Groove 101
Please note: I have chosen to perform this on my personal vehicle and noted the performance benefits over a 20,000 mi experiment on a 40 yr old MG engine. Many may want to debate the benefits. However I am not open for debate. It just plain works! If you want my input I am happy to share with you what I know and experiences of others. So if your desire is to try this idea, It is your decision and I cannot be held responsible for any problems or mechanical conundrums that may arise from misinterpretation or inability to put into practice the stated procedure or failure to properly carry out the task at hand. Read,Learn,Study and Apply! Respectfully submitted Ed
| 1.) Run your vehicle on 87octane pump gas with no pinging. | Links: |
| 2.) Increase Fuel Economy 10-20% | [Green Car Congress, Lots of comments] |
| 3.) Increase Hp ( See a dynomometer chart ) Gmc 1500 Pick up, 42 hp gain | [www.speedtalk.com] |
| 4.) Increase Torque at all rpm levels | [forums.turbobricks.com] |
| 5.) Lower idle-not unusual to see 500 to 800 rpm and maintain smooth engine characteristics and smooth take off | [http://www.v-twinforum.com] |
| 6.) Lower engine and exhaust gas temp, typically 20 deg cooler = longer engine life | [www.rexresearch.com] |
| 7.) Maintain clean oil | [www.herningg.com] |
| 8.) Raise compression if you like. Recommend 10.5 to 1 and maintain .070 squish area, but will work with less. | [tech.groups.yahoo.com] |
| 9.) No other mod will get you this many benefits for the cost of a couple of gaskets | [www.jeremiahsviolins.com] |
| 10.) Works on 2 and 4 stroke, turbo, supercharged, naturally aspirated and injected. | [www.mpgresearch.com] |
| 11.) See Singh's Site for many more pictures and dyno tests or read on. | [mgexpierience .net] |
| [Water Fuel Cell.org] |
By substantially increasing turbulence within the cylinder, Singh Groove enables more of the fuel to be burned and it burns at a faster rate. This promotes cleaner engine exhaust, cleaner oil, more power, lower operating temperature, no pinging and significantly increased engine power at all levels. Since fuel is being burned more completely, the engine runs clean and cool. As for tuning, you will find that the carbs need less fuel to accomplish what they did before. Hence better fuel economy. See Press release.
Original Single groove after approx 20,000 mi shows evidence of clean burn on exhaust valve and slight dust on intake valve. In fact the whole engine was cleaner than it has ever been, as can be seen by the rockers on the right.
This is a single groove in the squish area of an MGC Head. It is a stock head and it is done to all six cylinders. Additionally the engine is stock as well other than headers and a 123 Ignition. Why you ask? There are many reasons and listed below are a few.
After about 3 yrs or 20,000 mi logged on the Grooved head here are my observations:
Cleaner Oil (in fact the oil remains clean throughout the 3000 mi cycle), More Hp, More Torque, no oily film on the rear bumper or paint, better fuel economy (at least a 2-3 mpg increase) no pinging or dieseling. Even pull from down low rpms up through 5000 rpm and no signs of stopping. Not a drag racer just a very well behaved engine that doesn't want to quit. Overheating is not an issue. Idle can be set around 600 rpm and maintain smooth idle characteristics. Throttle response is unbelievable just barely touch the gas and you are up to speed. All of this on 87 octane pump gas.
Please Note VERY IMPORTANT the grooves stop before the inner gasket.
I have recently modified another head according to Singh's recommendations. This time three actually four grooves were added as can be seen in the picture above. The head has been shaved .060 by The engine Works in Medina ,Ohio. Carl is a first rate mechanic and machinist with a quick turn around. I am sure the compression ratio is up from [9.1 to 1] but I would only be guessing as to what it is. Plans are to get more info on the next head before it goes in. Undoubtedly it will add more low end torque and horsepower. The compression readings are 175,172,175,170,173,175 done with all plugs removed. Compression Ratio Calculator The cam remains stock as well as the bore. Performance is awesome, equal to today's modern engines only this is a 40yr old lump of cast iron. Low end torque is nice and tooling around without barely touching the throttle is interesting. Absolutely no hesitation from a 500 rpm idle up through the power band. As for tuning your car, use the same procedures as you did with out the groove. Carb readjustment is necessary but only a readjustment. You will not need to change carb needles. However I believe Carbs that have fixed jets like Webers, will need to go down in jet size. Just follow the shop manual to obtain proper adjustment. I found that not only does the exhaust smell sweeter but the engine does not lug down in high gear. For example in 4th w/OD engaged slowing down to 800 rpm I can just give it gas and there is no struggle or bucking to resume highway speed. Grades are climbed with ease and no loss of power or struggling. MGC's are notorious for running hot and running rich at idle which means that there is almost always a blue film on the rear bumper and paint around the exhaust of the car. That too is a thing of the past. Many of the benefits can be seen with the single groove. But I feel the multiple grooves are the way to go. It is too soon to see if there are any other gains using multiple grooves as in mpg gains over a single groove, however preliminary driving suggests a significant increase in fuel economy. I am very interested in finding out what it is so, the first chance I get for a road trip. I'm gone! I will post more info as it unfolds.
5/9/2010 - No road trips yet, lost a head stud and while I was replacing the studs I widened and deepened the multiple grooves. So far around town driving has yielded results of between 19and 20 mpg. Not bad for 1969 technology on 87 pump gas. Only problem is it runs so well I want to put my foot down the carbs which would destroy any mpg vehicle. Well,driving season is here. I will keep you posted as results unfold.
6/10/2010 - fuel economy results click here.
In my opinion the grooves create swirl in the combustion chamber similar to what modern engines do with fuel injection thus creating a more complete burn. You will not need to change carb needles or anything else to see the benefits. Just some time and energy to remove the head cut the grooves and replace it. I cut my grooves with a Dremel tool and have about 5 hrs of working time involved. Gaskets will cost you approx $70 and getting the head shaved around $85. It will be the most bang you will ever get for that kind of money and then some. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
I know that many reading this will probably think it is too simple, too good to be true. And I would've tended to agree. After chasing multiple threads on Singh's site for weeks and seeing testimonies unsolicited, revealing improvements of this simple design I have changed my mind. Well lets just say that in this case you will not say "it is too good to be true". I have talked with some enthusiasts who remember a similar design that worked well in motorcycles, maybe it was Singh they were referring too. At either rate there has not been one single person who properly cut these grooves in his head that has not been able to concur with the discoverer Mr. Singh on the benefits of this modification. I have nothing invested in this great idea. So I pass along a proven idea to wake up your vehicle and make it run better and more efficiently no matter what improvements you have bolted on for horsepower this will add more. Some racers have seen as much as a 30hp increase. I would be elated with that. Will you turn your car into a wheel standing tire burning race car? Probably not! Unless that is your goal. However you will see many improvements from one simple procedure. Not having the resources to put this car on a rolling road I can only offer to you a seat of the pants guestimate. I think 15+ hp increase and all the other benefits previously mentioned. Not bad for $155. Should you want to compare, I invite you to take it for a ride the next time we meet. And give me your observations. Should you want Test results here they are.
More information from the Web site Of Somender Singh follows.
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Groove Theory - 101 |
Somender Singh has been awarded an US Patent for his discovery of how to gain more engine power and economy by utilizing a small groove cut into the squish area(s) of the typical Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). |
Since 1995 countless engines have been modified and working better than ever. Picture links 2005 2006 2007 2009 Test Results The Groove(s) allows gasses to expand and compress with a quality that has consistently improved fuel efficiency, lowered operating temperature, improved torque and max power as well as lowering idle speed significantly. The Groove has beneficial effects on the compression stroke as well as the power stroke. On the compression stroke, the Groove channels one last bit of air/fuel mixture towards the spark plug, maintaining swirl until the spark provides ignition. On the power stroke, the Groove provides a channel for hot gasses to jet towards the cylinder wall and rapidly ignite mixture in the squish area. It also appears that the Groove can destroy standing vortices in the squish areas as well. Without grooves, the combustion is incomplete and unburned fuel remains in the cylinder. This unburned fuel is still expanding during the exhaust stroke. At the end of the exhaust stroke, the expanding unburned gases flow past the intake valve into the intake manifold, causing poor idle, carbon deposits and lower performance. Follow this link to see images of Grooved engines in 2009. With the grooved cylinder heads, combustion is more complete leaving little unburned fuel behind, more of the fuel is used to generate power-faster, reducing the time that internal surfaces are exposed to heat. (That’s also why engines typically run 20 degrees F. cooler with a Groove) For more comparison pictures go here http://somender-singh.com/content/view/65/43/ With the modified heads, very little unburned fuel remains during the exhaust stroke. With less burning fuel to expand during the overlap period, the gasses flowing past the intake valve are reduced, resulting in improved idle quality even below 500rpm ! It has been conclusively proven that the Grooves are effective because of the additional benefits they allow: Higher compression ratio, less advance, lower idle speed and lower octane fuel. The difference in a tuned up Grooved engine is simple to understand. If the same tune, advance, and CR was used for an unGrooved engine, it probably wouldn't even start! Eliminating Ping (also called 'knock' or detonation) allows for an advance setting that is much closer to Top Dead Center (TDC) to get more power from each stroke of the Piston. This quality of a Grooved engine also enables a higher compression ratio with the use of regular octane fuel, thus adding more improvements to the quality of combustion and preventing knock, or worse, 'pre-ignition'. It has been well known that higher compression makes a more efficient engine, that's why diesels work so well. The problem is, that increased compression (pressure) and high temperature also leads to a more volatile combustion chamber and you usually get 'knock', which means the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder is igniting before the spark plug fires. This can be damaging to the engine if combustion occurs too far before the piston gets to TDC because the expanding gasses are trying to make the engine run backwards in that one cylinder while the rest of the engine is going 'forwards'. Bad news. Since Grooved engines 'seem' to burn the fuel faster, you can wait to ignite the fuel-air mixture until the piston is near the top of its stroke. That leaves more energy pushing on the piston as the burning gasses expand and exposes the piston and cylinder walls to heat for a shorter time period. This combination of effects safely allows for a higher compression ratio to be used. The Groove 'seems' to create more mixing (turbulence) in the burning gasses, making sure that more of the fuel/air mixture gets to be completely burned before the exhaust ports open and the engine 'exhales' the used fuel/air mixture. By the way, a -surprising- amount of fuel/air mixture is NOT burned in every single stroke of your typical engine. It is allowed to exit through the tailpipe and is sometimes called pollution. It definitely is wasted fuel that you paid for with good money . The Groove reduces the amount of unburned fuel/air mixture leaving your engine by turning more of it into power. Visit the links referred to above and look closely at the cylinder heads and piston tops for signs of incomplete combustion. It usually shows up as a lighter color around the edge of the cylinder chamber. This is where pockets of fuel have not burned. It is consistently obvious from the photographic evidence sent to us that Grooved engines burn fuel well into the 'corners' of the cylinder. So, the main benefit of the Groove is not a specific single change, but the combination of power and efficiency improving effects. One tester even went so far as to test an engine with unGrooved and then Grooved heads, but kept the tuning exactly the same. He was attempting to 'isolate' the Groove's effect and got less than dramatic results. Even though this test didn't take advantage of the Groove's main strengths (a 'worst case scenario' in other words) the dyno still showed a +6 hp power increase and a smoothing of the power band through all rpm's. No one disputes that increased compression, increased turbulence and reduced temperature are all 'good' things for improving performance of the typical internal combustion engine, yet on the web, people who are not familiar with this modification still claim that the grooves must be 'magic' and therefore unscientific and impossible. As you look around this site, recognize the countries represented and the diversity of opinion and methodology. No one here has been selected, edited, censored or motivated by any promise from Somender-Singh.com. Each individual is independent and wholly driven by their own curiosity and desire for better performance. Since Somender is not yet 'selling' his Patent, there is no monetary gain available from performing the groove (other than better running engines), yet people keep doing it. At any time, anyone is welcome to provide evidence of any negative impact from grooving an engine properly and their testing results will be posted just like everyone else's. These experiments are usually run on 'beaters' with nothing left to lose. As soon as the groove brings these vehicles back to life, you will often see that person go on to perform Groovings on their daily driver, then their favorite cars and the 'race day specials'. No snake oil, just clean oil, and clean power. If you are interested to explore what this really means for the whole world, you can see a YouTube video of Martynelli from Spain cutting a nice pretty groove with nothing more than a hacksaw blade, triangular file and some sand paper, in less than four minutes! And for anyone who thinks that having two unmodified squish areas are superior, have a look at flat plate dynamics. Place two sheets of plywood face to face and try to pull the top one off rapidly. Better yet, get a friend to help you pull it straight up evenly! A great deal of force is required to overcome the vacuum created. Now drill a few dozen holes (or cut a long notch) into the top sheet and you will then be able to pull off the top sheet easier and still produce 'turbulence' in the region. During the first phases of combustion, gasses expanding into the Groove with combustion forming a 'jet' aimed at the cylinder wall produces any extra turbulence lost from compromising the integrity of a flat squish area (and then some). Drag or momentum, which would you want powering your piston? |
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