Giggle gas - something to put a smile on your face.

"Giggle Gas - Nitrous Oxide (N20) the power button!"

NB: NoS is a brand name of a company but many confuse this with the name of the gas Dinitrous Monoxide AKA – Nitrous Oxide N20, Dinitrous Monoxide, Dinitrogen oxide also referred to as Nitrous or giggle gas (from its medical usage as an anesthetic.

It was used in wartime to boost the engines in aircraft and later became a big hit in drag racing in the Pro Mod class. Not a flammable gas in itself it is injected into the intake manifold where it mixes with air & fuel.  The main benefit of Nitrous comes as it burns and becomes an oxidizer releasing more oxygen into the engine.

An interesting side benefit of using Nitrous is the cooling effect it has.  It rapidly changes from a liquid to a gas and produces a cooling effect.

When you get out of the bath the water starts to evaporate or turn into a gas vapor and takes the heat from your body.

This cooling effect reduces the temperature of the air taken in by 60 degrees F. Colder air carries more oxygen which is required for combustion to take place - more oxygen means you can burn more fuel.

Nos Bottle

As the Nitrous gas is heated up in the combustion process it breaks down releasing additional oxygen and increases the burn rate allowing more fuel to enter the combustion chamber. Different size nozzle jets offer larger boosts to the power ranging from 20bhp more to over 200bhp more.

As well as sending Nitrous to the engine you will also need to supply additional fuel (Nitrous provides a cooler denser air charge, more oxygen, so will run Lean if more fuel is not delivered.) Obviously the engine has to be able to cope with this increased pressure and power so the jets are matched to the application.

Most standard engines can cope with a 20 - 40 bhp shot. Forged pistons, forged steel rods and a heavy-duty cylinder head with up rated gasket and performance bolts and full balancing are required if you go for a major power increase.

A full range of Nitrous delivery systems are available for all applications of vehicles and engine types and can be matched to each cylinder in the engine. The common delivery systems are:-

WET (The fuel and Nitrous are mixed and introduced together to the primary part of the intake. This system produces slightly more power than dry but cannot be applied to an engine with a dry intake typically most fuel injected engines.)
DRY (The extra fuel required to maintain the burn balance from Lean to Rich is delivered by the injectors of the car. The primary part of the intake is kept dry of fuel.)
FOGGER (Named after the Fogger Nozzle mixes the fuel and Nitrous mixture and sprays it directly into the cylinder. Each cylinder can be set up separately and additional foggers can be added creating a dual stage kit. Foggers generally produce the most significant power gains.)

A bottle warmer can assist with maintaining bottle pressure and delivering smooth power. To get an idea how much Nitrous remains in your bottle you need to weigh it – as the pressure gauge just indicates the pressure in the bottle and this can vary depending on temperature. 

Adding Nitrous is a very easy high power modification. The refills can be a hidden cost though.

It is fairly easy to fit Nitrous to a vehicle within 4 to 6 hours although most insurance companies will not provide cover for road use. (As with all modifications your insurers must be notified.)

A 10 lb bottle of Nitrous is good for about 3 minutes of boost (7-10 ¼ miles runs) but shouldn't really be operated for more than 10-15 seconds at a time if you don’t want to blow up your engine.

Nitrous can also be applied to diesel engines a 130ps Golf TDI got almost double the power - but boy racers don’t buy diesels – well not until recently.

Medical grade NoS does not have a smell added like automotive grade Nitrous (incidentally the smell added to car grade Nitrous is Hydrogen Sulfide, a very nasty additive that will cause permanent damage to lung tissues and nerve endings if deliberately inhaled for recreation!) So you can use medical grade Nitrous in a car but not vice versa!!!

When to press the Nitrous boost button –
At or over 2500 RPM with the throttle fully depressed – you can buy a progressive boost system which matches the Nitrous shot to the throttle position and regulates the flow. You will receive an enormous increase of torque and this can result in a loss of traction – so be careful at speed as a loss of traction usually equals an impressive spin and crash.

Pressing the Nitrous button and then starting the engine can cause catastrophic engine damage. If the button is accidentally pressed - disengage the coil and turn the engine over a few times to clear the cylinders.

Suppliers of Nitrous injection systems are:- NOS, Wizards of NOS, Nitrous Express (NX), ZeX, Edelbrock, Holley Nos, Venom,Nitrous Solutions and MJS (You will find NOS, NX and Wizards of NOS in  online part shops.)

Join us in our very friendly forum where you can chat with other drag, drift and car tuning enthusiasts and swap tips on all aspects of car tuning.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

PLEASE HELP: I NEED YOUR DONATIONS TO COVER THE COSTS OF RUNNING THIS SITE AND KEEP IT RUNNING. I do not charge you to access this website and it saves most TorqueCars readers $100's each year - but we are NON PROFIT and not even covering our costs. To keep us running PLEASE Donate here

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.

Feedback - What do You Think?

Please use our forums if you wish to ask a tuning question, and please note we do not sell parts or services, we are just an online magazine.

Help us improve, leave a suggestion or tip

Your Constructive comments on this article, I really want to improve this article with your help and suggestions.


Please watch this video and subscribe to my YouTube channel.



2 Responses to “Adding NoS nitrous oxide to boost power gains.”

  1. RhodriWilliams says:

    very informative especially for a first time modifier like myself.
    excellent good news about the the NO2 , I set myself a limit of 50bhp boost gain so I wasnt far wrong and no mager engine mods either !! happy days

  2. Aic2004 says:

    I think this article informs us what nitrous does but some people may want to install it so if there is an article connected to this one it would be even better

Member Benefits

Join our forum today and benefit from over 300,000 posts on tuning styling and friendly car banter.

You will also have full access to the modifed car gallery, project car updates and exclusive member only areas.

(All car owners of all ages and from all countries are welcome).


BMW 335i - 2021 COTY

We gave the BMW 335i our coveted car of the year award, read more about this awesome car and see why 335i Tuning Guide

Tips for N54 Tuning

Tips for N55 Tuning
Tips for B58 Tuning

Popular articles

Diesel tuning
Remapping ECU
double de clutch
Induction Kits
Customize a car
Chip Tuning
Modified car insurance
Insuring Track days
Diesel remaps
Work out your MPG
Cleaning your DPF
Tuning Stages


Dmf Solid Flywheel

DMF vs solid flywheel conversions
Read more...

Stage 2 Tune

Stage 2 Tune
Read more...

Body Kits

Car bodykits. Side skirts, sills, bumpers and wide body kits.
Read more...

Hydraulic Vs Air Suspension

Air or Hydraulic suspension kits
Read more...

Motability Cars

Motability cars
Read more...

Ecosse 81206

Parotec 206 CC Bodykit From Ecosse
Read more...

MPG Calculator

MPG calculator UK miles per Gallon – calculate MPG
Read more...