Does high altittude affect engine performance?

[Bentley78]

Drove today from sea level to 10,000ft and as i got up to around 6,000ft i really started to feel it loose power. I started to get sad that my power was really falling off, thought i would gain power coming up in the colder air. Any experts that can confirm this or not? Figured thy Electronic Fuel Injection would take care of this?

Have a CAI and new exhaust system so i cant really blame it on restrections.....maybe i need to get that header system after all.

[Iwantone2]

I think at higher elevation, air is thinner. I would notice the same effect when I had my truck. Driving through the mountains, it just wouldn't want to go!

[SGOS252382]

Yes, altitude greatly affects performance.

That's why guys like to correct their track times for their altitude.

[Bentley78]

Originally Posted by Iwantone2

I think at higher elevation, air is thinner. I would notice the same effect when I had my truck. Driving through the mountains, it just wouldn't want to go!

Yes it is thinner for sure, 1/3 thinner at 10,000ft to be exact. I just figured the computer would make up for this or something.....

[SGOS252382]

From csgnetwork.

On a hot day, or at high altitude, or on a moist day, the air is less dense. A reduction in air density reduces the engine horsepower. Density altitude is defined as the pressure altitude corrected for the effects of temperature and humidity. Density altitude affects engine horsepower of a normally aspirated engine. A reduction in air density reduces the amount of oxygen available for combustion and therefore reduces the engine horsepower and torque.

[gpr]

I live at around 5000 ft elevation and there is about 20% loss in power compared to sea level.... it sucks big time!

[Timberline]

An intertnal combustion engine is not much more than an air pump - less air in less air out = less power. No electronic fuel injection will compensate for something that isn't there.

[Bentley78]

Would forced induction greatly be reduced in power as well? Im assuming so.

[Timberline]

Supercharging or turbocharging will certainly increase power but will be down on power when compared to sea level.

[gmag21]

Im 41 ft above sea level, is this good?

[alex33x]

Originally Posted by gmag21

Im 41 ft above sea level, is this good?

You wont see any effect in performance at 41ft above sea level.

You need to get at least 1000, to notice a change.

Here where I live we are almost at 4k above sea level, I've been to the track in dallas with my past car and my times were about 1 second lower than in the track here.

I used to trap about 12.17 here in el paso, then trapped an 11.23 at the dallas track with higher temperature, last summer.

The change in altitude and trap times are usually about .25 for 1k feet.

[FwyFlyer]

Originally Posted by gmag21

Im 41 ft above sea level, is this good?

Ya - it's about 3.5% per 1k in altitude. Back in the '70's you could get away with 11.5 to 1 cr at 5k but no way at sea level.

[SGOS252382]

Originally Posted by gmag21

Im 41 ft above sea level, is this good?

Yes its good, but the problem we (guys that live in the South) have is the heat. Heat and humidity have the same effect as high altitude on a car's preformance. It's October 24 and its still in the mid 80s with high humidity in my area.

I live at about 35 ft above sea level. But today the Temperature is 87 degrees with 55% humidity. That equates to an altitude of 2044 ft.

Compare that with someone living up North for example. Lets say
50 degrees with 50% humidity (again at 35ft above sea level). That would equate to an altitude of negative (-568 ft). In these conditions your car is going to run good. That's why we're seeing such good track times coming from guys running in these type conditions.

8ty8 went from running 13.4 on a warm day to 12.9 on a cool weather day in his bone stock Camaro.

[Timberline]

Originally Posted by SGOS252382

Yes its good, but the problem we (guys that live in the South) have is the heat. Heat and humidity have the same effect as high altitude on a car's preformance. It's October 24 and its still in the mid 80s with high humidity in my area.

I live at about 35 ft above sea level. But today the Temperature is 87 degrees with 55% humidity. That equates to an altitude of 2044 ft.

Compare that with someone living up North for example. Lets say
50 degrees with 50% humidity (again at 35ft above sea level). That would equate to an altitude of negative (-568 ft). In these conditions your car is going to run good. That's why we're seeing such good track times coming from guys running in these type conditions.

8ty8 went from running 13.4 on a warm day to 12.9 on a cool weather day in his bone stock Camaro.