using oil for extra power ..how about coolant ?

[ivanhoew]

Reading about the .9 versus .1.2 litre oil usage tiff in f1 , I wondered , could they also use a alcohol coolant system with a big tank ,and use that to make power too ?


Regards
robert.

[zombeh]

I can't find any specific regulations about what the coolant has to be made of, getting it into the engine for combustion without contravening the fuel system regs or air intake regs might be very difficult. Burning coolant is also not the sort of thing you can say "yeah, but it's an engine, it'll do that, they all do" unlike oil.

5.14.2 Other than engine sump breather gases, exhaust gas recirculation, and fuel for the normal
purpose of combustion in the engine, the spraying of any substance into the engine intake air
is forbidden.

it's worth bearing in mind that the reason people use water as coolant is that it's really good at it. I suspect the small advantage of being able to burn some of it would be outweighed by it being rubbish at cooling the engine.

[HarryFlatters]

Putting something flammable through the radiators, which are very exposed, is probably quite a stupid idea.

[Flooble]

Isn't burning coolant something that Rover pioneered with the K-series

Maybe a leaky head gasket is the way to get round the regulations ...

[Doink]

I know in motorsport your not allowed to use antifreeze due to its super slippery nature in case of a leak, not sure if you could get away with using corrosion inhibitors with something volatile within it but either way you need to get that into the cylinder and since the birth of the ICE those two have always been kept away from each other

[SystemParanoia]

micro/nano injectors embedded within the headgasget material that uses the extreme high pressure within the coolant system to work.
lets say this new engines coolant system runs at 10/15bar

[Cold]

This reminds me of the age old apocryphal tale of a Ribena carton or bottle being used to top up the rad (with water) and subsequently other competitors thinking it was a performance advantage.

[paua]

Water injection was used in the 1982 season.

[tight fart]

Doink said:

I know in motorsport your not allowed to use antifreeze due to its super slippery nature in case of a leak,

Never heard that before, always had coolant/ antifreeze in my cars when I was racing.

[anonymous-user]

tight fart said:

Doink said:

I know in motorsport your not allowed to use antifreeze due to its super slippery nature in case of a leak,

Never heard that before, always had coolant/ antifreeze in my cars when I was racing.

It's a particular issue in drag racing more than other motor sports. While there's comparatively few cars / bikes running coolant, those that do which run into issues, cause a nightmare for mop-up crews. It's related to the track prep and glue used. Antifreeze is sometimes worse than oil when it comes to making a mess.

[Doink]

tight fart said:

Doink said:

I know in motorsport your not allowed to use antifreeze due to its super slippery nature in case of a leak,

Never heard that before, always had coolant/ antifreeze in my cars when I was racing.

Ask the clerk,of the course next time your racing, i think its the glycol that does it also not sure on this one but I think water wetter or that waterless coolant was banned as well, just Google antifreeze banned in MSA racing

Edited by Doink on Saturday 2nd September 17:30

[anonymous-user]

paua said:

Water injection was used in the 1982 season.

If you consider dumping the water on the out lap so you run the whole race underweight as water injection, then yes it was.

Turbo cars can make good use of water injection to run more ignition, not allowed though now and not required with the fuels they use.

[paua]

jsf said:

paua said:

Water injection was used in the 1982 season.

If you consider dumping the water on the out lap so you run the whole race underweight as water injection, then yes it was.

Turbo cars can make good use of water injection to run more ignition, not allowed though now and not required with the fuels they use.

Think Renault tried h2o injection - something to do with cooling (sounds similar to your 2nd sentence) & totally separate to the 50 kg dumping you've referenced in your first sentence.
Cheers

[williamp]

BMW did too with good results, but found you could only inject so much. Paul Roche was quoted as saying, simply "water dont burn..."

[Tom Logan]

tight fart said:

Never heard that before, always had coolant/ antifreeze in my cars when I was racing.

It's a no-no in bike racing, classed as a track surface contaminant.

[bicycleshorts]

Flooble said:

Isn't burning coolant something that Rover pioneered with the K-series