Buddy Rawls’ Performance Engine Theory Website

A collection of write-ups to demonstrate the relationship of camshafts and valve events to the engine and its flow parameters

I like racing and performance environments where the engine is the focus. I could care less about automotive events that are decided by drivers’ abilities. For me, it is all about the engine, the simplification of the parameters, and the constraints.

Mechanical engineering gave me a solid background, but it was NOT the hardcore internal combustion engine theory part that hooked me. It was the testing, data reduction, and data trends that helped me the most.

I tried to make “big picture’ sense of all the engineering, articles, engine builders, and camshaft designers and manufacturers. I knew the “big picture” was going to be my key to understanding engines. I spent the better part of 11 years formulating practical math models of engine flow parameters, valve events, and power output. I put those math models into practice as a hobby business in the late 1990’s, and actively utilize them today.

I am a fan of engine combinations that are built within the hardware limitations of class racing. As a mechanical engineer, I do not subscribe to the idea that a motor works because 'it just does' or from mystic voodoo black magic than only a few understand. An engine is a mathematically quantifiable system and should be treated and/or modified from that perspective. That is why constraints are so appealing. Taking something so limited or inefficient and making it perform is the classic mechanical engineering methodology.

This website puts the thoughts and theories into words.

Last update: June 2010 General updates and maintenance

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