fusion-turbo

My car is drastically effected by altitude changes. At about 4500 ft it is hard the get my BOV to vent unless i really get on it, while at about 2200 ft in phoenix it will vent almost every shift. is this normal?

Kenteth

I drove roughly 300 miles south a couple motnhs ago (about 2000 feet dif I think). It really does make a difference.

Evil Aviator

This is normal for all internal combustion engines. The outside air pressure decreases about 1/2psi per 1000' feet in altitude. Just be glad that you have a turbocharged engine that can make up for some of this loss.

89GTUs Lady

No kidding! Try driving an NA RX-7 through the rockies! The engine felt so *blah* going into denver! Had to ride around in 3rd and 4th gears going up the big hills... 5th gear was useless except for going downhill.

mrb455

I have a 88 n/a and don't see that much difference going from Phoenix to Flagstaff which is about 7000 ft. I can still go up the mountains easily at 80 mph with the air on, the only thing I have to do is take it out of overdrive sometimes. Thats why I got it, it out preforms my 63 413 435hp Chry and my 69 460 365hp MarkIII in the mountains.

Edit: I should note that I am talking about the weight to HP ratio not to mention the 23 mpg I get making the trip as opposed to 6 mpg.

fcfdfan

I've driven my TII up the road to the Whitney Portal Campground to reach the Mt. Whitney Trail trailhead here in Cal. In eleven miles the road goes up from Lone Pine in the East Sierras at about 3,500 feet to the trailhead at 8,400 feet. By the time you get up into the steep switchbacks in the face of the mountain at around 7000 the engine is really *******. You can floor it an almost nothing happens. It's a little freaky and you imagine being up there can't be too good on the engine.

Evil Aviator

There will be no damage to the engine at high altitude just as long as you don't over-load it by selecting too high of a gear. Just select the gear that pulls well without revving the engine too high, and you will be fine. Aircraft engines also produce less power at altitude, and obviously they are not damaged in the process.

ajsuper7

i noticed a big difference in my n/a between phoenix and tucson, at higher altitudes like 6000+ ft the car really bogs down and has to be in high revs (5000rpms +) to get anywhere, but i did have a car full of stuff from college when i was that high. i was following my brother in his 98 tahoe, he was running away from me with all that torque at that altitude.

fusion-turbo

Having a turbocharger really helps out when going to higher altitudes, it still pulls relatively the same when at higher rpm's (4000 and up) in 5th gear. Its at lower rpm's and during shifting that i notice the difference. I was up in flagstaff (7000 ft) and i had to damn near race my car to be able to hear any hint of venting from my BOV. at least i know its not just my car!

MazdaRx7Racer4Life

Im glad I live in florida, we are at sea level here and the only hills and mounds are trash ones.

LowFreq

Altitude does make a big difference. I was boosting at 12 lbs when I lived in NYC, then moved to Colorado where I was at 7000 feet--boost dropped to 9 lbs. I turned the mbc up to 12. The turbo worked a little harder and the power took a little longer to come on, but at least I had that option. Non-turbo cars have nothing to turn up. Stayed there for 2 years, now I'm back on the east coast at sea level--feels like a new car.