Building & Tuning High-Performance Electronic Fuel Injection

Author

Hib Halverson
Technical Writer for Internet & Print Media

Registered: January 2001
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5964

Review Date: Mon May 14, 2007

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 5

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	If you already understand EFI, nineteen bucks for this book would be well-spent.
Cons:	The book's first section contains enough incorrect information that its credibility should be at least questioned if not discounted.

Amongst automotive do-it-yourselfers, a pressing need exists for basic information on electronic fuel injection (EFI). In addition, the proliferation of aftermarket EFI systems intended for DIY installation has created a need for a "buyer's guide" covering the many, different EFI packages available to enthusiasts.

Building & Tuning High-Performance Electronic Fuel Injection was intended to meet both those needs but, unfortunately, in meeting one of them, it falls woefully short of the mark. This book is divided into two sections. The first half is devoted to EFI basics. Clearly, the Author's intent was a discussion of elementary electronic fuel injection topics but the result contains numerous errors in the technical discussions which make up the six chapters, over the 56 pages, which are the first part.

Knowledge of electrical theory would seem a manifest requirement for anyone writing a book on EFI, but Mr. Strader errors in discussions of both Ohm's Law and "short" circuits. We asked Mr. Strader how this occurred and his response was a seeming attempt to rationalize the mistakes, "Admittedly," Strader told this reviewer, "I am not an electrical engineer, and my expertise lies in the more 'hands-on' aspect of tuning engines." It's very difficult to see that response and anything more than lame. If Mr. Strader was not sufficiently knowledgeable in electrical issues to write a book on EFI, then either he should have gotten educated prior to authoring the title or the book's publisher, CarTech, Incorporated, should have corrected his errors during the editing process.

Mr. Strader's statement about his expertise lying, "...more with the hand-on aspect of tuning engines." is, also, suspect. There are mistakes in the chapter of the book on manifold absolute pressure and MAP sensors. Errors are in discussions of how engine controllers set spark advance. A discussion about the causes of lean misfire is wholly inaccurate. An explanation of gasoline octane ratings is faulty. Statements about how chassis dynamometers work are incorrect. Those are just some examples of the slip-ups in this book. They are goofs which should not have been made by an author who has expertise in tuning engines.

The book's first section contains enough incorrect information that its credibility should be at least questioned if not discounted, however, there is valuable material in Part Two, the buyer's guide section. Eleven different, aftermarket electronic fuel injection systems are discussed. Of course, 75 pages limits the coverage of each to only basic information, but there is more than enough content there to help persons shopping for an EFI system make a decision.

If you are looking for a book which accurately explains electronic fuel injection; look elsewhere. This title does not fill that need. On the other hand, if you already understand EFI basics but need information to help you make a purchase decision, considering the cost of aftermarket EFI systems, nineteen bucks for this book will be money well-spent and that's in-spite of the first half's inaccuracies.

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Hib Halverson

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