Don't let the title scare you away! We want to educate our customers about the science behind automotive performance and fuel economy without making it complicated. To begin with we will go over the basic ins and outs of todays automobiles and what effects different variables have on how they perform. Then we will show you what we can do at Film At Eleven, Inc. to optimize your vehicles performance AND economy for your needs.

 

The cornerstone of todays vehicles is the internal combustion engine, a machine that is engineered to convert energy created by a chemical reaction (in this case the burning of fuels such as gasoline and diesel) into mechanical energy to make the vehicle move. Below is a diagram of a traditional engine design today and how it fundamentally operates.

 

 

The important thing to remember here is that the rotation of the crankshaft is what eventually turns the wheels. Sure there's a transmission, driveshaft, u-joints, bearings, seals, gears, and halfshafts in between but that's not the point. We're sticking to the basics here. As the pistons cycle back and forth in sequence they produce enough force to move even the largest and heaviest vehicles.

 

Now that we have a basic understanding of the action behind the scenes, we can focus on the aspects of this action that determine how an engine will perform, and how efficiently. Take a look at the combustion chamber in the first of the two diagrams. The small blue and red dots represent an airborne mixture of fuel and oxygen that is being pulled directly through the vehicles intake system. Because the air/fuel mix is an airborne cloud it behaves somewhat like a gas, especially once it is compressed by the piston. Physics tells us that a gas will expand to fill any container it is put into, therefore a larger combustion chamber will hold (and burn) more fuel. This is the most influential aspect of the fuel consumption and efficiency of an engine. Now imagine that we could increase the number of those dots without increasing the size of the combustion chamber, and how easy it is for the engine to pull them in. With more fuel and oxygen readily available for combustion we have a more powerful, more efficient engine. This is one of the key factors that determine that most talked about rating, Fuel Mileage. Efficiency and fuel mileage are synonymous in our little study, meaning that they are directly related and the higher your efficiency the higher your fuel mileage.

 

Since we obviously have no control over how large the combustion chambers are in a particular engine aside from buying another car, you may think that there is nothing you can do to make your car more efficient or more powerful. In essence this is true because the design of the engine itself determines the power and efficiency it is capable of. What most people don't realize is that the engines in most passenger cars and trucks are not optimized for power and efficiency. You're probably saying to yourself "How can they get away with that!?" Due to restrictions on emissions, noise, and power output automotive companies must include mechanisms for for reducing them. Many times these additional parts or design changes make the engine less capable of reaching it's peak operating efficiency. That's where we come in! Film At Eleven, Inc. has a wide range of parts and accessories to increase your power and fuel mileage. Let's take a look at some solutions that we offer to improve your experience on the road AND at the pump.

 

Replacing your vehicles factory air filter or intake system is one of the least expensive modifications to make to improve power and efficiency. High flow filters are made out of high quality materials that allow your vehicles engine to breathe better, increasing the amount of available oxygen to the combustion chambers. The difference between the two is simple. An replacement air filter increases air flow to the engine using high quality fabrics and wire mesh as a filter material while utilizing your vehicles factory intake system ducting. An aftermarket intake system builds upon this concept adding large diameter, low resistance ducting to a high flow air filter as well as eliminating noise reduction devices that actually slow air induction into the factory intake system. For most vehicles adding a high flow filter or intake system shows real gains in horsepower and fuel economy when tested on a dynamometer and on the track.