What is the difference between Race Fuel, Methanol and Alcohol in race car engines?

which would be the most powerful?

how is it possible to build a methanol or alcohol burning car?

 

To start with Methanol and Alcohol are from the same family of chemicals. They are not petroleum distillates and can be derived from things as easy to grow as corn. The burn rate and temperatures are also very different from gasoline "race fuel". Gasoline in any standard form is a petroleum distillate. Sunoco has a terrific website-check it out for complete info on their 'race fuel' and how they work.

 

Race fuel is usually higher in octane than pump gas, like 103 or 110 or whatever. Sometimes its not though, some can be as low as 87 octane. The higher octane gas is required for engines built to use them. Alcohol and methanol contain less energy per pound than gasoline does, but you can burn more of it. Instead of running 12:1 air/fuel like with gasoline, you would run like 5:1 air/alcohol ratio. It also allows higher compression ratios and requires more advanced ignition timing. As an example, some engines which with a maximum pump gas compression ratio of 11:1 may be able to run 12.5:1 on race fuel, and maybe 15:1 on alcohol. Alcohol will eat stock fuel system components up, so you need to plan your fuel system carefully. Often times alcohol is used on sand rails and drag vehicles, and those guys will flush the system out with gasoline after each run to extend the life of their fuel system components.


Gas faq:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/

One more read:
http://moteroweb.eresmas.com/gasoline.htm

 

When i was in highschool my physics teacher actually drew out the molocules that make up air methane and nitrogen. he showed me how it was a perfect chemical reaction with all these atoms breaking off and forming other compounds and ****. When you actually break this **** down to a chemestry level it makes more sense. Ever seen the achol injection kits they run on turbo cars? http://www.snowperformance.net/products.asp?id=1 i am considering one so i can run higher comp NA and not need to buy race gas.

 

ok, then what about running nitro methane? Safe for a honda engine? expected gains? Right now i have silicone lines running the fuel. would that be sufficient or do i need to run stainless? or what else can I do to get some more power without having to tune the engine? (currently we are running 100 octane)

 

also which sunoco fuel would be best to use in a b18b pushing out 142 hp at the wheels with slightly higher compression than stock, MO2X, Sunoco FR, Sunoco GT PlusTM Unleaded, Sunoco StandardTM, or which other fuel would be better?

 

NitroMethane is highly volatile and is generally used only in track prepared cars. The NHRA recently changed the rules so that the the amount of 'nitro' is lower. This helps reduce the number of supercharger and other catastrphic engine failures. Do not consider this for use on the street. For that matter it is not easily purchased. I fly model airplanes that use a 5% nitro to methanol mix and even that is getting scarce.
As to your fuel lines-personal chooice would be a braided stainless with a Teflon liner or similar construction. Silicone is used by model flyers and the line is really short. They are frequently replaced by some. Just my 2 cents

 

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You dont need anything other than pump gas for this. Really you dont.

 

I know i dont need it at all.. as long as i run 94 im ok.. but im just lookin to get some EXTRA power wherever I can without being docked or being bumped up a class, and gas choice is one of those "free" or not talked about issues, so I have some room to play with there and just looking to see what I can make up just from gasoline choices.

 

It wont net you any extra power. What group are you running with? I wouldnt even bother with anything that is going to require changes in tuning or extra attention to your fuel system - its asking for trouble.

 

B18B with only slightly higher compression should use premium pump gas... just to protect against detination... but HP gains wont come from it... more just added safety. i run 93 in my D16 at all times just to be "safe."

 

always run the lowest octane you can get away with w/o having the engine knock. Anything more is just lightening your wallet.