methanol pros and cons

[Disturbed1]

hey guys im currently building up a mk3 supra drags/drift car powered by a 7mgte...
since im chasing approx 450-500 hp, it has crossed my mind whether or not i should set up the car on methanol,

can anyone enlighten me to any pros and cons that i might not be aware off

[whatthe?]

Pros - engine runs cooler and makes more power at same boost levels

Cons - you need uber big/extra injectors and filling/grouting the block can become necessary

450 -500 rwhp should be pretty easily achieved on methanol though

[Disturbed1]

do u think u could drift on methanol??? or u would go thru too much of the shit

[whatthe?]

wouldnt be cheap, thats for sure. It's a decision you'd have to make. Because methanol isnt as prone to causing knock as petrol you can safely run more timing and higher boost at a higher static compression ratio. Obviously this will fuck you if you build an engine for methanol and want to switch want to switch to race fuel, because at a 10+:1 comp ratio the amount of boost you can run on c16 will be more limited

[whatthe?]

do u think u could drift on methanol??? or u would go thru too much of the shit

Most speedway cars use methanol, thats kinda like drifting isnt it?

[Disturbed1]

im planning to use it on a stock 7mgte so compression will still be rather low

im liking the idea of the lack of intercooler and short path from turbo to cross flow plenum of a 7m

not sure if stock 7m rail could handle that kinda flow though

[whatthe?]

Not sure, I did a bit of research on it for my silver car before deciding that nitrous and race fuel would be better for me. I personally wouldnt bother as your power goals should be pretty achievable for a 7M even running 98 RON with a big enough hairdryer. Not too sure how the asociated lag would affect drifting though...

Either way if you dont run the higher compression methanol allows you to youre kinda giving up one of the main benefits of it

[30psi 4agte]

con: not to mention the fact that you will have to flush the system after use as methanol turns to a jelly like substance over time. so flushing the system is a must.

From memory its about $3 per L which isnt too bad but the fact that you use 3x more of it than fuel will soon add up drifting thats for sure

Pro: the smell of a methanol burning drift car would be super cool

[SIKTOY]

con: If you catch on fire you wont know until you start melting

[bansheebuzz]

You need to flush the fuel system after running meth because it is corrosive.

[chris davey]

Not necessary for that power level. You need a fuel system that can be used with methanol. This basically means all aeromotive stuff or other expensive brand. 044's aren't. You will have to flush the system at the end of the day.

You also have to change oil often as because of the amount you have to inject, some can get past the rings and into the sump. If the sump gets hot enough it can ignite. Drag cars change their oil between runs for this reason (and to check for metal in the sump).

I didn't think it was that expensive though.

I had thought of the same thing but for drag only car it makes sense. Their is approximately half the energy in meth compared to normal petrol so from memory you have to run about 6:1 AFR's. You would use lambda to tune for this though.

What about pump fuel plus meth injection? That seems to work for people who don't have access to good fuels.

[Ta22Wepn]

Con: Its corrosive so after each time you use the car you will need to flush the fuel system so it doesnt eat thru the fuel lines

[YLD-16L]

I'd have a read of the MSDS for methanol too before playing with it.

[merc-blue]

Just run it on 98RON, run a suitalbe (not laggy) level of boost, and deal with it,

[Lachie]

Alot of people have said methanol's corrosive, and while I'll agree it's true, it shouldn't be a problme if you desing your fuel systems properly.

Methanol corrodes some zinc alloys used in castings and some plastics - if you made sure everything used was methanol resistant corrosion shouldn't worry you.

Surely you could make that power figure without going to such extremes though....