Naturally aspirated/high compression engines: Water/Methanol injection allows the use of pump fuel in all but the most extreme situations which effect tremendous cost savings as well as horsepower increases due to air density increase and higher timing advance potential.
Engines using nitrous: With nitrous, water/methanol injection allows the use of more timing advance even with large (250HP+) quantities. The cooling effect of the water/methanol inside the combustion chamber also makes for reduced peak combustion temperatures.
Naturally aspirated/stock compression: With naturally aspirated engines using less than 10:1 compression, water/methanol is used often in warm climates to get the intake temps lower. Benefits include 10-15 HP increases from air density increases and full-timing as well as more effective air/fuel ratios, increased gas mileage, and carbon-free combustion chambers.
While power gains are typically less in stock compression naturally aspirated vehicles compared to high compression or forced induction engines, the benefits of water-methanol injection can still be realized due to more timing advance, leaner air/fuel ratios, cleaner engine components, lower temperatures, and the use of the methanol in the injection fluid as a secondary fuel source.
Boost Coolers® allow for more power in two ways on a gasoline application.
Extra octane. This allows for much more aggressive tuning safely to make more power. Timing can often be advanced 10 or more degrees in the power band. Boost can often be increased 5 or more PSI. Air/fuel ratios of around 12.5:1 can be utilized even in high boost applications.
Better cooling of the intake air charge. We often cool intake air temperatures 50-150 degrees. This means denser air charge for more efficient power.
If these methods are used, a 20% increase in HP is possible. In naturally aspirated applications, gains of 5-10% are possible.
Yes! Snow Performance systems are designed to do just that. Both the diesel and gasoline systems are specifically designed to inject a very small and precise amount of water/methanol under normal driving conditions such as accelerating away from a stoplight or driving up a slight grade.
The extra 20-25 points of octane provided allow for more spark timing advance and a leaner air/fuel ratio with the use of a programmer. Both of these factors not only improve power, but their efficiency gains also improve mileage as well. Additionally, many modern cars will detect the combustion of the methanol and reduce the injection of gasoline accordingly through the adjustment of long-term fuel trim values in the vehicle's computer. This can directly and positively impact the gasoline fuel economy. Gains of 5-15% are possible depending on how the vehicle is tuned and driven.
Boost Juice®: This is the best fluid to use and is Snow Performance’s 49% methanol, 51% water mixture that can be shipped to your door or picked up at a local dealer. Windshield Washer fluid: Only if it is blue in color and rated for -20 deg F. It should have no special additives. This means it is safe to use and made of about 30% methanol, 70% water. If it is another color or another temperature rating, do not use it. You can “spike” your Blue -20 Washer fluid to a 50% mixture by adding 3 12OZ yellow bottles of Heet® gas-line-antifreeze to every gallon of washer fluid. Mix your own: You just need to make sure the methanol is “neat” and contains no lubricants or other additives. We recommend a 50% mixture. Ethanol: It is not as good as methanol, but it can be used as a 2nd best option if you can’t find methanol. It can also be mixed with water by up to 50%. Do NOT use E85 or any other fluid with gasoline mixed in. It will destroy the fluid delivery part of your Boost Cooler® and instantly void the warranty. Isopropyl/Denatured Alcohols: These can be used, but are not as good as methanol. They have a lower BTU, or energy content, and lower latent heat of vaporization (a fancy way of saying how much heat they absorb) as well as a lower octane rating compared to methanol.
Methanol is a very high octane fuel that is extremely resistant to detonation with an excellent cost/benefit ratio. Its high latent heat of vaporization also makes it an excellent air charge cooler which means a denser mixture and more horsepower. Because of these characteristics, it suppresses detonation more effectively than ethanol or iso-propanol although they will work in a pinch. It is toxic and should be handled with rubber gloves in well-ventilated areas only. Care should be taken to avoid skin contact.
A 50/50 ratio is recommended. This has been demonstrated to be the best for charge/air cooling, excellent detonation control, and safety.
Ratios of anywhere from 30% to 50% methanol work well and deliver excellent octane gains and cooling.
While all components of Snow Performance systems are designed to be able to handle pure methanol, it is not recommended for a number of reasons.
Safety: Pure methanol is easy to ignite with a low 140F degree flash-point and burns with an invisible flame.
Performance: Water absorbs almost twice as much heat as methanol in the intake and inside the combustion chamber. Water cannot be flash-ignited, so it has what is almost an infinite octane number. In the government studies for WWII piston-powered aircraft, 50/50 water-methanol was found to be the best fluid to use for auxiliary fluid injection.
Up to approximately 30 psi of boost, water/methanol injection (using 50% methanol) will provide all the density increase/detonation control needed in most applications. Of course, intercooling and water/methanol injection would provide even greater benefits, especially beyond 30 psi of boost. Most air-to-air intercoolers are only 50-65% efficient. For example, with 11 psi of boost and the resulting 120°f air charge temperature increase, an intercooler reduces the air charge temperature only 60 degrees. Also, an intercooler will reduce boost 2 - 4 psig. on average.
Water/Methanol must be injected at above 50psig to properly atomize. Lower than 50psig causes greatly reduced air charge cooling as the result of larger droplets and their reduced total surface area. Also with inadequate atomization, there is a greater propensity to quench combustion resulting in a loss of power.
Snow Performance systems also regularly inject into charge air passages at 40 PSIG or higher boost pressure, and a simple washer pump will not handle that kind of stress. The pumps in Snow Performance kits are specifically built for water/methanol injection in any environment that might arise.
his depends on a number of variables. HP, injection system, settings, driving style, etc .
For most engines in the 200-500hp range, the standard 3qt tank will last around a tank of gasoline.
For higher HP levels with the MPG system, it will be more like 1 gallon per tank full of gasoline. The #40016 2.5 Gallon reservoir could last two or even three tanks of gasoline.
There has been more discussion recently (especially on the internet) advocating pre-turbo injection. Most of the debate centers around increased atomization. You can probably get away with this in the short run if you inject a small quantity of finely atomized fluid (less than 10micron droplet) with a very low injection duty cycle. Also, if you don’t care about turbo longevity (like some race applications where the turbo is replaced frequently) or you have a system that doesn’t atomize correctly and need the turbulence to help (low injection pressure and nozzles that aren’t designed to atomize correctly). In diesel, especially where injection quantities are large in relation to fuel and where there is a benefit to injecting at low/mid-engine load states on up, it becomes a question of when compressor wheel damage becomes too severe as the pre-turbo injection has been proven to cause compressor wheel erosion. The amount of erosion depends on the quantity injected, the size of the droplet injected, the speed of the compressor wheel, and the injection duty cycle (what % of total engine operation is water-methanol injected). Also, the argument of reduction in compressor work per unit flow and the increase in mass flow rate doesn’t hold water in a properly sized modern non-wastegate turbo.
Performance: It makes almost no difference. Before or after the throttle plate(s) won’t change the effectiveness of the fluid. A given amount of fluid will absorb a given amount of heat, whether it is done more before or after the throttle plate really doesn’t matter.
Installation: It is usually easier to inject pre-throttle body in the intake tube. Easy access, no solenoid required (unless rear-mounting a reservoir). On a carburetor, it can actually be easier to use the #40050 carb spacer plate and a #40060 solenoid for a bolt-in installation. These components are included in our RT and MC series systems.
In a blow-through carburetor setup with an air-box enclosure around the entire carburetor, injecting after the carburetor is preferable.
Centrifugal/Turbo: (Procharger, Vortech, Paxton, Powerdyne, Rotrex, etc.) Never mount an injector nozzle before a centrifugal supercharger or turbocharger compressor. Sending fluid through the compressor wheel that spins anywhere from 50,000rpm to 250,000rpm can erode the leading edges of the fine aluminum. Studies performed by SAAB, concluded that pre-turbo injection will over time cause cavitation on the turbo wheel leading edges.
Positive Displacement Supercharger: Roots style (B&M, Eaton, Magnuson, etc.) or twin screw (Lysholm, Kenne Bell, Whipple, etc.) Mounting the nozzle before this style of blower is perfectly safe and actually provides some additional benefits. The small amount of water-methanol fluid isn’t harmful to any rotor seals or surfaces or coatings, and it helps to seal the clearances and condense the air some more, resulting in a more efficient output. Additionally, it keeps the rotors and housing MUCH cooler, which reduces heat transfer to the rest of the intake and air charge.
Unlike gasoline engines, the power in a turbo diesel is largely a function of fuel. The problem with continually adding fuel is that you create an over-fueling condition and reach a point where the exhaust gas temperatures become prohibitive (over 1300 degrees F). A 50/50 water/methanol mix will decrease EGT's approximately 200-300 degrees F while increasing power 50-100HP.
Power is increased through:
Air charge cooling - Water/methanol usually lowers air charge temps over 200 degrees F. Low air temps make denser air charge which provides more molecules of oxygen for combustion. Combustion conditioning - the methanol acts as a combustion catalyst as well as a cooling agent. Water vaporization inside the combustion chamber increases torque and power output through "the steam" effect. Where else can you get this kind of power with cooler EGT's, reduced emissions, and more fuel economy?
Water-methanol injection for diesel engines has been used extensively for years in high-performance truck/tractor pullers. With the elevated boost levels required for peak power, water/methanol is a common means of cooling the intake charge and reducing exhaust gas temps. Also, truckers have used water injection for years to increase fuel mileage.
In diesel applications, no additional tuning is needed to maximize the water-methanol injection benefits.
A cooler, denser air charge is now delivered to the combustion chamber – this allows more diesel fuel to be burned than before. The methanol in the injection fluid burns as a fuel. This directly impacts power production. The water vaporizes in the combustion chamber, creating rapidly expanding steam which pushes down on the piston to create additional torque. The extra power produced depends heavily on the concentration of methanol used and the volume injected. Typical power gains in 5.9L and larger applications with a 50% mixture of water/methanol are 50-100 WHP and a 100-150ft lb-ft increase in torque.
Yes. The MPG-MAX™ systems are designed to do just that. Both the diesel and gasoline MPG-MAX™ systems are specifically designed to inject a very small and precise amount of water/methanol under normal driving conditions such as accelerating away from a stoplight or driving up a slight grade.
Diesel MPG-MAX systems benefit from the methanol directly due to the fact that it combusts as a fuel, allowing for brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) to be reduced. Typical gains are 10-15% better fuel economy or 1-3 MPG. In some cases and in independent testing, gains of up to 30% have been observed in diesel.
Boost Juice®: This is the best fluid to use and is Snow Performance’s 49% methanol, 51% water mixture that can be shipped to your door or picked up at a local dealer. (If you are using your washer reservoir as the injection tank, Boost Juice® is a great washer fluid – works as a de-icer!) Windshield Washer fluid: Only if it is blue in color and rated for -20 deg F. This means it is safe to use and made of about 30% methanol, 70% water. If it is another color or another temperature rating, do not use it. It should NOT have any extra additives or features. You can “spike” your Blue -20 Washer fluid to a 50% mixture by adding 3 12OZ yellow bottles of Heet® gas-line-antifreeze to every gallon of washer fluid. Mix your own: You just need to make sure the methanol is “neat” and contains no lubricants or other additives. We recommend a 50% mixture. Ethanol: It is not as good as methanol, but it can be used as a 2nd best option if you can’t find methanol. It can also be mixed with water by up to 50%. Do NOT use E85 or any other fluid with gasoline mixed in. It will destroy the fluid delivery part of your Boost Cooler® and instantly void the warranty. Isopropyl/Denatured Alcohols: These can be used, but are not as good as methanol. They have a lower BTU, or energy content, and lower latent heat of vaporization (a fancy way of saying how much heat they absorb) as well as a lower octane rating compared to methanol.
Methanol is an extremely clean fuel with an excellent cost/benefit ratio. Its high latent heat of vaporization also makes it an excellent air charge cooler which means a denser mixture and more horsepower. Because of these characteristics, it is a better fuel than ethanol although it will work in a pinch. Isopropanol has different combustion characteristics and should not be used. Methanol is extremely toxic and should be handled with rubber gloves in well-ventilated areas only. Care should be taken to avoid skin contact.
Methanol makes an excellent adjunct fuel. Because it has a cetane number of 4CN, it makes safe power without spiking cylinder pressures.
"Combustion of neat methanol alone results in a cetane number of 4CN with reduced PM (smoke) and NOx. " see SAE Technical Paper #940326 "Combustion and Emissions Characteristics of Minimally Processed Methanol in a Diesel Engine"
While all components of Snow Performance systems are designed to be able to handle pure methanol, it is not recommended for a number of reasons.
Safety: Pure methanol is easy to ignite with a low 140F degree flash-point and burns with an invisible flame.
Performance: Water absorbs more heat than methanol in the intake and inside the combustion chamber. However, water cannot be flash-ignited, so volume-for-volume, it is more prone to cause combustion quench. SAE studies on the effect of methanol as a fuel in diesel reveal a cetane of 4CN (increased ignition delay) as well as the increased area under the Torque curve during the power stroke (as the piston is going down after TDC) resulting in safe power (not from greatly increased cylinder pressure).
Diesel use more fluid than a gasoline application and are in heavier load states more often.
On Stage 1 or 2 system, the factory washer fluid tank on a pickup truck (usually 1-1.5 gallons) will last a tank of fuel. This is for normal mixed driving with no towing and some aggressive acceleration.
On a Stage 3 MPG MAX™ used for towing, the 7-gallon reservoir (included with the MPG MAX™) usually lasts 1-2 tanks of diesel fuel. In an unloaded state, the 7-gallon reservoir will provide about 1000 miles of range. When towing, the 7 gallon usually lasts about 500 miles.
A standard Stage 3 system will use about 1 gallon of liquid for every 75 miles of towing. Many Stage 3 users take advantage of their stock washer tank or the special universal fitting included in Stage 3 Snow Performance diesel kits with a custom large capacity tank. Be sure to use a solenoid upgrade for any reservoir mounted in the rear of the vehicle.
The pump needs to be within about 24” (hose length) of the reservoir and as low or lower than the base of the reservoir. It is a “pusher” pump, not a “puller” pump.
Engine bay: In the engine bay, the reservoir and pump can be placed almost anywhere, as long as they are not very close to exhausting heat, or in the path of debris from the road. Just be sure that the pump is at the same level or below the reservoir, and that the reservoir is not located higher than the nozzle. If the reservoir has to be higher than the nozzle, a solenoid upgrade is needed to prevent gravity-feed.
Use the factory washer-fluid tank. A bulkhead fitting allows the use of the factory washer fluid tank as a reservoir. 50/50 water/methanol makes an excellent washer fluid. Stage one and two kits often utilize this strategy.
Bed mounted reservoir. The reservoir and pump can be mounted in the back of the vehicle. 7-gallon reservoir upgrades feature extra tubing, a solenoid upgrade, and mounting brackets for bed mounting. We always recommend a solenoid for rear mounting with any reservoir/vehicle.
The best placement of the nozzles is in the area around the inlet to the intake manifold or virtually anywhere on the pipe leading from the intercooler to the intake manifold. The nozzles can be placed at any position on the tube, so long as they are pointing at a 90-degree angle to the direction of airflow. The nozzles can be placed in a series or right next to each other. There are enough heat and velocity and flow through the pipe under boost to absorb the water/methanol regardless of the nozzle positions relative to each other.
Some intakes are pre-drilled for Snow Performance nozzles. As long as all of the airflow into the engine will pass by all nozzles used in the system, even distribution and cooling will result.
Placement before the intercooler or turbo(s) is not recommended. Cooling is not improved. Never mount an injector nozzle before a turbocharger compressor. Sending fluid through the compressor wheel that spins anywhere from 50,000rpm to 250,000rpm can erode the leading edges of the fine aluminum. Studies performed by SAAB concluded that pre-turbo injection will over time cause cavitation on the turbo wheel leading edges.
There has been more discussion recently (especially on the internet) advocating pre-turbo injection. Most of the debate centers around increased atomization. You can probably get away with this in the short run if you inject a small quantity of finely atomized fluid (less than 10micron droplet) with a very low injection duty cycle. Also if you don’t care about turbo longevity (like some competition diesel where the turbo is replaced frequently) or you have a system that doesn’t atomize correctly and need the turbulence to help (low injection pressure and nozzles that aren’t designed to atomize correctly). In diesel, especially where injection quantities are large in relation to fuel and where there is a benefit to injecting at low/mid-engine load states on up, it becomes a question of when compressor wheel damage becomes too severe as the pre-turbo injection has been proven to cause compressor wheel erosion. The amount of erosion depends on the quantity injected, the size of the droplet injected, the speed of the compressor wheel, and the injection duty cycle (what % of total engine operation is water-methanol injected). Also, the argument of reduction in compressor work per unit flow and the increase in mass flow rate doesn’t hold water in a properly sized modern non-wastegate turbo.