I have been hearing some good stuff lately about Methanol injection. I heard snow performance makes a pretty decent kit, and is a lot cheaper than buying an intercooler.

My car is a 1997 Camaro Z28 w/ LT1. My engine still has the stock crank
(28,000 miles on it), but I installed forged pistons and rods, and lowered the compression down to about 9.3:1. It also has an LE2 blower cam which I shift at around 6400 RPM. My induction is from a Vortech S-Trim supercharger, non-intercooled, currently making 7-8 lbs. of boost. Car dynoed at 446 RWHP and 529 Torque through a 3000 stall convertor. Guy who did the tune said my intake temps are ok and not too high.

I was just wondering how much of a benefit you guys think I could get from putting methanol injection on. Like how much power would I gain just from installing the system? I also undertand that I should be able to run more boost with the cooler intake temps capable with the methanol/water. Given my motor set-up, do you think my motor could take more if I installed the methanol, and how much more? I am trying to decide if I should do this, or if I should just leave things as they are. Any opinions GREATLY appreciated......

 

One word says it all:

http://www.alkycontrol.com/

Julio's kit is the best. Do not consider anyone else's. If you want to research, I believe you'll make the same decision I made.

Also go here and do some reading:

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14

Julio, a.k.a. Razor, has written some nice tech articles (stickies). He can't be all that bad.... he drives a third gen like me.... but he only has one turbo and is missing two cylinders!

 

Whats wrong with Snow? I have a Snow kit and it works great.

Ken R.

 

Whats wrong with Snow? I have a Snow kit and it works great.

Ken,

It depends on what solution you use. Snow does not change the seals in the SureFlo pumps they use with methanol compatible seals. If you're running water/alky only, they're fine. Otherwise, the seals will eventually cause problems.

Also, as far as user interface is concerned, the Snow stuff doesn't allow you to make adjustments from the driver's seat. Please correct me if I'm wrong but when I started looking at Snow's stuff about one year ago, this was the case. Alkycontrol's mounts a module in the passenger compartment that allows gain control, an override switch, a "power on" LED, a "turn-on" LED and a "low-level" LED.

What type of tubing does Snow provide in their kits? Their website doesn't specify. Alkycontrol uses braided stainless teflon hoses with brass fittings. This is vitally important with methanol as it will eventually eat through seals, rubber, etc... but not brass.

In addition, in order to have a pressure sensing circuit, you have to purchase their "safe......" module. Alkycontrol's is built-in. I would never use a kit that doesn't have this feature. On mine, if the pressure drops to 30-psig, it signals a warning LED and it triggers my spark advance to retard ten degrees. Otherwise...... kaboom!!

I may not be up-to-date on Snow's stuff as I do not go to their website so things may have "improved" lately. I do know that Julio's kits cannot be beaten in terms of quality and tech support. Just my humble opinion.

Willie

 

how about opinions about how much power i could gain or boost i could run with it...

 

Never got to the issue did I..... Since 1998, I've been using a 40/60 mix of denatured alcohol and distilled water. This is supposed to raise the effective octane a couple of points but this is not where the power is gained. The premise of running alky injection is to significantly cool the intake charge, thereby allowing more timing. It's amazing the power to be gained by advancing timing only a couple of degrees. Although my following posts are old, the information is still valid:

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/po...injection.html

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/po...s-part-ii.html

I recently changed from supercharger to twin turbos but have not tuned the new setup yet. Heck, I just barely got the engine running a couple of weeks ago. I have also changed from water/alky to methanol but again, until I establish my baseline tune, I will not experiment with this. Let's just say that I'm planning on holding my total advance to 24 degrees while I observe my air temps. Once I'm comfortable, I will advance the timing two degrees at a time. Once the air temps hit a specific high point is when I start injecting.

Willie

 

Well... I am sure it doesnt really make that huge of a difference what brand you use;

The previous owner of the car had a homemade set up in there... it was disabled though, I enabled it this last saturday (runs off of the windshield washer resevior)... I'd say it added at least 50 horsepower on my procharged application... and that is off of a one atomizer injector on the bottom of my intake tubing...

basic components you need:
a pump, a regulator, afew hose clams, some thick vacuum line, a boost sensor, some wire, and a switch, that is about it... does wonders... mine is activated as soon as boost is reached and the regulator is adjustable.... there is a switch on the dash to shut it all down if you want... and the best part of it all is its only 1.29 a gallon!

Make sure you get the washer fluid that says toxic: contains methanol... and that is it!

way cheaper than intercooling... I am intercooled too, i wouldnt say it replaces an intercoooler, but it cools it way off...

I scared my friend the other day... I was half way through second gear and reached up and flipped that switch and i started burning the tires almost instantly (going 55 mph already)... I wasalready making boost though... its up to you though man.

Good Luck... PM me if u want more info or questions... lata

 

Go wit the ALKYCONTROL kit