My understanding is if you allow the motor to run more efficently like ihe and it is buring more completely you will get better mileage an have more even wear...cars are built with restrictions that damage gas milage so if you open up the engine to a more optimal flow it should increase overall performance right? I mean if you have alot of mods then you wont get better gas milage but i would stand by the fact that i/h/e together or seperate can get you better gas milage...i feel as tho that has been my experience

 

Powermidget,

I/H/E do NOT increase fuel efficiency and do NOT let fuel to be burnt “more completely”. Modern engines already burn about 98-99% of supplied fuel. Those mods merely increase the amount of air that comes into cylinder at the full throttle, and this allows engine to burn more fuel, thus increasing power output. This has nothing to do with fuel efficiency.

Cderalow,

The method you used to measure your mileage is terribly inaccurate. Just for a sake of it, try to calculate and to write down your mileage for several tanks in a row. I guarantee the difference will be more than 10%, most probably closer to 20%.

 

If an I/H/E did increase fuel economy you can be guaranteed Honda wouldalready be puttingsimilar itemsin their cars already. These days fuel economy is a huge selling point. But they don't so they don't bother.

 

I track my mileage with every tank... my current running average is just under 31mpg since June 2003 (includes time with/without k&n)

since the k&n, it's just over 32mpg

 

They do.

The intake system is in fact great from the factory and that is why I said to install a drop in filter into the stock air box and have you not took the time to look at stock honda exhaust manifolds. From around 1992 on most stock honda manifols use a 4 to 1 or a 4-2-1 header style with the correct size collector. Why do you think stock ITR headers go for so much money? Honda's also use straight through exhaust designs. Think about it, these are all reasons you dont get hardly any extra power from bolt ons, just throttle response.

I am not going to argue this because for one thing I am abovetaking place in pissing matchesover the net but I will say this. You would about have to be dumb to think that a good aftermarket drop in filter is not going to do better than a old dirty pile of **** stock paper composit filter that chokes the hell out of a engine. I am not a "engineer" but I know engines and I know cars. Your talking to a guy that has been into working on cars longer than most on this forum have been alive and anytime you can make a engine work less to attain the same amount of air(because fuel and fuel pressure are adjustable on alot larger scale than air) the better off you are. A perfect thing to look at that is not car related is a vacuume cleaner, turn one on with it set to use the hose attatchment. Listen to it, then cover half of the opening on the hose. The vacuume still sucks in as much air true but listen to how hard it work to do so.

 

Marty,

Absolutely and I'm not really arguing with you. There is only one small - hmmm - clarification - to what you are saying, including vacuum cleaner example - all those things give some minor economy effect on the full throttleand close to it.

Because some extra air in the cylinder gives you slightly higher effective CR, thus even more slightly improving fuel efficiency plus better flow slightly reduce pumping losses. We are talking something like probably 1-2% efficiency of the full throttle for 10% of power increase. This is already way below our ability to measure it, and if you factor in the percentage of total driving time you use the full throttle, it comes just to nothing. All those good things quickly disappear as soon as you stop pushing it to the floor…


Cderalow,

Can you post the variance between measurements, please? Did you get your car new? Did you make any tune ups when you installed k&n and since then? Or just dropped it there? Was your stock filter clean when you replaced it, or it was there for 100K miles before? Do you mind to install stock filter back and to measure your mileage for some time?