Fuel additives

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pablo
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Fuel additives

Post by pablo »

Changes in the time attack now mean that methanol and nitrous are now both allowed but only as an additive. We are planning to run ours on E85 for the time attack but just after some info on the other 2 as additives. Benefits and cons also peoples opinion.
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Gerry H
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Post by Gerry H »

10% methanol saw my Impreza go from 420/400 to 470/450 using Tesco 99.

Is water injection allowed too?
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Stuart
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Post by Stuart »

As above for Methanol.....nitrous is being used to great effect by people like Gary at APT on clients cars, max1 on his own GTR, BigFil on anything he can fit it to :D

So you intend to use E85 and then something on top?
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pablo
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Post by pablo »

Gerry, water injection is allowed and we did play about with that but only as a spray onto the intercooler which did make a slight difference.
Was that running the same boost levels.

Stu, the original plan was to run with E85, but with all these other options may need to think again about what we do. I like to get as much info as i can before we go and hassle Gordon.
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Andy916
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Post by Andy916 »

Availability will be the issue with E85, with Morrisons planning to withdraw it. Dearer race E85 should still be around I guess,

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Post by Gerry H »

[quote="Andy916"]Availability will be the issue with E85, with Morrisons planning to withdraw it. Dearer race E85 should still be around I guess,
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Post by Gerry H »

PS. Water injection was quite straightforward and systems range from quite basic to rather fancy.

I had mine set up to look at boost pressure and to inject at anything over 0.5 bar but that's done on an adjustable pressure switch so you can set at any posisive manifold pressure.

Good stuff so long as it's monitored and you can cut the engine if there's a pump failure or blockage or you run out of water, etc.
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pablo
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Post by pablo »

[quote="Andy916"]Availability will be the issue with E85, with Morrisons planning to withdraw it. Dearer race E85 should still be around I guess,
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ScoobieWRX
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Post by ScoobieWRX »

Methanol is more highly oxygenated than E85 and has a higher MON rating although lower RON value, however, overall it does have a higher Octane value (RON+MON/2) and that's what matters. It's also a lot cheaper too at anywhere between 50-60ppl. You can buy it in any quantity you like but for a good deal buy anything from a 205Ltr drum to 1000Ltr IBC.

Running E85 only you'll use c.30% more fuel than you would Petrol and availability may be an issue. At least with Methanol you can get it in a big container and that way you've always got some in storage. Running pure Methanol is OK too but you'll end up using c.50% more fuel.

Both are corrosive to your car in terms of cylinders/liners, fuel lines, fuel pumps, injectors, fuel tank, and it tends to absorb water if left sitting around for too long in your tank or fuel lines in it's pure state, not a problem though in mixes up to about 20%.

Modern plastic or stainless steal fuel tanks, PTFE lined braided stainless steel fuel lines and some modern cylinders/liners are good, and generally modern day aftermarket fuel pumps and adjustable fuel pressure regulators as well as injectors cope very well. If you are running pure you'll need much bigger injectors and decent fuel pump/s to keep injectors fed or your AFR's will lean out bigtime and your engine will go pop.

As Gerry has said you will need to have a remap at anything more than a 10% mix with petrol but up to 10% you will be fine without a remap as most cars are factory mapped to run reasonably rich anyway so it shouldn't lean out that much and in fact may well run better a little leaner plus the ECU unless reset will eventually learn better/more advanced ignition timing and fuel trims.

You will however be amazed when mapped for your chosen mix just how much extra timing and boost you can run without the need for methanol/water injection. Run pure you can add some pretty hideous amounts of timing and boost so long as your engine/set up is built to take and make that much extra power.

I can only speak for Subaru's but they do respond very well to Methanol in just a 10% mix which makes a huge difference to a standard car. When mapped for however, and especially in a 20% mix, like Gerry i can vouch for it's efficacy. Much better than octane booster in a bottle, but just handle with common sense and care.

Just one caveat....If mapped for a given mix then you must run it at that mix religiously because if you ever decide to run it with normal fuel and you don't remap for that you'll find that the ECU may not be able to pull enough timing/boost or add sufficient extra fuel to compensate and end up potentially going pop under medium to heavy engine loads.

Apart from that have fun :D
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Post by Stuart »

Post of the week Francis :thumbs:
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