Grassroots Motorsports
Issue link: http://grassrootsmotorsports.epubxp.com/i/397024
The air/fuel ratio, shown in the top chart, was Boost in it. Meanwhile, the power and torque curves, shown in the graph below, showed impr SOURCES EFS Combust: fuel additive, efscombust.com, (800) 771-4101 Superchips: dyno time, superchips.com, (888) 227-2447 erplants go. It sports a head warmed over by Cosworth, high compression, aggressive cams, and a tubular header that all conspire to pull 170 factory-rated horsepower from the little 2.0-liter block. Plus, its ECU isn't too smart. After all, cars have gotten a lot wiser in the 11 years since this hot hatch was built. We also knew it wouldn't get scared on the dyno, shut down because the rear wheels weren't turning, or otherwise foil our plan. Plus, it's a little more representative of what we're seeing at autocrosses and track events. This car requires premium fuel, too–a departure from our last test vehicle, which only called for 87-octane gas. We thought this Focus would be a great complement to the modern, civilized powerplant in the new Focus we tested last time. We flled the car with premium fuel, strapped it down, and did six baseline pulls. It made 148 horsepower and 133 ft.-lbs. of torque at the front wheels, which is about what we expected considering the usual driveline loss. Then, as in our last test, we poured Power Boost into the tank, following it with a chaser of 93-octane fuel. This stuff seemed to work again. On the car's next dyno pull, it made 151 horsepower and 134 ft.-lbs. of torque. No, that isn't much of a change in peak numbers. But, this potion added a healthy bump in both the power and torque curves throughout the car's range, particularly at the top end of the tachometer. The car also ran noticeably richer during some of the run. So, it's time to answer the big question: Does Power Boost by EFS Combust work on every car? The answer, as it is with most things in life, is "It depends." TECH: EFS COMBUST FUEL ADDITIVE Grassroots Motorsports 90