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Saturday Night Racer >> RACE TECH >> Gas VS Alcohol
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Message started by race96 on 10/13/10 at 1:36pm

Title: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by race96 on 10/13/10 at 1:36pm

Looking for pros and cons?? Wissota 360 steel block alum. heads. 8- 10 lap heats 18-25 lap features. Any thoughts? Thanks

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by 3racer on 10/13/10 at 2:34pm

Alcohol burns cleaner, but more importantly it really depends on the overall specs of your motor before you can decide if it makes sense to even run alcohol. In some cases you may not gain much from running alcohol vs. gas, due to your compression,etc....

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by formercrewguy on 10/13/10 at 2:47pm

Pros: More snap off the corner.
More hp than gas
Cheaper than gas
Mixes well with nitromethane.......lol
Cons: You use twice as much as gas
Your percentages change much more at the end of a main
Corrosive to internal parts
Makes your eyes water...lol

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by mudslinger47 on 10/13/10 at 9:26pm

They have gotten the usage down a lot from back in the day. I like alky just fine, but it really depends on you. Alky is hard starting when cold but you almost cannot ever over rich-en (if thats a word) the mixture enough to mess anything up. We ran a store bought akly carb from Summit and never had one problem. Ya got to run a little upper lub in it to keep the innards from chalkin' up and like FCG said, hard on your eyes if your rich. You almost can't get to much compression with alky, not so with gas, and the more compression you have on gas, the better fuel you'll have to run. One of our friends is running fuel at 12.60 a gallon. 114+. There is the burn off weight, but if you get the thing leaned down a little (always want to see flame) you'd be OK

Duane

PS If you run in a real hot area, alky is a big plus.

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by Andrew on 10/13/10 at 9:44pm

I've run both, I liked alcohol. I didn't experience a lot more maintenence. Some guys drain the lines and carb between races. We never did, only for the off season. When you get it leaned down enough, it's not that hard on the eyes either, except in the garage. Engine temps were down, cost of fueling the car was down, horsepower was up, all good things. Run lots of compression. Alcohol loves compression.

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by mijo4 on 10/14/10 at 8:05pm

GAS IS FOR RACING--- ALCOHOL IS FOR DRINKING
MIJO

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by jrtracing on 10/14/10 at 10:08pm

mijo4 wrote on 10/14/10 at 8:05pm:

GAS IS FOR RACING--- ALCOHOL IS FOR DRINKING
MIJO

Gas makes me stinky and repulsive. Alcohol makes me super man!

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by race96 on 10/15/10 at 7:41am

We currently run alcohol, but have been told car would be more consitant on gas. Just wondering if we will save anything $$$$ and not give up to much with the switch? Thanks

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by sj_valley_dave on 10/15/10 at 2:19pm

Hey Duane, we run HCR Plus, 114 octane, and we just picked up a drum before Bako at $9.10 per gallon....

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by mudslinger47 on 10/15/10 at 8:24pm

We usually buy ours from Chris, Pete is the one who pays the big bucks, but it does come from a controlled environment, and you pay for that. Also delivered to his house, no extra charge last time I heard. I think he runs ERC, but not positive about that.

Duane

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by sj_valley_dave on 10/21/10 at 4:04pm

Hey Duane, We get ours from General Petroleum, used to be CL Bryant...Cool dry storage and one of our sponsers gets the gas for us and he picks it up with his flat bed...If you guys ever need a good price on Sunoco gas or alky shoot me a PM and I'll get a drum price to you....Dave

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by hogracer3d on 10/25/10 at 9:07pm

I called about a drum a week or so ago, and the new company (Matrix or something) said they had no HCR Plus, or Maximal, and that they were getting out of the racing gas business and that I may want to look elsewhere.

I ended up getting a drum of Torco 118 from a 4x4 shop in Visalia on my way to Chow

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by prochampion on 10/26/10 at 7:19am

wow i bought a barrel of 112 on accident versus the 110 we normally run, it was almost double in price i can only imagine what the 118 cost!

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by hogracer3d on 10/26/10 at 7:46am

the Torco 118 was a little overkill for us, but all they had that was in the range we need.

Suprisingly enough, it was only $600 out the door, which was $40 less than I paid for the HCR plus a month before

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by HookedUp25 on 10/28/10 at 2:15pm

I run gas in my modified and i like it because it doesn't burn off as fast and i don't spend that much IMO. I only burn around 10 gallons or so on a regular show and that is easier on my pocket book but I buy 112 and is less expensive than the 114/118. I understand both sides and as discussed above, it depends on your motor. More compression higher octane. Anything past 12:1 and you should run the 112/114 IMO and most of the 114 has a cooling agent. All i've run is gas but am going to swtich over to alcohol this year and see how i like it. As a general rule, alcohol is probably a safer bet then again I've NEVER had a problem with my gas. Your cooling system better be in tip top shape and have the right restrictor so you don't overheat as that can be a problem with high temp. areas and previously discussed. It's not a right or wrong thing, just what you like and what runs best for your motor program.
Seano#7

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by sj_valley_dave on 10/29/10 at 3:59pm

The cooling system is a big deal with gas. We are at 15:1 with gas and normally runs 195-200* with 1 or 2 rows of tape on the radiator in the summer and 3-4 rows in the Spring and Fall. Get the cooling system dialed in and gas is no biggie....IMO

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by lre7oh on 11/09/10 at 10:52pm

oh wow ok i need help then i run well i 108 and every week my car runs 230 240 sometimes even 250 what am i doin wrong lol

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by mudslinger47 on 11/10/10 at 8:59pm

If your running an aluminum radiator and you have over heated it much, the radiator is junk. core expands and slows air passage. A good four blade fan and a shroud mounted properly will solve your problem. Also the dual pass radiators work well too.

Duane

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by THROCKS11 on 11/11/10 at 12:04am

1 to 1 pulleys, Good gm 4 blade fan, Good clean radiator, The right octane fuel for your application & it should run 210 or less no problem. :P

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by Popeye on 11/11/10 at 10:01am

[quote author=4E4746404756564750220 link=1287002188/16#16 date=1289371978]oh wow ok i need help then i run well i 108 and every week my car runs 230 240 sometimes even 250 what am i doin wrong lol[/quote

Brian,
I was runn'n 250/260 most nites so with throcks
Help i switched to an afco 25" double pass radiator,
a real nice shroud, afco 15" 4 blade fan, 1 to 1 pullies
That both measure 6", an edelbrock high flow water pump,
a 1" restrictor in water neck, water wetter & water only,
112 fuel. My engine is 13:1 and ran 210 all nite both
nites @ the desert classic :-)

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by lre7oh on 11/11/10 at 11:44am

ya i got all the same things just some bypassess in other places and im also running 108 fuel with about the same comp

Title: Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Post by chevy68pickup on 11/18/10 at 8:24am

I have always ran a 5 blade fan what a good shroud and a 180 thermostat with 2 1/4 holes and my motor ran 190-200 depending on the weather out side.