Customer Reviews

Four-Stroke Performance Tuning

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It has tons of info. THe Writer obviously has a very large experience as he writes serious stuff. Its for the advanced racer (its a more difficult read than Maximum boost by corky bell)
I don't like the fact that it writes too much about carburation(75 pages out of 310)
I like that it has real dyno figures and he has hard evidence of what he is telling.
Tons of schematics and pictures.
Very good !

I purchased this book after reading the authors equally great book on forced induction. Although it uses some of the same photos the forced induction book is not a rehash of this book.

This is the best and most complete book I have read on building and tuning performance motors.
In the last thirty plus years I have built and tuned several high performance motorcycle engines. I bore my own cylinders, have my own flow bench, balance cranks. I have quite a bit of experience.
Most all my motors have exceeded my expectations.
Some of what is in this book I knew from my experience massaging these motors to be daily drivers. This book is a much less expensive way to learn. This is not a vague "fluff" book like so many in print. If you want to learn regardless of your level of knowledge you will enjoy it. Sizing ports, valves, exhaust head pipes, step headers, primary pipe lengths, and on and on. Just having it all in one book is priceless.

It covers practically every area of engine design and modification well. It covers both motorcycles and cars.
The book is full of tricks that will save you hours, days, and sometimes weeks of work. What is it worth to get the compression ratio, or the cam right on the first try?
Need a chart on how much increase in flow you get from an injector by raising the fuel rail pressure? Got one. How about air cooled vs water cooled valve guide clearances. Got that too.




Great book, cheap at any price.

I find myself frequently refering back to this book. This is a great read for anyone wanting to tune ANY four stroke engine, motorcycle, automotive, modern or vintage. It covers tuning for every way you could drive your machine, street, drag, track racing, endurance. I would give 100 stars for this if I could. The first read through I hurried over a the tables and math, but on the second read through I broke out my motorcycles service manual and a calculator and begain easily planning out my engine modifications.

Prior reading the book for the first time, you won't even imagine the treasure hiding inside it. The author is undoubtedly a very experienced engine builder and after reading the book you could assume that he is a very successful one. But the most wonderful thing is that the author has tried to contain all of his experience into this book. While you read the book you will realize that you are actually in a situation of accumulating some experience. This is a bit exaggerated, as it is well known that hands-on experience cannot compare to any book, but you will feel that the author is providing you with some invaluable tips and facts.
The author is sticking to the facts as derived from his own experience. Facts that might be a bit out of the common sense and common knowledge which sometimes states that "BIGGER IS BETTER".
I am not giving the 5-star rating just because the carburetor chapter gets quite a large part of the book and also because at some points the author should give some more information and practical step-by-step procedures and tips, like for example in the cylinder head porting chapter where i would like to read more things from such an experienced builder.
If the author decide for the next edition to discard the carburetor chapter and try to extend every chapter with a lot more information and step-by step procedures then certainly this book is going to become an encyclopedia of four stroke engine tuning bringing any other similar book completely out of the game.

This is the best book you can buy for 4 stroke tuning. I have read it 3 times to try and assimilate all the information. If you want to modify an 4 stroke engine, this is the best starting point you can get. Well written, easy to follow and very practical. I have many other tuning books, but this is by far the best. Has up to date information. The megaphone exhaust design is missing in the latest book, so try and get an older copy if you are working on a single cylinder motorcycle engine.

This is really a book for beginners with little knowledge of engine tuning.

It deals well with the basics, with many tables and photos, particularly for car engines; not recommended for motorcycle applications where critical subjects of inlet and exhaust tuning (megaphones, straight pipes etc., tapered inlet tracts and resonance) are neglected or irrelevant, and has next to nothing other than basics for cam profiling and valve selection. There is no discussion of critical cam design elements or modification for racing applications, the effects of bounce, knots , determination of required lift characteristics, base circles and followers.
Crankshaft discussions are only for car engines, and are very basic, and there is little discussion of pistons, offsets, combustion properties, or modifications (other than basic) to achieve the best results from different configurations. Ignition appears to be totally neglected for motorcycle engines.

For these and other topics see Professor Blair's books. He's the world leader in MotoGP engine development.

as a aircraft mechanic and a car enthusiast this book is a must have... cant go wrong wit all the formulas and old skool trick of the trade thats in this book

I bought "Four-Stroke Performance Tuning" to gain some insight on cylinder head improvements. This book covers the entire range of subjects from Carburation and Fuel Injection to Cooling and Exhaust systems.

I have not read the entire book, but have been thoroughly impressed with the sections pertaining to my immediate concerns. This book discussed the basic principles involved and then applies them to an example.

If you are trying to improve a fairly common engine like a small block Chevy, there is plenty of information on what to do with no the need for theory. Even then, one still has to be able to discern if the improvement is something of use for a street vehicle or is really intended for full race application. For example, the competition manual for my Triumph six cylinder head recommends among other things to open the intake ports by about .080". No doubt this is beneficial on the track. I am looking for improved performance, but still want to retain the low end torque, so I elected to keep the intake ports at the stock size.

In summary, this book is a useful aid in planning your project to meet your specific goals.

Even if your a beginner or someone who has been modifying cars for a while this book helps explain and expel the myths around tuning. It forms a sound basis to help you gain the best performance from your vehicle. If all else fails it will allow you to justifiably tell your mates why their mods aren't preforming or how they will fail, cause lets face it, without proof that isn't just your own experience some people will not listen. Now you can throw the book at them. Physically as well as it is a hard cover book. :D

This book is invaluable with the information it contains. It covers every subject with sufficient information to give you some useful knowledge to apply to your project, regardless of what it is. Everything from fuel delivery to gear selection; it's the one book I would actually say is a must-have for any enthusiast who wrenches on the weekend.