Please read: Newbie Engine Tuning

[Stefan]

I thought I'd post this to help prevent people who are new to engine and car tuning from making mistakes and getting ripped off by the larger number of aftermarket parts 'suppliers' out there.
Whilst 'hands on' experience is invaluable, people new to this hobby should learn some theory on how an engine/car functions. This should at least enable someone to determine if a product will work on their car or is infact plain crap designed to rip-off people who don't know any better.
So, I've had a root around my library and come up with a few book recommendations you should try out. They're kinda listed from newbie to advanced....

Engine Tuning.
Basic engine theory - "Advanced Engine Technology" by Heinz Heisler,
"4 Stroke performance Tuning" by A. Graham Bell,
Anything by Carroll Smith,
Anything by David Vizard,
"Internal Combustion Engine Fundamentals" by John B. Haywood - get other engine theory from him too,
"Design and Simulation of Four Stroke Engines" by Gordon P. Blair - a lot of simulation programs are based on this, OEM ones too.
Anything by Sir Harry Ricardo

Turbocharging
"Turbochargers" by Hugh MacInnes,
"Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell,
"Forced Induction Performance Tuning" by A. Graham Bell - Top book, you'll refer to this all the time if doing a conversion,
"Turbocharging the Internal Combustion Engine" by Watson and Jonata.

Chassis and Handling
"Race Car Chassis - Design and Construction" by Forbes Aid,
Anything by Carroll Smith
"Race Car Vehicle Dynamics" by Milliken and Milliken - The Bible!
Mark Ortiz column in Racecar Engineering is also very good.

Other Stuff
"An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics" by G. K. Batchelor - handy for understanding how gas or fluids flow. Useful for doing examinations of intakes, piping, exhausts, etc.

"Bosch Automotive Handbook" - not very technical but covers all areas of automotive design and current manufacturing regs.

You can also try the NACA search engine for details of combustion engine theory in spark ignition engines, turbo's, surpercharging and even nitrous oxide injection. They're free to download but some are very 'math heavy'.


If anyone has got any other books or reference material to recommend concerning Automobiles post 'em up!

Stef

[KnightWalace]

Automechanics for Dummies.

[Mike]

Automechanics for Dummies.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 5?v=glance

[Efratech]

S-t-i-c-k-y-!

[GsiTurbo]

Good post to make sticky indeed! Nice work Stef!