SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/501768
U nlike any other form of long- distance automotive competition, off-road desert racing is also a battle with the environment. Dirt, silt, sand and mud are stirred up by every competitor in front of you. The problem is if your race engine can't get clean air, you risk losing power. Swapping out a clogged air filter for a clean one can cause a delay, and worse, catastrophic engine failure, such as a seized piston or valve train damage, can occur if dirt gets into the engine. Every player in the off- road desert racing scene can benefit from having a greater understanding of the methods to get clean air into the engine. So we went to several experts whose careers have focused on supplying and setting up air intake and filter systems that work in these extreme environments. There are many qualified manufacturers and air filtration guru's that produce high performance systems, but the following insights are the contributions and shared knowledge from Advanced Air Cleaners, R2C Performance Products, Unique Metal Products (UMP), K&N Engineering and Advanced Flow Engineering (AFE). Several manufacturers recommend setting up a proper air intake and filtration system during the design stage of the vehicle. "Race car builders often forget about the air filtration system in their build and use up all the room for other components. They don't think about where the air intake will live on the vehicle, and often stick on some little cone filter that won't go 50 miles without plugging up," said Cliff Cappos, owner of Unique Metal Products, UMP. "It's easy to clamp on a filter to an air tube. The engine will start and run in the shop, but all the other things you spent big money and time on don't matter a bit if the motor doesn't run in its environment." THE GOAL OF ONE FILTER, ONE RACE For competitions like the SCORE Baja 1000, teams expect to stop for fuel and tires, or to fix unexpected problems like a flat tire or a broken drive shaft. So getting the air intake and filtration correct is something that teams should not have to worry about for an entire race. Some teams still expect to stop and change the air filter several times during a long-distance race, but with the right placement, filtration methods and air intake configuration, a vehicle can go an entire race without having to stop. Routing and building a reliable air intake and filtration system begins with properly sizing it to provide a greater amount of air than the engine requires. "Ideally if you started the race with an air system that could flow double the engine's cubic feet of air per minute (CFM) requirements, at the end of the race you won't lose any horsepower due to dirty air filters," said Jeff Howe, owner of Advanced Air Cleaners. "We build the air filter housings out ADVANCED AIR CLEANERS HAS A LARGE INLINE FILTER WITH 5" AIR INLET OPENING, 4" INTAKE OPENING, AND A 3" DIS- CHARGE VALVE TO PERMIT DUST TO EXIT THE CANISTER. THESE INLINE CANISTERS CAN BE USED AS SINGLE INLINE FILTERS OR IN PAIRS DEPENDING UP APPLICATION. 039 SCORE JOURNAL