Did ask the pros and cons at the time.....suggested that the tune-up i
was running was very conservative and ran the same fuel with the same
engine with all else the same before.. But the engine has never run as
good at Bonneville on the ERC as it has run on the dyno with c12 or
c14..I have gone to the trouble to run the ERC on the dyno at pretty
serious expense to get it to the east coast and for my engine it was
just not as good on the dyno either. The engine was just plain lazy at
best and down on power also. And yes i am very aware of all the
altitude factors and loss of performance. It just seems as though the
fuel is a moving target at times, I have asked in the past for the fuel
we ran last year and at times the answer is well we have this now to
take it's place. was only suggesting an alternative that is widely used
in almost all other forms of racing..As things get bigger and from my
experience as limited as it is at Bonneville 92...99 seems like going to
what larger organizations do is not always a bad thing..
Dahlgren
Daniel Warner wrote:
>
> I would think that if an fuel/gas expert(supplier) is at a race meet it
> might be prudent to use the gas they recommend. I find that free advice at
> the salt is the best. A phone call during the off season could be like a
> lawyer's billing - same advice = $300.
>
> Dan Warner
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dahlgren <dahlgren@uconect.net>
> To: Land-speed@autox.team.net <Land-speed@autox.team.net>
> Date: Thursday, November 04, 1999 5:28 AM
> Subject: Re: Methanol Solves Mysteries
>
> >I had understood it to be closer to 120-122 which is still much better
> >than gasoline Have worked on sprinters for a very long time and alky
> >drag cars am not disputing the benefits but is not a fuel that is
> >appropriate for the gas class. It also does not work well with nitrous
> >and by itself does not add enough power for a N/A engine compared to the
> >simplest of nitrous. For a very high rpm engine nitro is not all that
> >much worth the effort as it burns slow but is very suitable for those
> >tractor engines that turn 6500 rpm.. Oh well never mind this has
> >digressed too far..The original thought was the quality of the gasoline
> >available at Bonneville and at least 2 people that have a real good clue
> >on the tune-up loosing an engine due to a fuel related problem at the
> >same meet with the same fuel...
> >Dahlgren
> >
> >dferguso@ebmail.gdeb.com wrote:
> >>
> >> 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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