Nitrous Oxide Facts
Discussion
Enough of the rumors, Here's some actual facts: I've been using nitrous oxide on all my cars on the street for 20 years. Even my Cadillac. There is no smell other than normal exhaust, You're confused with nitro-methane that Top Fuel dragsters use. I've never blown an engine with it. The key to no engine damage is having an adequate fuel system (a separate fuel pump/system just for the NOS). It does tend to wear the rings and bearings a little bit more. My 87 firebird had 87,000 miles of regular nitrous use with no engine repairs and ran perfectly when I sold it. My 455 Oldsmobile ran 16 years with a 225hp shot of nitrous on top of it's 550 hp, it now needs new rings and bearings, which you might need even without nitrous. My 1996 LT4 Corvette ran 10.80 in the 1/4 with a 150 hp shot (and got 26 mpg on the highway) after 66,000 miles and 150 drag strip runs it still ran perfect. You can select a system with very gentle power delivery, progressively or all at once. I found anything above 250 hp instant shot to be too violent for the tires. I won't be putting it on my Ultima GTR since 138 mph in the 1/4 mile is adequate. Which is due to the superior symetrical cylinder head ports on the gen3 LS6 small block chevy.
P.S. Nitrous Oxide Systems pioneered the use of pulsing solenoids and they've been available for years in the US. It's called a progessive controller and is an option on any kit
P.S. Nitrous Oxide Systems pioneered the use of pulsing solenoids and they've been available for years in the US. It's called a progessive controller and is an option on any kit
Some more facts and figures
Nitrous-oxide (N2O) was discovered by an Englishman named Joseph Priestly in 1772. The "laughing gas" he discovered is still used as an anesthetic today. During the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force used N2O to boost the performance of the aircraft engines on their Spitfire interceptors to counter the German air threat. After the war some enterprising veterans experimented with nitrous on their hot-rods. Nitrous oxide gives more horsepower per dollar than any other performance modification you can make to your vehicle.
Nitrous oxide works so well because it is 33% oxygen compared to ordinary air, which is approximately 21% oxygen. Acting like a chemical supercharger, injecting nitrous oxide into an engine increased the amount of oxygen available to burn and thus the amount of power generated. Because nitrous is stored in liquid state it comes out of its tank cold. This increases the density of the intake air even further.
Injected nitrous into an engine without adding additional fuel will result in an ultra lean condition. This will quickly lead to detonation, which will melt pistons and blow head gaskets. Most nitrous systems consist of an adapter plate which sits between the throttle and the intake manifold. The adapter plate contains a gasoline jet and a nitrous jet, which are controlled by a pair of solenoid valves. When the valves open they spray a controlled mixture into the intake. The amount of horsepower generated is determined by the size of the jets. An arming switch turns the system on, and a wide open throttle switch under the gas pedal opens the valves for an instant boost at any speed or RPM.
Nitrous-oxide (N2O) was discovered by an Englishman named Joseph Priestly in 1772. The "laughing gas" he discovered is still used as an anesthetic today. During the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force used N2O to boost the performance of the aircraft engines on their Spitfire interceptors to counter the German air threat. After the war some enterprising veterans experimented with nitrous on their hot-rods. Nitrous oxide gives more horsepower per dollar than any other performance modification you can make to your vehicle.
Nitrous oxide works so well because it is 33% oxygen compared to ordinary air, which is approximately 21% oxygen. Acting like a chemical supercharger, injecting nitrous oxide into an engine increased the amount of oxygen available to burn and thus the amount of power generated. Because nitrous is stored in liquid state it comes out of its tank cold. This increases the density of the intake air even further.
Injected nitrous into an engine without adding additional fuel will result in an ultra lean condition. This will quickly lead to detonation, which will melt pistons and blow head gaskets. Most nitrous systems consist of an adapter plate which sits between the throttle and the intake manifold. The adapter plate contains a gasoline jet and a nitrous jet, which are controlled by a pair of solenoid valves. When the valves open they spray a controlled mixture into the intake. The amount of horsepower generated is determined by the size of the jets. An arming switch turns the system on, and a wide open throttle switch under the gas pedal opens the valves for an instant boost at any speed or RPM.
Your right Jswartz. My first introduction to cars running on Nitrous was at Maple Grove speedway in Reading PA. What I smelled must of been Nitro-Methane. My neighbors son installed a nitrous kit on his 99 Mustang Gt. Loves it, just spins the tires way to much. He had to have it, biggest bang for the buck.
UltimaAnimal said: A slight leakage of that stuff will kill you...period.
It has to be tightly controlled for anesthetic use alone.
Not altogether true... Nitrous Oxide is used for the maintenance of anaesthesia particularly in childbirth .. ouch... and is not particularly tightly controlled as it is often self administered, the gas is sold as Entonox or Equanox and contains 50-50% nitrous oxide and oxygen. Industrial gas is what it says, only nitrous oxide.
Prolonged exposure does have a recorded side effect of anaemia and possible depression of white cell count.
james said: So why not just go for a shot of liquid oxygen then? You might need to up the amount of fuel you're putting in quite significantly increased amounts of fuel to stop it running lean though
If you got a leak, you'd just end up with a particularly clear head
By burning more fuel, higher cylinder pressures are created and this is where most of the additional power is realized. The "cooling affect" of the liquid Nitrous Oxide turning gaseous significantly reduces intake charge temperatures by approximately 60-75 Degrees F. (Oxygen would obviously do this as well) This create additional power. For every 10 Degrees F. reduction in intake charge temperature, a 1% increase in power will be realized. The intake temperature maybe drops 70 Degrees F, which would gain approximately 25 HP due to the cooling affect alone. The nitrogen that is released during the compression stroke performs an important role, it acts to control the combustion process which causes an increased cylinder pressures and more importantly the extra heat.
Oh, and pure oxygen can be dangerous... anyone remember Apollo? But that is the extreme.
>> Edited by canam-phil on Thursday 28th November 17:18
Oxygen on its own isn't dangerous. However, if there is anything combustible around, it'll burn a lot more ferociously in the presence of an increased oxygen content.
In the Apollo accident, it wasn't the oxygen that caught fire. It was the combustible material in the capsule that burned, and the pure oxygen atmosphere meant that it burned very ferociously.
In the Apollo accident, it wasn't the oxygen that caught fire. It was the combustible material in the capsule that burned, and the pure oxygen atmosphere meant that it burned very ferociously.
james said: Oxygen on its own isn't dangerous. However, if there is anything combustible around, it'll burn a lot more ferociously in the presence of an increased oxygen content.
In the Apollo accident, it wasn't the oxygen that caught fire. It was the combustible material in the capsule that burned, and the pure oxygen atmosphere meant that it burned very ferociously.
Exactly, and what is more combustible than the materials in cars if an oxygen line were to be fractured in an accident!!! That was my point.
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