Methanol Debate

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

There has been allot of debate on Meth/Water Injection for the Evo. I know the big fuel to use these days is E85 but as we all know is not easy for some of us to get our hands on. I am pretty much maxed out on CA 91 Piss gas on my OEM Turbo, and was considering an Aquamist HFS-3 kit, run a duel injection set up, one about 6 inches from the TB (1.0mm) then a secondary one at about 18" with a .8 or .9mm nozzle. I would run 50/50 Distilled water and VP M1 and use the Temphra Mod to activiate a map switch for my failsafe.

I just have noticed that not many shops that Tune, Buschur for one, does not even sell a methanol system any longer. I am wonderng why? Is there a "too high a risk" factor here? If so, I want to know since this is a DD car not a weekend warrior.

Additonally, if the Meth/Water is a bad idea, my other option is to go with FP Red and tune for 91. My supporting mods are listed below for any other suggestions. Just keep in mind this is a Daily Driven car, and will see light track time. (Solo II mainly).

Buschur 3" Turbo Back Exhaust with HFC and Magnaflow Muffler
Invidia 02 Housing
AEM Intake
Buschur Racing UICP with Mini Battery Kit
ETS 3" I/C
Reese Tuning LICP
RC 750 incjectors
M3 Cosworth Cams
Brian Crower Valve springs and retainers
ARP Head Studs
255 Fuel Pump
GM 3 Port
Shep Trans Stage II T/C with REM/ISF treatments
ACT HD Street Clutch
Tuned on 91 CA Piss Gas by James Reese

Any suggestions would be great. Just want a nice reliable, dependable consistant power, but don't we all? haha.

Has 40K miles, MR Model. Thanks for your time everyone...

Jeff

[DerekEVO]

i think this says it all. http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-eng...o-cracked.html

[RichJ]

I think these systems have gotten a bad name due to overly aggressive tuning and poor user maintenance resulting in engine failures, but they've been around for a long time and have worked well for many people on many different platforms. The appeal of them for Evo owners is less now due to advances in parts and tuning that allows for good power on pump gas, not to mention the availability of E85 in many areas.

[SvenDiesel]

I had meth injection on my stock block setup, it was on there for 3 years with no issues. I bought the car last year, and just 2 months ago my motor blew because I started having pump problems. I had no failsafe, and one day it just happened. I wanted to do meth again on my new Buschur built motor with all new compnents to the kit (pump, hose, nozzle, checkvalve, etc), but decided literally last minute that I no longer wanted it just because if something went wrong again I'd have my car down for who knows how long. So we tuned my car on 93 and E85, and I will be sourcing E85 from a station in NY about 25 minutes away from me.

I felt like the gains werent worth the potential headache from the meth any longer, and E85 makes more safe power. What really pushed me over the edge was Mikes post above about the cracked pistons and how cylinder 1 is always the one to go because it doesnt get an even distribution of meth. Coincidentally my cylinder 1 was the one to go too when my motor blew. And even after reading that I still almost made the mistake of keeping it in my car, it took a while to sink in.

If you can muster up a direct port meth injection setup and properly maintain and monitor it, then youd be golden. Im very happy with the switch to E85 tho. Sure it takes a bit of time to drain your tank and make sure its clear of all 93 oct, but thats worth it to me

[David Buschur]

We sold and promoted the SMC kit, it was easy to put on, easy to set up and was easy to set up a real fail safe when using the AEM or other stand alone. SMC went out of business and when they did we decided to no longer mess with the kits. The SMC was an hour install. The Auqumist is an 8 hour install, too long for us, we'd rather change engines that take 8 hours to install an alky kit. Al from Dynoflash uses and promotes them, they have great failsafes from what I understand. I would tune a car with the kit already on it and completely set up but I'm not intertested in installing or setting one up.

I'd suggest E85 and if you can't get it then get a seperate tune for some VP C16 for when you want to race.

[evo9speeddemon]

labonte motorsports take 2hrs to install. Ontop of that, their failsafe is #1 PERIOD !!!!!!!
no other matches their failsafe.

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

Thank You everyone for your posts. Special Thanks to David Buschur for replying, I know your VERY busy, so Thank You. David, James Reese will be doing an E85 tune for me. I will do a once a month run for my E85 its about 40 minutes away. Would be worth it. Since I am still planning on getting my car on the Road Course sooner or later, I like the use of just one fuel. Meth on a track, especially road course is just so hard to dial in the throttle tip in and off throttle response just is too shady to me. E85 seems to be the ticket, just will buy some fuel containers and stock up!! I would love to see some good useable power gains on E85, my goal when starting mods on my Evo was 400/400 on a stock turbo. With my mods it will be close, but then I can move on to working on other bits. Just need to buy my FIC 1050's and Im going for the CORN!!!

Thanks Again All

[RichJ]

Thank You everyone for your posts. Special Thanks to David Buschur for replying, I know your VERY busy, so Thank You. David, James Reese will be doing an E85 tune for me. I will do a once a month run for my E85 its about 40 minutes away. Would be worth it. Since I am still planning on getting my car on the Road Course sooner or later, I like the use of just one fuel. Meth on a track, especially road course is just so hard to dial in the throttle tip in and off throttle response just is too shady to me. E85 seems to be the ticket, just will buy some fuel containers and stock up!! I would love to see some good useable power gains on E85, my goal when starting mods on my Evo was 400/400 on a stock turbo. With my mods it will be close, but then I can move on to working on other bits. Just need to buy my FIC 1050's and Im going for the CORN!!!

Thanks Again All

On my old setup I ran an entire track season injecting straight methanol with an Aquamist HFS-5 kit. No tuning issues. The kit gave out once mid-session (due to melting underhood components) and the failsafe kicked in and saved the day on the stock engine. No question E85 is way better and safer (also because your motor will run much cooler), but not many tracks have an E85 pump and bringing your own is a major hassle. For the road course, running pump, pump + meth, or 110 are the most viable options for those of us without a car trailer.

[evo9speeddemon]

On my old setup I ran an entire track season injecting straight methanol with an Aquamist HFS-5 kit. No tuning issues. The kit gave out once mid-session (due to melting underhood components) and the failsafe kicked in and saved the day on the stock engine. No question E85 is way better and safer (also because your motor will run much cooler), but not many tracks have an E85 pump and bringing your own is a major hassle. For the road course, running pump, pump + meth, or 110 are the most viable options for those of us without a car trailer.

I have to 100% disagree with your "motor will run much cooler with e85"
no way in hell is e85 going to run cooler than a mist of meth/water. #1 the meth/water is cooling the air intake temps, E85 does NOT. #2 Meth/water will make the post combustion cooler than e85.