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The substance your car burns the most of is air. Fuel is mixed with
the air at ratios of around 14.6:1. For every gallon of gas you burn,
you burn many, many cubic feet of air. The number of molecules of air
entering the combustion chamber each time the intake valve opens will
vary with the temperature of the air. Cold air is much more dense
(the molecules are packed together) than warm air, so cars often
perform better in cool weather. If more air gets into the chamber,
more power is produced. For this reason, engines running at high
altitudes or in especially hot climates have to be specially tuned to
get enough air to run properly. If the air is compressed by a
turbocharger or supercharger, more of it can be packed into the
cylinders. The result is the production of greater power when this
air is ignited.
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