Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion. In other words, the power gained from changing one cylinder head is not equivalent to changing another cylinder head.
In general, there is a formula that can be applied to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head.
Must-Have Aspects to Look into!
1. The power gains do not rise in direct proportion to the increase in airflow but rather to the square of this figure. If you double the size of an engine’s exhaust ports, for example, its output might go up by 30%.
2. An engine with 2 intake and 1 exhaust valve per cylinder will be more peaky than one with 4 valves per cylinder. It will also have a lower peak power output because it can’t flow air into and out of the cylinder as easily when the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time.
3. Most stock cast-iron cylinder heads are severely choked down in an effort to improve low-speed fuel economy and cold-start emissions, so it’s pretty difficult to get 160 hp out of one.
4. A high-flowing cylinder head with small intake valves will have low torque at low rpm because it takes longer for incoming air to fill the combustion chamber. A big-valve engine with stock cylinder heads could be a better choice for towing or hauling.
5. The flow data do not predict the maximum power potential of a head because you can increase airflow with larger valves and more aggressive valve timing and porting, but ultimately there is no substitute for cubic inches (displacement).
6. A good set of aftermarket heads will do very little if the rest of the engine is still in stock. Give it lots of air by fitting larger fuel injectors, headers, and an exhaust system with a free-flowing muffler.
7. If you do all your own work on your engine, do cylinder heads first. If you take them to a shop for porting, do the rest of the engine before you take them back, or you’ll have spent all that money for nothing. Other upgrades will do more good, particularly if they are connected to the cylinder heads in some way.
8. A high-performance aftermarket head is not a bolt-on affair, no matter what it says on the box. To do the job right, you have to do a significant amount of machine work. If you do not want to do that yourself, take them to a competent shop and pay them to do it.
9. The ultimate upgrade for your engine is a new cylinder head with oversized valves and high-flowing exhaust ports.
10. Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion. In general, there is a formula that can be applied to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head.
11. The best thing about switching to aftermarket cylinder heads is that it will do more for your engine than any upgrade you can do yourself.
12. When it comes to cylinder heads, bigger is better because the larger the valve, the greater the airflow potential and thus increase horsepower.
13. A high-flowing cylinder head is a good upgrade when used with other performance parts such as headers, free-flow exhaust, and larger fuel injectors.
14. Most stock cast-iron cylinder heads are severely choked down in an effort to improve low-speed fuel economy and cold-start emissions, so it’s pretty difficult to get 160 hp out of one.
15. When shopping for aftermarket cylinder heads, do not look at the peak figures but rather where the power curve starts to flatten out.
16. The biggest bottleneck in a high-flowing engine is not the cylinder heads because they do not limit how much air can pass through them or exhaust flow.
17. A good set of aftermarket heads will do very little if the rest of the engine is still stock and other upgrades such as fuel injectors do more good than just cylinder heads by themselves.
18. An engine with too little intake manifold vacuum has the throttle plates partially open all the time, which is not efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy. You should also do something about this if you do cylinder heads on your own because it is one of the problems you will encounter.
19. A high-flowing cylinder head does not do much for an engine that is choked by an undeveloped intake manifold vacuum.
20. When shopping for aftermarket cylinder heads, do not look at the peak figures but rather where the power curve starts to flatten out.
21. Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion. There is a formula to apply to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head.
22. Suppliers often do not tell the whole story when it comes to describing their aftermarket cylinder heads, and some even use terminology you do not understand.
23. When it comes to cylinder heads, bigger is better because the larger the valve, the greater the airflow potential, which will increase horsepower
24. The best thing about switching to aftermarket cylinder heads is that it will do more for your engine than any upgrade you do yourself.
25. Most stock cast-iron cylinder heads are severely choked down in an effort to improve low-speed fuel economy and cold-start emissions, so it is pretty difficult to get 160 hp out of one.
26. A good set of aftermarket heads will do very little if the rest of the engine is still stock and other upgrades such as fuel injectors do more good than just cylinder heads by themselves.
27. An engine with too little intake manifold vacuum has the throttle plates partially open all the time, which is not efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy. You should also do something about this if you do cylinder heads on your own because it is one of the problems you will encounter.
28. A high-flowing cylinder head does not do much for an engine that is choked by an undeveloped intake manifold vacuum.
29. When shopping for aftermarket cylinder heads, do not look at the peak figures but rather where the power curve starts to flatten out.
30. Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion. There is a formula to apply to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head.
31. Suppliers often do not tell the whole story when it comes to describing their aftermarket cylinder heads, and some even use terminology you do not understand.
34. When it comes to cylinder heads, bigger is better because the larger the valve, the greater the airflow potential, which will increase horsepower
35. The best thing about switching to aftermarket cylinder heads is that it will do more for your engine than any upgrade you do yourself.
36. Most stock cast-iron cylinder heads are severely choked down in an effort to improve low-speed fuel economy and cold-start emissions, so it is pretty difficult to get 160 hp out of one.
37. A good set of aftermarket heads will do very little if the rest of the engine is still stock and other upgrades such as fuel injectors do more good than just cylinder heads by themselves.
38. An engine with too little intake manifold vacuum has the throttle plates partially open all the time, which is not efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy. You should also do something about this if you do cylinder heads on your own because it is one of the problems you will encounter.
39. A high-flowing cylinder head does not do much for an engine that is choked by an undeveloped intake manifold vacuum.
40. When shopping for aftermarket cylinder heads, do not look at the peak figures but rather where the power curve starts to flatten out.
50. Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion. There is a formula to apply to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head.
51. Suppliers often do not tell the whole story when it comes to describing their aftermarket cylinder heads, and some even use terminology you do not understand.
52. When it comes to cylinder heads, bigger is better because the larger the valve, the greater the airflow potential, which will increase horsepower
54. The best thing about switching to aftermarket cylinder heads is that it will do more for your engine than any upgrade you do yourself.
55. Most stock cast-iron cylinder heads are severely choked down in an effort to improve low-speed fuel economy and cold-start emissions, so it is pretty difficult to get 160 hp out of one.
56. A good set of aftermarket heads will do very little if the rest of the engine is still stock and other upgrades such as fuel injectors do more good than just cylinder heads by themselves.
57. An engine with too little intake manifold vacuum has the throttle plates partially open all the time, which is not efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy. You should also do something about this if you do cylinder heads on your own because it is one of the problems you will encounter.
58. A high-flowing cylinder head does not do much for an engine that is choked by an underdeveloped intake manifold vacuum.
59. Stock cast-iron cylinder heads do not do much for power or fuel economy when an engine has too little intake manifold vacuum at idle because the throttle plates are partially open all the time, which is not very efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy.
60. Cylinder heads do increase horsepower, but they do not do so in a linear fashion, and that is why you need to do something about an engine with too little intake manifold vacuum at idle when doing cylinder heads yourself because it is one of the problems you will encounter.
61. The best way to find out what type of gains you can expect from a given cylinder head is to do some research before you buy anything.
62. The larger the valve, the greater its airflow potential, which will increase horsepower. There is a formula to apply to make an educated guess about what type of gains you can expect with any particular cylinder head.
63. Bigger is better when it comes to aftermarket cylinder heads because the larger the valve, the greater its airflow potential, which will increase horsepower.
64. This is not very efficient and will do nothing to increase power or fuel economy. Do cylinder heads increase horsepower? Do not look at peak figures but rather where the power curve starts to flatten out.
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