Weather and Engine Tuning Articles

Check out some of our articles on weather and engine tuning. Some of these are blog posts and some are articles we've written for various publications.

These provide information when using our racetrack weather pages, help you get started with our online jetting calculators, or just help you with engine tuning in general.

Articles about the information on this site

• Quickly access your track from your phone's home screen - Access weather for the tracks you visit from your phone's home screen using these instructions. Get quick access with this one-touch option.
• Measuring Racetrack Atmosphere - This article explains the basics of weather and then further explains each of the variables given on each of our track's weather pages.
• Historical weather data - We get a lot of questions about this so we wrote a blog post. Recently we started offering air density and density altitude for past dates on this site. This article shows how.

Weather articles

Articles that have appeared on AirDensityOnline.com. These are all relatively brief and feature good starter information.

• Why air density is important in engine tuning
• Understanding the difference between corrected and uncorrected barometer
• Reading the weather report: when is it about to rain
• Why is it hottest a couple hours after noon
• Weather changes before and after dark
• Air density and water vapor
• Water vapor and horsepower

Articles that have appeared on Racingjunk.com:

• Effects of Humidity on Tuning and Traction - April 2023
• Methanol Racing Engines in Cold Weather - February 2023
• Tuning for Torque vs Horsepower: Know the Difference - September 2022
• Subtle Variations Can Make a Big Difference In a Racers Tune Up - May 2022
• High Speed Bypass: Greater Control in Mechanical Fuel Injection Racing - March 2022
• Dyno to Race Day: Tuning Tweaks to Transition to the Track - November 2021
• Using Wind to your Advantage at the Race Track - August 2021
• Analyzing Track Conditions Between Seasons - March 2021
• Racing Fundamentals with Air Density Tuning -July 2020: We discuss weather factors that influence different types of racing including drag racing, land speed, and sprint racing.
• Elevation and Atmospheric Factors in Motorsports Performance - March 2020: We wanted to give some pointers for tuning with weather and elevation for racers who are stuck at home during the quarantine.
• Air Density Tuning for MWPMS ProMod Drag Race Cars at the Texas Motorplex’ Mello Yellow NHRA Fall Nationals - October 2019: This is a follow up article to our first one where we analyze the weather from the same event over several previous years.
• Air Density Tuning at MLRA Lucas Oil Speedway Oval Track, April 12-13, 2019 presented by RacingJunk.com - April 2019: This article is similar to the previous one but we analyze tuning considerations for weather at a sprint event on a circle track.
• Air Density Tuning Elite 16 ProMods Drag Racing @ Texas Motorplex Nov. 1-3, 2018 - October 2018: In this article we analyze the weather factors likely to be in place at this event and discuss the tuning considerations necessary based on that weather.

Articles that have appeared on EngineLabs.com:

• Explaining The Effects of Weather on Mechanical Fuel Injection - This article discusses how weather variables affect engine tuning.
• Elevation Changes and How They Affect Engine Tuning - This article discusses how elevation changes affect engine tuning.

Engine tuning articles

Articles that have appeared on AirDensityOnline.com. These are brief articles with good introductory information to give you a good start using this site. For more detailed information, see the other articles listed on this page.

• Using Air/Fuel Ratio
• Tuning with methanol vs. nitro - a brief article about the differences between tuning with methanol and tuning with nitromethane
• Setting Up A New Fuel Injection System
• Engine Tuning Using The Main Bypass

This is a series of articles we did on RaceCarBook.com. They provide good examples of the books available for purchase on that site.

• Key elements to engine tuning
• Optimum Air/Fuel Ratio in drag racing
• Is Ignition Timing the First Thing to Dial In?
• How important are data logging tools?
• How does a racer select the best fuel?
• Is it still important to read spark plugs and what's the best method of doing so?
• What's the best way for a racer using a carburetor to optimize engine performance
• View full list of articles on RaceCarBook.com

Articles that have appeared in Enginelabs.com and/or Dragzine.com:

• Calculating Critical Air Scoop Speed With A Forward Facing Air Inlet
• Be Ready for Race Day by Reading the Weather
• Misunderstood Causes of Detonation in High Performance Applications
• Reading the Plugs: Spark Plug Tuning With Different Fuels
• High Speed Engine Tuning When Factoring In Ram Air
• Horsepower Correction, Power Management, And Science
• What You Need To Know About Mechanical Fuel Injection
• What You Need To Know: Mechanical Fuel Injection Types and More
• Engine Tuning By The Numbers: Air/Fuel Ratio and Lambda

Articles that have appeared in Engine Builder Magazine:

• Fuel Mixtures for Drag Racing - October 2017
• Understanding Ignition Timing – August 2017
• Today’s Grassroots Drag Racing Market – January 2017
• The Fuel Injection Phenomenon – What Normally (Naturally) Aspirated Engine Builders Need to Know – December 2016
• Understanding the Basics of Your Business - Taxes - January 2018

Information about this site

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If you would like to get more information about the books and information available on our partner site, visit RaceCarBook.com.