I will be plumbing new fuel lines for my car soon and I was wondering if I should consider a fuel cooler? I drive mostly on the street and plan on doing some road-race (I don't think that it would have much of a advantage for drag-racing because you could just ice the rails). I was thinking about a air to water cooler not a can. Would it help power by keeping the rails cool and spraying a cooler shot of fuel or would the temperature difference be so minimal that it is not worth it? I was thinking that the fuel pump (external) would probably add some heat to the fuel but I didn't know how signifigant.

Just curoius about your opinoins on the subject.

Thanks.

 

...also the ice canaster that has fuel line coiled in a small insulated jug and you just add ice prior to racing...
Don't know where you can get one, but they're out there...
Works especially if you have problems with vapor lock. Cooled fuel just works better...

 

I have a cool-can, but it's not insulated.

By the time I reach the staging lines from the pit, the ice has already
melted and warmed the water.

In theory they work; I haven't had the opportunity to use mine to
it's potential.

If you plan to buy one, make sure it's insulated or you'll end up
like me with a roll of f'glass and foil.

 

Race series that have fuel "VOLUME" limits in fueling use this concept to deliver the most fuel (by mass) to a car. Cold fuel is more dense than room temp stuff, and as such the same mass of fuel can fit a slightly lower volume.

I don't see why you'd mess with this on a street car. This is even pointless on a dedicated dragster, unless you are doing this for consistancy. If the fuel is EXACTLY the right temperture, due to a chiller you could tune the engine for fuel of that density. If you tuned the engine for room temp gas however, the addition of a fuel cooler will just leave you running rich (more fuel molecules, same number of O2 ).

Sounds like a good way to mess things up unless you have a serious problem already that needs fixing.

 

Cooling fuel. Its been done effectively before. I had a 77 XJ6 Jag sedan w/dual 175 CD Strombergs. It ran the fuel through a cooler that was cooled by the AC coolant. Veeery effective for its time. Interesting concept for today.

Steve

 

The REALLY **** dyno shops in Nextel Cup control everything thay can including fuel temp, carb air inlet temp, room temp, and perhaps even humidity so they can find the 1 hp or less changes on 450 and 800 hp engines. At a seminar, one Hendrick dyno supervisor said they tried for about 1 deg. F control on fuel temp!
I think the goal was to have a 1.0000 correction factor.


Of course they also calibrated their dyno with deadweights daily or sometimes before and after a group of pulls. I found that to be extreme overkill, but I guess when you are looking for a fraction of 1% change, that's what you do.

I don't believe they use "cool cans". More like controlled fuel storage temp.

 

i have been thinking about something similar lately. i don't think it would matter too much though. you might as well cool it before you put it in you car. since there is so much it will keep itself relatively cool. gas doesn't get that hot on the way to the engine anyways.

 

true, having more gasoline around makes for a larger heat capacity in the tank (minimizing temperture increases)... however the aluminum fuel lines probably shed any excessive heat before getting to the engine bay, and we're not talking any apprecable amount of density change here. While gases (like air and nitrous ) have volumes that change greatly with temperture, liquids are not NEARLY as sensitive.

Any change in temperture for gasoline may be enough to run just a tad bit richer than expected but any PCM with O2 sensors will adjust with a fraction of a second. I just don't ge the point of doing this unless you are in a fuel-limited class. It's just extra weight and one more variable to check between passes (an ice box obviously isn't a choice concept for road-racing).

"cool" idea... but the application just isn't worth it.