Adding Methanol To Fuel To Rase Octaine Rating?

[nizmokid]

I was wondering if adding a touch of methanol to a tank of fuel will give any more power or will it hurt the car?

I was given a few litres of the stuff ......but worried that it will kill the plugs!

[crack]

i could be wrong, but i think methanol absorbs water and corrodes aluminium

[Freddy Kruger]

could set up a methanol injection system? watched them do it to a MR2 on one of the high octane vids. it detects when you go on boost and inserts it so it reduces pinging and detonation as "our fuels suck".

[scathing]

could set up a methanol injection system? watched them do it to a MR2 on one of the high octane vids. it detects when you go on boost and inserts it so it reduces pinging and detonation as "our fuels suck".

Sounds like an idea.

If you're going to "pre-mix" it (i.e. not use a separate injection system) that you don't just pour in a bit into the fuel nozzle when you fill up.

"Splash mixing" is not recommended by any of the manufacturers, as chances are it'll come up uneven and just f**k with your ECU's readouts even more.

Consistently bad fuel is just as good, if not better, for your engine than inconsistently good fuel.

[N I B]

Methanol dont like to mix with petrol but does mix with water.

[Freddy Kruger]

ill watch it again and report back... the guys did it as a DIY kit...

[blind_elk]

Methanol dont like to mix with petrol but does mix with water.

WHAAATTT????? Of course it will mix with petrol. What on earth gave you that idea???

[chrissso]

Aren't alcohol and petrol different densities? Like oil an water... You might need to get an emlusifier to combine the 2... Anyway - methonol will corrode out metal parts that it comes into contact with, over time. should be good for small busts. I think the10% petrol you can get has anticorosives and all that in it...

[scathing]

Aren't alcohol and petrol different densities? Like oil an water...

Not density, polarity.

Water and alcohols have different densities, but they will dissolve into each other as the molecules are both polar (i.e. have a distinct magnetic field on either end of the molecule).

Hydrocarbons (like the octane in petrol, but most fuels like butane etc) are non-polar. The magnetic fields of their molecules are neutral.

Polar and non-polar molecules will not dissolve into each other. Like dissolves like.

Wow, I can still remember my high school Chemistry once prompted. Doesn't it make you wish it was school holidays so the people that have freshly learnt this stuff could chip in?

Edited February 27, 2006 by scathing

[blind_elk]

Almost.

Methanol, Ethanol, etc all have a polar end (the alcohol OH group) and a non-polar end (the alkyl CnHm group). That way, they dissolve in both polar and non-polar liquids.

That's why you can use Methylated Spirits (ethanol denatured with methanol) to "dissolve" water into petrol.

Anyway, back to the original question - I really don't know how the methanol would affect the octane. But I do recall hearing somewhere that methanol burns much cooler, and requires a much "richer" mixture - the figure of a 4:1 stoichiometric ratio springs to mind.

[chrissso]

No shit.. well i learnt something. Alcohol is the the emulsifier, but between water and petrol. I'm going to do some chemistry when I get home...then burn it...

[scathing]

I'm going to do some chemistry when I get home...then burn it...

Chemistry, huh?

Carbonated drinks + mentos = fun!

[Freddy Kruger]

thats a pity poxy reaction..

Draino + Aluminium foil = f*kIN BANG!!!

i win... to bad i dont have a vid...

[Freddy Kruger]

Ok, it here we go...

He visits Turbosmart i think

Its a DIY water/alcohol injection system

includes:

A pressure switch to turn the pump on when it detects boost

A one way valve

nitrous nozzel

and a windscreen wiper bottle with built in pump

The key is to create as much turbulance as possible to make it atomise as good as you can. It raises octane level, decreases charge temp and also cleans the engine of carbon...