nitromethane

[kylie]

I have a litre or so what will mixing it in the gas tank do ?

[cnh1990]

Depending on how much you use, it can make your car go very fast for a few seconds before the engine and turbo burns up. Don't use it.
Calvin 90 SE

>> Edited by cnh1990 on Tuesday 25th February 15:12

[MikeyRide]

Big mistake. Nitro has to run much, much richer than gasoline (1.7:1 vs. 14.7:1 I think) so you're effectively leaning the engine out as you add it w/o making any fueling changes.

[lotusguy]

Kylie,

The car can be setup for burning nitromethane, but the operative word is setup. You will need to advance the timing, retard the valve timing, regap or replce the sparkplugs, not to mention changes to the ECU. If not, your engine will blow-up. As has already been stated....very bad. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[kylie]

Many thanks, is there anything your allowed to add at a small percentage that dosent need tuning etc? I can get my hands on many filtered chemicals like Toluene, Iso propolene alcohol as well. Reason being well I have left it a little late I know, but we have our fun race track day this weekend, just a time trial, but sounds like everyone has gone serious as to what fuel they are using, even other first timers like me

[cnh1990]

Refresh my memory. Do you have the Delco EFI or carbs?
Your car will do fine as it is. You will gain the most through sharper driving skills than the little tweaks to be gained from other things. Those things are icing on the cake and a good foundation of driver skill is the prefered method. A second or two faster by being piloted by a skilled driver is certainly less costly than all the mods and chemical additives used to achieve similar time reductions. If you are a novice at the track as you sharpen your driving skills, you will see massive time and speed improvements as time goes by. To learn the basics of performance driving that have been around for a long time should be the goal of all of us. Many times I get excited or nervous overshoot the optimum line of a corner in my haste to be faster. I really, really hate when I do that as I should know better. But it happens to us all. I probably do not even exploit 75% of the cars handling. What is the percentage of the car's performance potential do you feel that you use? I will pose this question to the Forum
Calvin 90 SE

[kylie]

Calvin, its carbs. At the moment I think I only use it at 70-80% on average sometimes more or less. Am hoping to really push it further this weekend to find out its capabilities and of course mine

I have my man as a helper on the day, so hopefully will get some pics for everyone to have a giggle

Thanks,
KS

[sydneyse]

Kylie, Tolulene may increase your octane rating (RON) a few points depending on the concentration. It is often a major component of over the counter "octane boosters". From memory (and its been a over a decade since I'v stuck my nose in an SI data book) toluene has a slightly lower specific gravity than petrol.. if you mix up your "brew" and then fill your car's tanks, you would need to tune the carb jets and boost to take advantage of the possibly slighly denser mixture- and more importantly the longer chain carbon molecules which may raise your overall octane rating of your fuel.

If you have a higher octane fuel, you can run more advanced timing (on a n/a car) or run slighly higher boost with a turbo car before detonation is a problem.

Upping the octane and then upping the boost is a bit hit/miss unless you use a knock sensor....

[cnh1990]

Carbs makes it harder to play with the mix.
The re-jetting takes time to do.
Better to concentrate of the business of driving cleanly and in the end you will be a better driver no matter what car you drive. When not driving the Esprit it is such a rush to beat a superior car with something like a sports sedan.
Calvin

[lotusguy]

Kylie,

It's your car and you can do as you wish, but as has already been pointed out, greater performance will be achieved by better concentrating on your driving style and braking rather than a minor power improvement from an octane additive.

Why add this distraction, especially the first time you track your Esprit? Surely some part of your awareness will be devoted to trying to sense an improvement from this additive. Why potentially dilute your concentration during your laps?

And, tolulene in particular will not be very kind to the neoprene gaskets and seals on your carbs. You can't really tune them for another fuel without getting into swapping jets and emulsion tubes. Any other tweeks you do will not really manifest themselves in improved performance. But, either way, have a blast! Just my $0.02...Jim '85TE

>> Edited by lotusguy on Thursday 27th February 22:01

[kylie]

Many many thanks for your help. As per usual I try to do too many things at once, so will just leave it for now and concentrate on the driving.
Regards,
Kylie

[jerryspet]

Hi, I was wondering how many of you are using a blow off valve on your esprits? And has anyone changed there charge cooler pump to an electric charge cooler pump?


Thanks,

Jerry Spet

[cnh1990]

I have a BOV on my SE.
Calvin 90 SE

[NLJdH]

A friend of mine and I used to use a slight bleed of pure oxygen before the air filter often to good effect for that extra zip coming off the apex onto straights. Used sensibly it won't harm the engine but will provide a better take up at the low rev range, then close it out as the motor speeds up and the turbo comes alive.

Ofcourse, I was driving a racing Mini, not the Esprit! - don't need it with one of Marcus' chips... - oh yes, we did win on more than a few occasions...

Regards,
Nicholas
(92K Esprit SE HW)