Which is best for the fuel class - gas and nitrous, or methanol

[edinlr]

Curious what is the preferred fuel for a turbo motor in the fuel class?  The nitrous guys (obviously) swear they can get more power than just using methanol, but alky seems a lot easier after making the fuel system changes.  I can't really tell from drag racing because they usually only allow one power adder and have the big displacement and weight factors too.

[Speed Limit 1000]

E85 made our I/BFL go 248 exit speed. Using a MOTEC for fuel injection and ignition on a de-stroked BUSA 

[edinlr]

E85 made our I/BFL go 248 exit speed. Using a MOTEC for fuel injection and ignition on a de-stroked BUSA

Did you ever run gasoline, nitrous, or methanol before?  I am curious as to the power difference between the different fuels?  C85 is certainly interesting and getting a lot of attention.

[racergeo]

 
  NITRO!!!!

[edinlr]

 
  NITRO!!!!

I can't afford all the broken parts that would involve trying to learn.  Looking for the best option to move to fuel.

[Speed Limit 1000]

PM me please

[donpearsall]

Hi Ed! I was wondering the same thing. Here is a great video that scientifically compares pump, race gas, E85, methanol, etc and how the HP, torque, AFR, tuning differs for each fuel.
https://youtu.be/ryqyTPfNj1Q

Don

[edinlr]

Hi Ed! I was wondering the same thing. Here is a great video that scientifically compares pump, race gas, E85, methanol, etc and how the HP, torque, AFR, tuning differs for each fuel.
https://youtu.be/ryqyTPfNj1Q

Don

Don, the video was interesting, but the graphics at the end were wrong as the motor suddenly went from 550hp to 750 in all types of fuel.  I would like to see how a tuned motor compared on 116, E85, and M5 with accurate graphing.  I left a comment on there and will be interested to see if they update the results.

[jacksoni]

Edinlr- they didn't mention but they changed engines for the methanol test. Went from EFI engine to a carb. Totally different deal but showed, with that set up that peak power was no better with meth.  Lower in the curve yes.

My understanding to go to the OP question is that when optimized that methanol is worth a bit over race gas (in a race engine, not the street deal they tested in the video). Boosted and such  a different issue. Nitrous on the other had can be anything you are willing to dump into it but much more than just a few HP (10-20 maybe) but in a bike I have no clue but but you can get 50-100% HP) You mention not being willing to take the risk of broken parts with nitro. Properly done can be worth a lot of course. Improperly done, regular gas, race gas, methanol (contrary to popular belief, it can detonate too with bad results) and nitro can all lead to a basket of broken parts.

WE are all about peak power down the track at the 3 or the 5. If you have a choice go with nitrous.

Edit: Oh, i just noticed you were running a turbo. In that case my thoughts would be go with methanol and up the boost. A lot. Simpler than trying to mount and deal with N2O and tuning much easier. Power improvement? Only way to tell is test both.

[Stainless1]

I guess the options vary with you and your risk... Any fuel you mentioned can and will destroy a motor at WOT.  With boost... it can happen faster than NA.  I have used 110, c16 and E85 with boost.  Test, test and then maybe test some more.  How much boost are you thinking... anything above 15 I would recommend c16 or E85... make the E85 with good race gas and E98.  I mix my own and it costs less than $3 a gallon.  Their pump was a little haywire on the last batch so we bought e98 for about a buck a gallon. 
I would try methanol, but I haven't figured out how to deliver enough of it to the motor.  My 1000cc injectors are at the limit with E85 in the 1 liter.  Sure I could get larger injectors, but my idle is already almost 3K.  I have looked at a second set of injectors, but I don't know where to put them... the hat is already very close to the top. 
I have used lots of N20 NA, have not needed it with boost yet... NA we have run 100+ HP for 52 seconds

[wickedwagens]

It it were me and I was looking for longevity and consistency I would go with methanol and up the boost.  Just less variables to worry about (nitrous pressure, warming the bottle, adding fuel, etc).  Running a high amount of methanol through the engine has a great cooling affect too.  My old boss ran a drag racing class called "ultimate street" with a turbocharged Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.  It was driven 25 miles around Las Vegas with no cooling system and then raced all day.  The methanol kept the engine cool enough.
You would have the extra power all the time vs just when you are on the bottle.  It just seems more simple to me.

[edinlr]

Thanks for all of the responses.  As Stainless suggested, we will test and test.  I am looking at a M-BF record and may see what kind of power we can get with E85 and go to M5 if we have to.  Since this will be an air cooled four cylinder motor, the ethanol and methanol sound attractive for the cooling properties.  Not to mention the simplicity over running nitrous.

[donpearsall]

Ed, what bike are you considering running? Carburetor or injection?

Don

[edinlr]

Ed, what bike are you considering running? Carburetor or injection?

Don

Blown with f/i

[Doc B.]

E85 pencils out as a pretty good choice and as a bonus race grade e85 is a lot cheaper than race gas. I have planned to run e85 and nitrous on a N/A motor for a couple years but fate said otherwise. So nothing useful about performance to offer aside from some theoretical AFR numbers. But one bit of info I will toss out here is that I found E85 to be pretty corrosive to raw aluminum parts. Suggest flushing it out of the fuel system after your runs if you go that way. I ended up coating the inside of my float bowls with alodine, which helped a lot.