a while back i was thinking about intakes and how each intake tries to increase the air pressure going into the engine.
now, why not place an electrical fan (that can handle the heat, stress etc...) inside the inlet tube, connect it to the battery, make sure it pushes a decent about of air and let it force more air in. this would work either before of after the filter, probably better though behind it since there are less restrictions.
you might even have to link it to the throttle so that the car doesnt idle to high
please let me know what you think about why it can or cannot work.

thanks,
peter

 

Peter -

Its a great idea.

The only problem is...its called a supercharger. If you have an S you already have one. But its behind the intake. Its belt driven because it takes a lot of power to compress the air, an electric fan just won't cut it.

Now imagine another fan, not driven by a belt, but rather by the power of the exhaust coming out of the engine. That energy is already spent so its free. The belt consumes power. What u say experts....about 30hp max? But the exhaust doesn't have enough power at low RPM's to do much.

Now take the fan that only works at high RPM and is free and add it to the fan that works best at low RPM's and you have a Turbocharged, Sugercharged Mini. Which may be the best way to get to 300hp (if anyone can figure out where to put it).

You're thinking in exactly the right direction. Keep it up.

 

i know that my idea is basically the same as a supercharger, just not driven from the engine. Since i drive a Cooper (not an S) i thought maybe, a strong enough electrical fan - just to push more air into the throttle body - would at least boost me a little bit. you could even regulate the speed of the fan and turn it on and off from the cockpit.
im gonna look into electrical fans, see if i can piece anything together.

peter

 

Peter,

My 1969 MGC came equipped with a similar system. There was a fan near the front grill that sent the air under a small amount of pressure to the twin carbs' air filters. The purpose of this devise was to provide cooler air and prevent vapor lock in the carbs, as the straight six was reall too large for the engine bay and resulted in excess heat under the bonnet. I switched intake manifolds some years back and tore out all the forced air system. Now there is better air flow as I have less "stuff" blocking the passage to the filters, and voila, no more vapor lock either.

 

>>a while back i was thinking about intakes and how each intake tries to increase the air pressure going into the engine.
>>now, why not place an electrical fan (that can handle the heat, stress etc...) inside the inlet tube, connect it to the battery, make sure it pushes a decent about of air and let it force more air in. this would work either before of after the filter, probably better though behind it since there are less restrictions.
>>you might even have to link it to the throttle so that the car doesnt idle to high
>>please let me know what you think about why it can or cannot work.
>>
>>thanks,
>>peter

Interesting idea, allow me a few comments in addition to the otehr ones already posted:
conventional intakes try to increase the air pressure into engine intake by decreasing resistance to air flow. Only ram air intakes try to increase by building higher pressure. An electric fan - unless it is extremely powerful (comparablke to a supercharger) will mroe likely add more resistance to the intake air flow (vanes, struts etc..) than it will provide increased flow through a pressure increase. By the time the fan is powerful enough to provide a pressure boost, it uses so much power that the load on the alternator and thus mechanical engine load is greater than the boost provided. It's like one of the many schemes including using an A/C cooler on the intercooler. Seems like a good way to chill super- or turbo-charged air, but the AC compressor will rob more power than you gain by cooling intake air.
In all of these considerations you have to take into account the energy conversion efficiency of the various devices involved. A turbo is a great way to go as it uses "unused" or otherwise wasted exhaust energy, although it does also affect the engine in more ways than providing boost: it will affect the emptying of cylinders, but in a well designed system the turbo will not just boost the intake, but aid with the 'scavenging' of the exhaust fumes.