Running on methanol - what's involved

paul_c

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If one was building a dedicated drag racing car (ie not too worried about on the road performance) and was seeking to achieve good power without having to resort to supercharger, and already has NOS.....

What would be involved in building the car for running on methanol? Typically what compression ratio do these run at? I'm assuming a custom aftermarket ECU can adequately deliver the fuelling, but would you need different fuel injectors or could the same be used? Also, I know you'd need stainless steel fuel lines and tank, what about the fuel pump? What about all the rubber fittings, etc?

And at the end of it all, is it worth the hassle in power gains, and what else is likely to be affected? I know they don't need so much cooling (the fuel runs cooler, I think due to a higher latent heat of evaporation).

Anyone with real world experience here?
 
Methanol burns to form water and carbon dioxide, just like petrol does. Formaldehyde and formic acid are by-products of incomplete combustion, I believe? Anyway, I'm put off by nitromethane because it produces really irritant exhaust fumes, so in practical terms I'd have issues running and tuning it at home; and driving it to-from pits to the fire up road, etc. I'm happy enough with the fumes/smell of methanol, though. I just want to know if its a pipe dream or a practical thing to do to a road car engine.
 
it requires u 2 double up injector sizes and fuel pressure . larger fuel pums would b good 2 keep pressure constant. a seperate fuel map will b needed for racing. allways drain the methanol after use.
 
using methanol wil allow u 2 boost higher after dropping compression if your car is turbo. for NA motors you cam raise compression for more power . knocking is also prevent with methanol.
 
You know your stuff Yul Carlinsky. Thanks for the tips and advice.

Do you do much drag racing? Start a thread a tell us about your car (if you haven't already - i'm working through the new posts at the moment) ;)
 
whats up wayyne .my car is standard . im still in school. i have a holiday job at a performance shop and i work as a pit crew member on racedays and this exposes me 2 a lot of drag racing . i wil mod my car next year and also start racing next year.
 
if anybody is planning on using methanol please dont forget to wear your race suits as the marshals might not know what fuel u are using. a methanol flame is not so easy to detect your are most likely to feel it before you see it
 
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