How does altitude affect automobiles?

Question

I am going to Denver. I plan on driving up Mt. Evans. The information I got said to make sure my car was able to handle the change in altitude.

Answer 1

As the air gets thinner, the air to gas mixture gets skewed. It you are making a short trip to the mountains, and then going back to your normal altitude, all you'll notice is a bit of poorer performance and a dip in gas mileage. If you plan on relocating to the significantly higher altitude (a difference of over 5,000 ft) I would suggest taking your car to a garage at the new altitude and having them adjust your carburetor fuel mixture.

Answer 2

If your car is fuel injected you shouldn't have any problem.
If carburated the engine might run a little rich.
If you are not going to stay in the area long it is not worth it to try to adjust the engine for altitude.
Denver is about 5300 feet in altitude so you lose about 15% of your engines normal power here as compared to sea level. The summit of Mt. Evans is about 14,260 feet or so. Get a full tank of gas when when you leave Denver to go up there, and be sure to take a jacket or sweater along.
My old '97 Ford Taurus 3.0 liter has no problem going up there. Its a very impressive drive.

The problem that many people have is in coming down from the summit. Don't ride your brakes all the way down because you will burn them out or warp the rotors. Downshift on the way down at the steepr grades and let your tranny do some of the braking. The road to the summit of Pikes Peak is even worse on brakes because it is steeper.

Answer 3

You don't say what kind of car you have. Most modern fuel injected engines would handle the change in altitude fairly easily, because the airflow meter would compensate for the thinner air. However you will get approximately 10% drop in engine power output for 6000' rise. Turbo- and supercharged engines should hardly be affected by altitude changes.