Page 41 - Engineering

It's often an overlooked fact in the automotive world that every engine out there is affected by the by-product of its own combustion process, but it's true. It doesn't matter the size or the type of induction. Combustion gasses will still sneak past the piston rings, and those contaminated gasses will infiltrate the intake tract. The naturally aspirated V6 is an endangered species these days, and given the age of some of these VQ37 engines, the future for these power plants is starting to look bleak.

If you revisit the early stages of our project, however, you'll see that we've already been hard at work to save the VQs from themselves. Pushing that high of a compression for so long can put a

Investing in an intercooler shows some similarities to going to college. Hear me out. When that acceptance letter arrives, it's understood that there's a lot of money about to be spent as a down payment on the future. Some of us might have held a job or two while in school, but the general idea is complete your degree, and get your dream job, or at least something that is enough to pay off those loans.

A bigger intercooler is an investment in your Civic Type R's future, especially for those who are doing builds and expect big numbers from the K20C1. Depending on the car and the design, adding more fins and surface area to the intercooling system usually gives you some power right off the bat. Our new design does squeeze a few extra drops of power from the CTR, but the main objective

One would think that after over 50 years of being the pinnacle of American performance some extra thought would have been put into the cooling system. That's not the American way, though. Automotive radiators have vastly improved since 1953, and when it came time for the C5's successor, it's almost as if Chevy was more interested in equipping the largest V8 possible rather than overhauling the cooling system.

On top of seemingly glossing over the C6's coolant heat exchanger, Chevy couldn't decide which radiator to equip in their flagship sports car. Over this Corvette's tenure we noted that there were 5 different radiators designed for the C6, each one slightly varied from the other.

We noted that there were two different core thicknesses, and about 4 different end tank

In this day and age, if you're an enthusiast in search of a naturally aspirated, performance-oriented 6-cylinder, you're almost out of luck. The last 8 years have been the age of forced induction with the 4-cylinder turbo layout edging the V6 closer toward extinction. Unless you have the money to spend on a Porsche, there just aren't many options out there anymore for the fun 6-cylinder.

There is one manufacturer, though, who can deliver the "Fizz" (as James May would put it) without the fuss of a turbo or supercharger. That would be Nissan. I'm sure that most people would have visions of the dime-a-dozen Rogue or Sentra that dominates the roads these days. Anyone who knows anything about their Nissan and Infiniti is quite aware of the company's heritage. From the long-nosed Datsun coupes to the drifter's dream that was the 240SX"and let's not forget the 10+ generations of the Skyline/GT-R"Nissan has proved it's been around the block a few times.

When you look back on America's history in the realm of speed, it seems that we're only known for one thing"straight-line speed. Our obsession with muscle cars has left the impression on the rest of the world that we here in the US are a little timid around corners. Anyone who knows anything, though, can always name one American car that can take that beeline grunt around the hairpins. The Corvette.

Chevrolet has been fixated since 1953 on being able to pilot one of their big crate motors safely around the bends. Using sleek body lines to achieve a slippery aerodynamic profile, combined with lightweight materials and stiff chassis components, the Corvette has evolved over the years from a nimble sports car to a serious contender against the best of Germany and Italy.

Big things in small packages have long since been the idea behind the hot-hatch. Smaller, punchy engines in small bodies creating big smiles in the corners is the name of the game, and the GTI wrote the rule book. Now, 44 years later, the seventh iteration is the ideal platform for any enthusiast of fast and practical.

For those looking to enhance the sporty Golf even further, you might have already taken notice that we're already on the case by way of cooling the charged air running through your 2.0T. A beefier intercooler is a start, but unfortunately that air doesn't transfer into our intake manifold via osmosis. Naturally, ducting is still required.

When it comes to designing a new intercooler

It goes without saying that the intercooling system is an integral part of any turbocharged vehicle. What's the sense of trying to cram more air into the cylinders if it can't be compressed that easily. In fact, that almost defeats the entire point of having a turbo installed on your engine. For those of you who have a craving to crank up the heat on your hot-Honda by lowering your intake temps, we already devised a solution for you. However, much like how your CTR transports you from A to B, your chilled charged air still requires a delivery method.

Until we can somehow devise a pipe-less intercooler system, ensuring that