Tricking the Air Box Thermostat. to gain HP

[///M Jefey]

what would happen if i had cold air intake, but i left the tempature reading thing (that is in the airbox of my '94 E36) out of the cold air piping, so i was taking in cold air, but the thermostat for the airbox was like sitting next to my engine, reading a hot tempature, wold that make then engine think it was takign in hot air, when it wsa takign in cold air... would that gain horse power, (do i have this backwards) ? Also, what could i do to gain HP wiht these techniques, i heard it is possible.

[Ghettoraid]

ya you've got it backwards... the cooler the ecu thinks the intake air is, the more fuel it will give the engine. (which will, in theory, increase HP..)

[///M Jefey]

ight thanks, but if i put the thermostat in a ice pack, and drove around, the computer would put more fuel in the ratio.....wont that **** up my car?

[E30mademepoor]

It would probably mess up your A/F ratio, which wouldn't gain you anything.

[Ghettoraid]

Well... FBody guys change their thermostats to 180* so the computer thinks the engine is a bit cooler than it actually is.

I'd say it will improve it to a DEGREE.. like if you've got a few supporting mods to justify the need for excess fuel... more than the ECU deems "necessary."

My feeling on this idea... don't do it. Don't be a pioneer for a mod like this. Heh. Just find someone else that's done it on this platform, find out how it worked for them...

[E31]

To change a thermostat to a 180 * is for the cooling only. It causes the valve to open and let the water flow at about 180* instead of the stock....it has nothing to do with the airbox thermostat.

Cool air is more dense and better for the car (more oxygen) and tricking the PC to think so would not be beneficial, only increase in fuel consumption.