I have wondered this for awhile and finally decided to ask. I have read in import magazines many times that thicker head gaskets are used to increase the compression of the engine, which then sometimes increases horsepower. I'm not sure if this would benefit more for cars with boost or n/a. Would this work for the Max?

 

A thicker head gasket decreases the static compression of an engine.

This will lose HP on an NA engine.

 

I thought I misread him, and I thought about how increasing the compression ratio that way would not be a good idea on pump gas or on stock internals. With all the risks, and the fact that gains may not be had without much more work, I was just going to advise against.

 

Boosted cars can gain lots of HP with a thicker head gasket because the drop in compression allows them to turn up the boost more...and in the end, the HP they lose from the compression drop is well exceeded by the HP gain from the increased boost. They wouldn't be able to run that much boost normally because the engine would detonate.

Normally aspirated engines require an increase in compression to make more power. They don't have a compressor to shove in more air, so the more bang they get from the cylinders squeezing the mixture, the better...more bang comes from more compression.