for a peak hp. While in a turbo, depending on what the wastegate is set for, the absolute altitude will be higher than that of a normally aspirated motor, a supercharged motor has the same absolute altitude as a turbo - and starts linearly losing power from sea level.

I just barely touched the subject, and may have over simplified it, but I wanted to let that point get out. There is a lot of misconception on it.

Randy

 

>>Actually, not really. What you are referring to is known as the "absolute altitude" for a peak hp. While in a turbo, depending on what the wastegate is set for, the absolute altitude will be higher than that of a normally aspirated motor, a supercharged motor has the same absolute altitude as a turbo - and starts linearly losing power from sea level.

So, a turbocharged engine also loses power linearly as altitude increases?

>>I just barely touched the subject, and may have over simplified it, but I wanted to let that point get out. There is a lot of misconception on it.

Thanks Randy, I've always kinda wondered if it was true. Now it's settled, I'm leaving Denver. Destination: Sea level.

Owen

 

No, a turbo engine has a higher absolute altitude - depending on where the wastegate is set. Once it reaches that altitude, it will begin to lose power linearly with altitude gains.

Try going up trailridge road - then you'll be happy to come back down to Denver!

 

I had to recalibrate my passing decision maker from Chicago acceleration to Leadville acceleration last time I was out west on the R1100.

 

Back in my Turbo days, I used to like to refer to the turbocharger as an altitude compensator. Where normally aspiarted engines would loose power at altitude, the Turbo cars would retain a good portion of what they had. UNTIL you came to a stop. Then the superlow compression ratios in 80's vintage turbo cars would bite them back. It was a struggle to get the cars underway until they could develop some boost, but then...bog, bog, bog, boost...zing! It was like driving with a toggle switch.