well, maybe some of the veteran land speed racing gurus can help out here,
but i think methanol has an equivalent octane of near 140 , and while a
gasoline internal combustion engine utilizes an air / fuel ratio ( by
weight ) of 14+ to 1, methanol is at around 6 or 7 to 1, and nitro is near
1 to 1, so jetting, still critical, becomes less sensitive with the latter
fuels. but likewise fuel flow demands increase dramatically, especially
when nitro is introduced. another quality of methanol is that for a given
expansive force on the piston during combustion, the net thermal component,
or heat output , of the methanol is a little less, so the engine tends to
run cooler yet still makes alot of power. other factors are involved-
unfortunately there is no direct correlation between gasoline and methanol
since they are very different compounds, but the fact that top alky drag
racers can run static compression ratios of 12 or 14 to 1 with big 14-71 hi
helix blowers and such with viscious overdrives and go through the lights
at very high rpm sheds light on why methanol stands as an important fuel to
racing. dont forget that methanol is somewhat corrosive, so this is a
disadvantage which must be weighed against some of the superior qualities
if your not into draining and flushing your fuel system on a regular basis
. - doug @ black radon
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