
Originally Posted by
StraightSix
Uh, yeah. It is. Air-Fuel Ratio is defined as the mass of air to the mass of fuel in a combustion process. This is something that is immutable. It is fact; pick up an text on thermodynamics and look it up.
Now, let's actually think about this for a second. Knowing how an AFR is defined means that a 12:1 or 11:1 is really freaking rich. This is not good from the stand point of efficiency, or the chemical reaction of combustion. It's not good because not all of the fuel is being used.
It *is* good from the stand point of not blowing up a turbo charged engine. Too lean of a burn in that engine will cause combustion temperatures to rise; the excess fuel helps to keep combustion temps in the individual cylinders down. In a non-turbo charged application, combustion temps aren't as critical so the mixture can be leaned quite a bit.