TUNING OPTIMIZED

VARIABLES WITHIN FUEL-INJECTOR CONSTRUCTION CAN LEAD TO POOR ENGINE OPERATION. HERE'S HOW TO TUNE YOUR FUEL INJECTORS.

- GREG BANISH

It's safe to say that performance enthusiasts have embraced electronic fuel injection. That's not to say that carburetors can't do the job, but Detroit hasn't rolled a new car off the assembly line with a carburetor in almost 40 years. Since then, we have seen the evolution of EFI systems move from crude to precise in their control of fuel metering and ultimately the air/fuel ratio seen by the spark plug in the cylinders.

The fuel injectors themselves have also evolved. Not only has their physical size diminished enough to allow some creative placement options in the intakes, but manufacturers also offer flow rates that enable us to make amazing amounts of horsepower with just a single injector per cylinder. I fondly remember my early days of playing with fuel injection in the late '90s, when a 42 lb/hr (roughly 440cc/min) injector flow rate was considered "big"-I have more recently tested direct-replacement options for many port-injection applications that deliver over 286 lb/hr (3000cc/min), depending on the pressure being used.