Upgrading your vehicle for better performance means knowing how to rotate through its interdependent systems, making upgrades that complement one another to bring out each performance part’s best potential. Understanding the relationship between your fuel injectors and your engine power is the first step to making the right decisions about how to approach a full-performance overhaul.
Bring Out Your Engine’s Full Potential
Upgraded fuel injectors do not add power to the engine on their own, but they do usually lead to some increased horsepower readings when you measure the power that you’re capable of putting out. The reason is simple, Better, more efficient, and higher capacity injectors can deliver the exact amount of fuel your onboard electronics call for at exactly the time it’s needed.
The performance specifications for aftermarket injectors are across the board better than the OEM designs for a given vehicle, and those OEM designs are usually pretty good. If you’re running on a carburetor, an EFI conversion kit could give you significant gains without any further engine modifications.
Keep Pace With Other Upgrades
To increase your engine’s power output, you need to increase the amount of fuel it can use by either upgrading the size of its parts or by increasing the speed at which it can operate. That means every time you increase your engine’s potential power output, you need to increase the airflow and fuel delivery proportionally. If you’re shopping for a supercharger for sale and you are still running OEM injectors or a carburetor, it’s time to think about that balance.
If you do upgrade your injectors and you don’t see an increase in horsepower afterward, there are a few steps to take to get the gains you expected.
- Increase the air intake for better airflow into the engine
- Upgrade the exhaust to move air out of the engine faster
- Upgrade spark plugs or other engine parts for more responsive combustion
- Consider a turbocharger or supercharger upgrade
- Consider upgrading to a crate engine
If the new injectors are your first upgrade, then you will usually see some moderate gains. If you’ve already upgraded your airflow and injectors but have done nothing to your engine, upgrading either one will produce diminishing returns. Last but not least, eventually the only way to add power is to change the engine’s specifications in ways that are best handled with a new engine.
Upgrading Fuel Injectors With a New Engine
When you do get around to considering something like a 350 crate engine upgrade, it’s a good idea to fully invest in the support systems that will let it operate at its full potential. That means upgrading to the most powerful and precise spark plugs and fuel injectors, investing in a generous intake, and choosing the right exhaust system. You might as well do it all together if you are not going to do the crate engine last. Otherwise, your new engine will be limited by whichever system is least upgraded. Start planning your conversion today so you know what kind of power profile you can expect at the end.
