The future of aftermarket performance

I have been modifying cars since I was a teenager.  My first was a 1972 Ford Bronco where I rebuilt a 351W engine, upgrading the camshaft, installing a larger carburetor, and headers, to replace the 302.  I installed nitrous oxide on my 1968 Mustang, along with many other mods.  I helped a friend develop a custom turbo system for his Fox mustang.  I installed many superchargers at the Ford Dealer I worked at for 15 years.  I also was a dealer/installer for Allen Engine Development and Explorer Express superchargers.  I developed a low budget custom turbo system for my BMW 318i.  I have also done engine performance tuning on many cars.  I have worked with most types performance enhancements over the years.  I know the pros and cons of the various aftermarket power adders.

I am becoming more and more convinced that the future is in aftermarket hybrid systems.  I am not talking about plug-in hybrid focused at fuel economy here.  I am talking about performance focused hybrid performance enhancements.  Think F1 KERS for the street or track.  This is by no means a new concept.  Think back to the Porsche 918, Ferrari LaFerrari, and McLaren P1.  All three were hybrids.  In the supercar space, more hybrids are coming too.  There is even a company, Vonnen, that has developed the first aftermarket hybrid system for Porsche sports cars now.  While that system has a huge price tag, I expect this approach to eventually go mainstream and the prices to come down quickly.

There are many opportunities once you have a high-voltage electric system in the car.  The Vonnen system eliminates the old heavy starter motor, and replaces the heavy lead-acid 12V battery to reduce the weight penalty down to about 100lbs.  While the Vonnen system puts the motor/generator between the engine and transmission, the motor/generator could instead (or also) be placed at each of the axles which would allow for torque vectoring.  You can also electric drive superchargers to boost the engine performance as well with no back work of traditional supercharging or turbocharging (more net power with less boost).  Unlike superchargers or turbochargers, hybrid drive will not affect the engine durability, tuning, emissions, or sound either.  Performance focused hybrid systems do not require a large heavy battery pack.  Instead, the Vonnen system uses a 1kWh battery pack (versus the 100kWh battery pack of a Tesla Model S 100). Ultra-capacitors can also be used to augment these performance oriented hybrid systems with a low weight penalty and very high power rates in and out.  The battery and/or capacitor weight can be strategically placed in the vehicle too, optimizing balance and handling. Other features can be added such as silent drive for short distances (depending on battery capacity) so you don't wake everyone up in your neighborhood when you start your performance car.  Large capacity electric heaters can augment the HVAC in cold climates to give instant heat before the engine warms up, also making the defrost work better.  Speaking of HVAC, the belt driven AC compressor can be replaced with an electric compressor and be more strategically placed in the vehicle. Hydraulic power steering can be replace with efficient electric power steering, which can include advanced features such as Porsche's advanced electric power steering.

Motors are getting better all the time too.  Equipmake for instance, recently developed a 295HP motor that weights only 22lbs. With all kinds of advanced motor technology, higher voltages, and advanced manufacturing techniques, motors will continue to become lighter, more powerful, and once they show up in volumes, less costly.  Leveraging this development from mainstream manufacturers, the aftermarket can adapt these motors to the aftermarket performance sector to make a cost effective performance enhancement system. Most of these modern motors can also generate electricity to charge the propulsion batteries and/or capacitors.

Motors can be placed in many different areas to provide power where desired and to enable enhanced stability and traction control strategies such as torque vectoring, stop/start, anti-stall, and more.  A motor that drives the engine crank can also be used to stabilize very high performance engines with large aggressive cams to make the car more drive-able.  A great example of that is the Aston Martin Valkyrie.  Hybrid assist is used to make this 1000HP naturally aspirated engine street drive-able.  Motors that are connected to the engine can also assist in changing engine speeds, making the engine rev much quicker.  Motors used in generating mode can be used as retarders for descending hills and decelerating, saving brake heat and wear.

Looking at trucks and off-road vehicles the advantages grow even more.  Drive motors can be placed to drive each wheel independently (or assist) to allow precise torque control for rock climbing and advanced traction control.  High-voltage electric winches will be far more compact, light, and powerful than their 12V counterparts. Trailers can also be equipped with drive motors so an off-road vehicle can tow a trailer and still have all wheels driven to get through very poor traction conditions.

One of the challenges facing aftermarket performance systems and kits is dealing with the implications to emissions and associated regulations.  Hybrid systems would be far easier to deal with here as most would not impact emissions, or would favorably impact emissions, especially in grams/mile impact.  The Vonnen system for instance does not change any engine or powertrain tuning. 

Hybrid and battery electric vehicles have now been around in volumes for over a decade.  More vehicles will go hybrid and full battery electric going forward.  As hybrid and electric drive go mainstream, the cost of this technology will drop substantially.  In some cases, the factory components could be incorporated into aftermarket hybrid systems which will really help reduce cost while also using proven, validated components.  Hybrid drive is not the doom of performance cars but rather the next level.  The future of performance vehicles and aftermarket performance enhancements has never been brighter.

Engine Sound and Cars for Enthusiasts

We all have different needs and opinions about many things in life.  Even among car enthusiasts we have many different things we like about them.  If you narrow down the car enthusiasts to a specific brand and type of car, you still have significant diversity in what people want from the car.  Owners of the same car model still have this diversity.  Some enjoy detailing their car and showing it.  Some like a fall drive down a twisty road.  Some like driving full out on the track.  Even within one of those more narrow groups we still have many differing opinions about priorities.

One thing that can come from the Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman flat 4 engine experiment is Porsche found out what a priority engine characteristics are over performance.  This also happened with the PDK only GT3 years ago.  While in both cases Porsche made a car that outperformed it's predecessor, many fans were unhappy.  If you just look at the performance numbers, the cars were better so what was missing?  The term "experience" may get overused these days but that is what this comes down to.  Even for the track crowd (which I am part of) the cars soul really matters.  While lap time is the measure of driving skill there is much more you get from track time that making the quickest laps.  It is the experience from the drivers seat.  The driver and car become one.  If you have never driven full-out on a road course it is hard to understand.  When you are there though, it is the very definition of living.  Your heart rate goes to an aerobic pace.  The adrenaline kicks in.  The feel and response of all the drivers inputs to and feedback from the car are critical to this experience.  The feel of the g-force as you and the car accelerate, brake, and corner give the driver the information needed to make time critical decisions that optimize lap time.  When you get it right it is very rewarding.  You may not think the engine sound should be very important to this experience but it actually is.

Take a listen to the GT3 RS in this video (starting just after the 4 minute mark).  Also notice the comments of the driver and instructor.

Porsche now makes electric cars.  By the way, I am a fan of electric cars.  I love the direct response to throttle command.  I love the fact there is no shifting interrupting the power delivery.  It is by far the best way to make a commuter car.  I would like to have one for my daily commuting.  No more gas stations, oil changes, spark plugs, filters, belts, etc.  Far less, almost no maintenance really.  One pedal driving significantly reduces most brake wear. No cold engine operation.  It can warm up or cool off the interior while its sitting in the garage.  More luggage space.  However, when it comes to a track car I don't want all-electric.  The Porsche 718 is supposed to get an all-electric version in the future.  I may actually want one as a commuter car but it will stay home when I go to the track.  I want the flat 6 engine for that.  The electric 718 would probably put down quicker lap times, but still I want the flat 6.  It may seem odd for a logical engineer such as myself to say these things but even us logical engineers have things we are passionate about that defy pure logic.

Daniel Pink wrote a book called Drive that gives insight into human behavior.

This starts to explain some of this behavior of why we do some irrational things.  He describes three key elements of human satisfaction: purpose; autonomy; and mastery.  This passion that drives High Performance Drivers Education (HPDE or track day) participants is here in these elements.  I think the strongest correlation is with the mastery element.  Mastery is the desire to be good at something.  This is "practice makes perfect" that we have all heard.  It's our desire to achieve perfect and the thrill that comes with it.  So, what does engine sound have to do with this?  That sound, and the non-linear, high RPM power-band of a high performance naturally aspirated engine, give an extra element of feedback and challenge to achieving mastery.  Even more, the same is true for the PDK versus manual with a clutch pedal.  Mastering these extra challenges are part of achieving greater mastery.  If it was easy, the challenge would be gone and mastering it would mean nothing.  I actually like the PDK but I certainly understand those who prefer a clutch pedal.

There is something more to the sound of a great engine though.  It is certainly a much wider crowd than just track people who love the sound of a great engine.  To a real enthusiast it is better than music, or maybe a form of music.  The sound of a great engine is very hard to replicate with audio equipment since you feel it as much as you hear it.  Also, from the drivers perspective it is synchronized with acceleration which is a big part of this experience.  Even the experience between driver and passenger in the same car at the same time is quite different because of this.  I actually was not a huge fan of the sound of a Porsche flat 6 until I drove one.  From inside the car it is quite different.  Driving it is even better.  If you never had that experience, the flat 4 718 would be great.  But those of us that have experienced a Porsche flat 6 at full throttle redline know what I am taking about and that is missing in the flat 4.  I actually love the combination of induction and exhaust sound.  In fact, full throttle induction sound is even sweeter than exhaust sound in my opinion.  Put them together and it is blissful. 

Other manufacturers are understanding the importance of engine sound.  One great example is the Aston Martin Valkyrie.  Check it out on the dyno.

They could have easily turbocharged a V8 to get this performance but instead they went a much harder route of building a naturally aspirated V12 with a very high redline.  Obviously this car is not just about quick lap times but rather driver engagement.  Another is the Shelby GT350 with the Ford Voodoo engine.  The list is starting to grow.

I think the future of performance drivers cars will be more hybrids.  Porsche made the 918, Ferrari made the LaFerrari, and McLaren made the P1 years ago showcasing what street performance hybrids can do.  The Valkyrie is also hybrid, as are many other performance cars.  Now Vonnen has made a hybrid conversion for many Porsche models.  These are very different hybrids than the economy focused ones.  These use hybrid drive that is focused on performance.  The batteries are small so as not to increase the weight.  Just enough battery to add the extra power when you need it, and where you need it.  The hybrid drive augments a high-revving often naturally aspirated performance engine very nicely filling in power down low where these engines lack it.  Yet you still get all the sound and engine characteristics you like, just with more power.  Formula 1 went hybrid (KERS) back in 2009.  Most of the top Le Mans race cars have also been hybrid, such as the Porsche 919.