How Porsche Perfected Intake Manifolds

Of course future Porsches will be all-electric and won't need an intake manifold

When Porsche designs an intake manifold, they do things differently. While most car companies try to increase pressure of air entering an engine, Porsche tries to expand that air. Here's how it works. Intake manifolds can be designed with certain length runners in order to be tuned to produce peak horsepower at a specific RPM.

The idea is that when the intake valve closes, the air rushing into the engine is force to build in pressure in the intake port. This pressure wave wants to equalize, so it bounces back and forth in the intake manifold. If you time the valve openings correctly, you can have that high pressure air force its way into the engine, making more horsepower and more torque.

But Porsche does something completely different, instead of increasing the pressure of the air going into the engine, they try to expand the air. The video explains why Porsche's method is so effective, and how it reduces brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC).