Compression Questions

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BallinPrelude

Senior Member
ok im sure most of u all have a better understanding about the whole compression ratio thing works. Sorry for the dumb questions but i seriously dont know shit about this.

I hear all this talk about how some people want to raise the compression and others want to lower their compression. It seems like for turbo cars people tend to lower the compresion, so does that mean if ur goin NA u should raise it?? i dont know im pretty confused it seems like theres a lot of contradiction goin on when i have been reading about it. im lost can some1 please fill me in and help me out here.

What would be a good ideal ratio, most likely for an NA car, i would love turbo but honestly i dont have that much money left haha.

Thanks everyone.
 
ok, so since im not using forced induction should i just leave the compression alone?? and not mess w/ pistons, headgasket, and rods?
Thanks
 
Ok... here's the basic gist of it. Compression = power. More air and fuel = power. When you're boosted, your turbocharger forces more air into your engine. You can burn more fuel, which gives you more power. You also have a rise in your effective compression, which further increases your power. When you're all motor, you don't have the turbocharger to ram more air into your engine and increase compression at the same time, so you want to increase your static compression by changing out pistons, going with thinner head gaskets etc. Then you'll want to increase the flow in and out of the engine by optimizing your head, intake systems, and exhaust systems. Increasing compression helps quite a bit on naturally aspirated setups. If you want to max out the power in your engine without boost or juice, you'll want to change out your pistons.
 
hey thanks alot i found that very helpful.

Do anyone reccomend a particular brand??? I hear some people w/ preludes use the Type - S pistons and say they are good. Should i get those or is there any other thats better??
 
The Prelude Type-S pistons should be cast just like the factory pistons, and can probably be used without a block resleeve. Most people recommend that you resleeve an H block if you're going to swap the pistons in it, since the carbon content of the sleeve material makes it difficult to hone correctly. If you want to run aftermarket forged pistons, you'll probably be looking at a resleeve (expensive), while the Type-S pistons might let you squeak by.

Some good piston brands: Wiseco/Endyn, JE, Arias, Ross, Probe- there's tons of good piston manufacturers out there.
 
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