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What is brake fade and what causes brake fade?

This phenomenon known as brake fade can be quite unexpected and lethal and I would hazard a guess that 1 in 4 cars are likely to experience brake fade to some degree. Brake fade manifests itself by a spongy feel on the pedal and little or no braking force. Do not confuse brake fade with bad brakes or a mechanical fault as it applies to brake systems in relatively good condition.

Power gains from a sports catalyst

Catalysts are a vital component in our modern tree hugging environmentally conscious society. First TorqueCars will look at what a catalyst does and how it works.

A catalyst is actually a term used to explain anything which accelerates or performs a chemical reaction. In a car the exhaust fumes are fed through a matrix of ceramic honeycomb lined with precious metals.

What is an induction kit and what does it do.

As induction kits are probably one of the most popular modifications for car tuning projects we thought we should add a introductory article to explain what they are, what they do and the theory behind them.

An induction kit is quite simply an air filter. Most cars have air filters mounted in an air box. These filters are generally constructed of paper which filters out the particles from the air and prevents these from getting into the engine. The airboxes are designed to reduce the noise of the engine and have various vanes and angles cut to maximise this noise reduction.

Principles of porting an engine and big valve conversions

The inlet and outlet ports on the engine block are usually larger than those of the manifolds that connect to them.

This allows for scope in the manufacturing process to allow for mismatched alignment.

Generally the engine ports are larger in the upstream flow direction avoiding turbulance but power gains can be made by matching these up.

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