From what I understand, an ideal internal combustion happens with a 1:12.5 gas:air molecular ratio. And these days in modern cars, there are already sensors to adjust the amount of fuel injected to ensure this. So when people tune their engine, what are they changing? Are you going to get any better performance than a 1:12.5 fuel ratio?
In: Engineering
Car makers tune to hit specific efficiency and longevity goals, as well as power. They also tune for driving comfort and lower grade fuel for most non-sports cars.
Air fuel mix isn’t the only knob tuners can tweak. There is also detonation timing and variable valve timing (like Honda’s VTEC).
A tuner going for maximum power will adjust all the variables to make more power in specific RPM ranges, as well as ignoring efficiency. Tuners are also sometimes making changes to take advantage of car modifications like bigger air intakes or fuel pumps, or just changing a car to run better on premium fuel.
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