Saturday Night Racer - Gas VS Alcohol

race96 LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 15	Gas VS Alcohol 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
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3racer LMR Member Offline Posts: 231	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #1 - 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....
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formercrewguy LMR God Offline The shrub brothers are punks Posts: 4293 Arizona	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #2 - 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
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mudslinger47

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Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Reply #3 - 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.

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Andrew

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Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Reply #4 - 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.

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mijo4 LMR Senior Offline THE MIJO SPECIAL- GETS EM EVERY TIME Posts: 260 SANTA MARIA	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #5 - 10/14/10 at 8:05pm GAS IS FOR RACING--- ALCOHOL IS FOR DRINKING MIJO
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jrtracing LMR God Offline Posts: 1709 CA	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #6 - 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!
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race96 LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 15	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #7 - 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 $$$$ and not give up to much with the switch? Thanks
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sj_valley_dave LMR God Offline Love the smell of nitro in the air Posts: 1700	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #8 - 10/15/10 at 2:19pm Hey Duane, we run HCR Plus, 114 octane, and we just picked up a drum before Bako at $9.10 per gallon....
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mudslinger47 LMR God Offline Well crap stuck with the dickweed for four more Posts: 8389	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #9 - 10/15/10 at 8:24pm We usually buy ours from Chris, Pete is the one who pays the big bucks, but it does come from a controlled environment, and you pay for that. Also delivered to his house, no extra charge last time I heard. I think he runs ERC, but not positive about that. Duane
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sj_valley_dave LMR God Offline Love the smell of nitro in the air Posts: 1700	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #10 - 10/21/10 at 4:04pm Hey Duane, We get ours from General Petroleum, used to be CL Bryant...Cool dry storage and one of our sponsers gets the gas for us and he picks it up with his flat bed...If you guys ever need a good price on Sunoco gas or alky shoot me a PM and I'll get a drum price to you....Dave
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hogracer3d LMR God Offline We bust our a$$ to kick yours-!!! Posts: 3933	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #11 - 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
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prochampion LMR God Offline HONEY, One Ingredient! Posts: 606 Westmorland, Ca.	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #12 - 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!
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hogracer3d LMR God Offline We bust our a$$ to kick yours-!!! Posts: 3933	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #13 - 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
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HookedUp25

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Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Reply #14 - 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

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sj_valley_dave LMR God Offline Love the smell of nitro in the air Posts: 1700	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #15 - 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
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lre7oh LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 18 globe, az	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #16 - 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
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mudslinger47 LMR God Offline Well crap stuck with the dickweed for four more Posts: 8389	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #17 - 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
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THROCKS11 LMR God Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 968	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #18 - 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.
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CTFmotorsports

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Re: Gas VS Alcohol
Reply #19 - 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

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lre7oh LMR Rookie Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 18 globe, az	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #20 - 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
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Jennings42Racing LMR Senior Offline Dirt Late Models Rule! Posts: 304 Pittsburg Ca	Re: Gas VS Alcohol Reply #21 - 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.
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