Thread: Higher elevation having an effect on performance?

So I just moved from Socal (sea level) to Reno, NV which I believe is right around 5,000 ft. Drving my car around town, I noticed it takes a little more throttle to go the same speed as it did at sea level.

And with my car being turboed, as I watch the boost gauge the vaccuum is less than it has been when cruising around. But when i hit boost, it seems to run fine.

So with that said, does living at a higher elvation have an effect on performance? My gas mileage seems to be dropping as well.

thanks!

Less dense air at higher altitudes = less available O2 for combustion.

a couple calculators.
Engine Horsepower Calculator
Wallace Racing - Braking HP Loss at Altitude Calculator

I live at 7000 ft. with a stock motored p11 But when ever I go to phoenix my car feels fast as shit. ha.

Turbochargers were invented for piston airplane engines to combat the loss of power at altitude.

ok makes sense because when in boost, it still feels good.

^^^ True. WWII had plenty of planes that were turbocharged for high altitude combat. Nitrous was also used for the 1st time in some German fighter applications for additional bursts of speed along with the turbos. When I take the road trip to Colorado the performance is definitely noticeable going from 1K ft in Phoenix to 6K in Colorado Springs. Sucks especially since I'm NA.

Do you see a drop in gas mileage as well?

That's awesome lol I never knew they did that in ww2.. I had to look it up and read all about it :P

I can notice the difference just driving home from work (Live up in a small mountain town, work in a larger town about an hour south out of the mountains)

Yeah, it was noticeable. Especially when I tried to make up for the high altitude power loss with more throttle, thus burning more gas. Just speaking from the NA side, you have a better setup to lessen the effect.