Is Too Much Boost a Bad Thing? Why More Boost Doesn’t Always Make More Horsepower

Forced induction can be a lot of fun. When taking a massive amount of air and shoving it into an engine, amazing things can happen. This phenomenon known as “boost” takes the capabilities of an engine and cranks them up tenfold. However, no matter how much me we might want to make it so, it’s not always that simple. Efficiency is an important part of the equation that needs to be considered.

In other words, it’s not always air+fuel+spark=more power. Sure, those things, in the proper combination, will make the most power. The growth isn’t always linear, though. There are also outside factors that could throw the whole thing off its axis.

This time, we take a ride with Engineering Explained as they break down the concept to us. To some folks, they might be under the impression that more boost is always equal to more power. After all, shoving more air and fuel into an engine has to make it work more efficiently, right? As it turns out, that’s not exactly the case and it’s for more than one reason.

In this one, we take a ride that addresses all of these concepts and how they work together. We also get the inside line on some of the other things that might be in play here. Finding out just the right way to make everything come together is a lot easier said than done. There are a ton of things happening all at once that need to be considered.

By following along with the video below, we get the always expert breakdown from our host at Engineering Explained. After watching something like this, it might just make you look at boost in an entirely different light. Heck, it might have some breaking down the way that their own engine setups are put together.