But isn't watts a measure of electrical power? I would guess that if he wanted to convince potential customers of the validity of his product, he would use automotive related terms such as horsepower or CFM.

 

I am not advocating the use of this product, but a cfm number is given. I actually doubt it works, but inthe interest of being thorough and fair;

copied from the website: http://www.electricsupercharger.com/www-el...m/Autoframe.htm

THIS IS NO TOY! This is a 700 watt, 50 amp axial-flow compressor that blasts out 3 lbs. of thrust at 750cfm! It takes power to make power, and no one else even comes close! Accept no imitations! *see video demostration of the e-RAM in action*
IMMEDIATE and FULL 1psi BOOST AT ANY ENGINE RPM! - 0 TO 22,000 RPM in 1/10th SECOND (activated by an NOS-type switch at Wide-Open Throttle).
Why Wide-Open Throttle only? Click Here for complete explanation
SAFE FOR YOUR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: High current for short duration is drawn directly from your battery, not your alternator. Just like your starter motor.
DOES NOT RESTRICT YOUR INTAKE when not in operation (air-flow through 3.5" dia. e-RAM is equal to a 3 inch diameter intake tube).
EASY TO INSTALL IN MINUTES! Comes pre-assembled and pre-wired, ready for mounting, with easy-to-follow instructions and picture examples.
WORKS ON ANY ENGINE up to 5.0 liters! *see selection guide for your car*
DYNO PROVEN AND TESTED by independent organizations *go to dyno test page
GUARANTEED to provide all horsepower gains claimed! *go to guarantee page*
Improve your 0-60mph / 60-100mph, and quarter-mile times! *go to customer

 

Absolutely correct, Mr. Knowledge. You get full credit for that answer!

 

Actually, it doesn't work... we had a guy on the maxima forum try it a while back and reported not much gain. I think perhaps in a car with a very small engine it could help, like say... Insight? but atleast on the Maxima 3 liter, it didn't do anything.

-Shing

 

Bolt one on to a Metro and see what the performance is!!!

 

James Watt must be turning over in his grave. He's the guy who developed the piston driven steam engine and Watts is a measurement of power. Ok, so our engines are a little more powerful than his early attempts so we now use kilowatts, or thousands of watts to describe power.

 

You can make some rough calcs about the efficacy of such a system.

The F20C is a 120 CI engine. Because it is a 4-stroke (otto cycle) it will ingest approximately half that displacement every revolution (near the torque peak where volumetric efficiency is around 100%, maybe higher).

1 CFM = 1728 CI, so the E-RAM can move a _claimed_ maximum of 1,296,000 CI per minute

At 6000 rpm, the F20C will move 60*6000 = 360,000 CI/minute. At 9000 rpm, it will need close to 540,000 CI/minute of air. So, conceivably, this unit could flow enough air to create positive pressure in the intake tract.

However, here are the other factors you must consider:

1. Current draw. The company states it will take 700 watts of power to drive the unit. That's the equivalent of about 1 hp. With efficiency losses in the alternator, belt drive, etc. it may actually cost you closer to 2 hp in power take off from the crank.

2. Charge heating. Any time you compress a gas, you heat it. Admittedly 1/2 psi shouldn't add much heat, but you will add some. This may offset some of the gains from the added intake pressure (I could see a 5-10 F rise in temps, which would cost 0.5-1% in power).

3. How much of an actual gain, at peak, can 1/2 psi get you? Well, standard atmospheric pressure is only 14.7 psi. So adding 0.5 psi is like adding 3.4% more air, which all things being equal could get you 3.4% more power. On an F20C, that would equate to about 6 hp at peak. We already know we're going to cost ourselves 1-2 hp in alternator draw and maybe 1 hp in temp rise, so you might see 3 hp.

In the end, you have to test before you can truly rate the results. After all, some people spend far more on other mods for minimal to no gains, so trying this probably couldn't hurt. There is also the potential for such a system to provide benefit at lower rpms (below VTEC) where the volumetric efficiency of the F20C isn't as good (thus the 1/2 psi gain has a larger impact). A sketchy system, but I learned a long time ago to never say never when it comes to engines because someone will prove you wrong sooner or later.

UL

 

What? j/k

 

I know we're picking on the electric-thinga-ma-hoogy, but is that one of the crappiest web pages you've ever seen? I mean, would you really buy a SC from someone building their web with this: <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage Express 2.0">

Yikes! I bet these are just reassembled Hoover windtunnel vacuum cleans.

 

Thanks UL, it's good to see that someone is actually looking at this thing analytically.

One of the questions I have is to do with atmospheric pressure verses the pressure of air in our intake. Due to restrictions in an intake design there is usually much lower pressure in the intake than atmospheric. Our stock intake is nice so I doubt there is that much difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Would the effect of the electric fan have more or less affect due to the difference in pressure?