Anyone here ever drive their 3G above 10,000 ft?

[DBMaster]

I just got back from Breckenridge, CO. The rental car I used was an '07 Dodge Caliber. The thing had a 2.4L, 172HP engine. I did some online research because the car seemed gutless in Breck. Did you know you lose about 3% of your horsepower for every 1,000ft in increased elevation? That's 30% where I stayed. That made me think how pitiful my little 120HP LXi would be at 10,000ft!

Apparently, the only way to get back the power is to have a turbo with adjustable boost. You need about 15PSI of boost at 10,000ft to get a rough equivalent of driving at sea level.

My research also illustrated what a load of crap the gas companies have sold us about octane ratings. I think I could teach a class now!

[Civic Accord Honda]

you should take a 94 geo metro 3banger that would be cool 50hp at the crank when new

[2ndGenGuy]

I'd like to hear more about your research... what's crap about our octane ratings?

[2oodoor]

Me too...
on the elevation thing, that would not apply to all vehicles Im sure.
3 percent is a big number the larger the number you are dividing into, so the source of that information is probably a little bias for some reason. Good information to consider though, elevation would definatley give much different readings on MAP or MAF sensors, IAT, and more difficult combustion in low compression engines.

[MessyHonda]

and thats why they made turbos



:amen:

[evil88accordLX]

i bet it works out pretty much the same for all vehicles. the higher in altitude you are the thinner (less dense) the air is. and it transfers at an even rate, so the higher you go, the progressively thinner it gets. all cars need air, so they would all be affected similarly.

i did some research about octane myself a while back because i was curious, and all i really gathered from it is that the higher the octane rating, the more stable the fuel is. an 87 octane is more liable to preignite from friction than a 91 octane, and so on. so higher octane gas isnt more explosive or powerful, its just more likely to combust when it is supposed to. if i am wrong on this or leaving something out i would like to know, as im sure would the rest of us.

[Catalyst]

hmm so thats why my car feels a helluva lot faster when i go down to the valley or bay area...

[evil88accordLX]

its also why your car feels more powerful when its cold out. cold air is more dense than hot air.

[Jareds 89 LX-i]

I drove my LX-i out to Colorado back in 1999, and let me tell you... it was NOT happy!!! Powerwise it felt like it was running on 2 cylinders. I think the ECU was trying different stuff though to compensate, cuz every once in awile it would get a sudden 'power boost' and take off, lol. But most of the time it was a pig. Almost stalled a few times taking off from stoplights cuz you had to rev it up alot higher to get going. Then on the highway I could barely maintain 60-65 mph, staying in 3rd gear and sometimes 4th. Then it would start to slow down, have to shift back to 3rd, lol

But I did drive it up to the top of Pikes Peak... 14,100 ft up and it made it up there just fine! Oh yea and note to self: don't go to the top of Pikes Peak at the end of December... it's fu***ng COLD and WINDY!!!! :)

[dlr1989]

I agree, my 89 LX-i has been to Colorado many times. And it does tend to be a gutless wonder at higher elevations, but then so is my 01 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 with a 360. I drove the Dodge up Mt Evans last summer and I don't know who had more trouble with the altitude, the pickup or me!

And by the way, it is allways cold and windy at the top of Pikes Peak. Its just worse in the winter.

I drove my LX-i out to Colorado back in 1999, and let me tell you... it was NOT happy!!! Powerwise it felt like it was running on 2 cylinders. I think the ECU was trying different stuff though to compensate, cuz every once in awile it would get a sudden 'power boost' and take off, lol. But most of the time it was a pig. Almost stalled a few times taking off from stoplights cuz you had to rev it up alot higher to get going. Then on the highway I could barely maintain 60-65 mph, staying in 3rd gear and sometimes 4th. Then it would start to slow down, have to shift back to 3rd, lol

But I did drive it up to the top of Pikes Peak... 14,100 ft up and it made it up there just fine! Oh yea and note to self: don't go to the top of Pikes Peak at the end of December... it's fu***ng COLD and WINDY!!!! :)

[A18A]

you should take a 94 geo metro 3banger that would be cool 50hp at the crank when new
thats like 20hp, and with about 15 years of wear, there could be less than 10 hahahahha

[MessyHonda]

I just got back from Breckenridge, CO. The rental car I used was an '07 Dodge Caliber. The thing had a 2.4L, 172HP engine. I did some online research because the car seemed gutless in Breck. Did you know you lose about 3% of your horsepower for every 1,000ft in increased elevation? That's 30% where I stayed. That made me think how pitiful my little 120HP LXi would be at 10,000ft!

Apparently, the only way to get back the power is to have a turbo with adjustable boost. You need about 15PSI of boost at 10,000ft to get a rough equivalent of driving at sea level.

My research also illustrated what a load of crap the gas companies have sold us about octane ratings. I think I could teach a class now!



i drove almost the same rental car ....but it was a Chrysler sebrein with the same engine 2.4 173 hp or whatever and it has some power....took it up to like 4500 feet and i had to downshift to 3rd gear cuz i was going uphill.

[snoopyloopy]

not quite 10k, but i went up to crestline a few days ago. it's about 6k, or maybe a little under. car didn't feel too bad, especially since i was going uphill.

[Acid X]

More on this octane rating stuff. Sounds like some good info.