Water Methanol injection – What is the go?

Over the past 20 years, we have seen water / methanol injection fitted to performance cars, it is often seen as an “inexpensive power addition”. – Let’s consider the pro’s & cons of installing water / methanol injection (W/M) into your “street” car:

How it works: 

Methanol is a fuel, it has been used in different motorsport applications over the decades. It has certain advantages & disadvantages when it comes to practical use in a “street car”.

Methanol mixed with water & then injected into the intake system of a vehicle can have the same effect as raising the octane level of the fuel by 20-25 octane numbers (MON).

Advantages: 

More power, efficiency & a cooler combustion cycle. When the vehicle is properly tuned for the additional octane, large increases in power can result.

Disadvantages:

It is illegal for road use in Australia (see below)

If you have an interruption in W/M injection during high loads, engine damage can result very quickly. This can include running out of W/M, pump failure, blocked nozzle, surge when cornering, etc.

Your mix of W/M should be the same every time, especially if your car is tuned for the specific octane. It is common for the end-user to “mix their own” W/M mix to save money on pre-mixed solutions.

W/M burns even when mixed 50/50 – please see this test: https://youtu.be/W0AmMFlXWE4

We do see that some “premixed” W/M solution has a content of 49% Methanol & 51% water to give a nonflammable mixture. There is no end-user tool for accurately testing the mix of W/M to see if you have a “flammable” or “nonflammable” mix.

Safety:

We have seen the effects of when W/M goes wrong. From engine bay fires where hose nozzles come loose and spray the mixture over hot items, to a near fatal drag strip accident where a crash resulted in the test driver being covered in methanol from a regular installed kit (they added pure methanol into the tank for the drag strip). 

Imagine having an accident & covering yourself, passengers or family in a flammable solution? And what will your insurance company say on inspection of your vehicle?

Engineering:

Because W/M is injected into the intake tract of a car, it is classified as fuel – you can argue that it could be just water injection, but an engineer can not control what you put into the tank. It falls into the same category as fitting a surge tank; Installing a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LP Gas) fuel system; and Installing a Natural Gas (NG) fuel system.

Your installation would need to follow NCOP9 for fuel systems.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/files/NCOP9_Section_LM_Fuel_Systems_01Jan2011_v2.pdf

And then be mod plated by a certification engineer. You will find you will then be able to insure your vehicle legally when it is mod plated.

Have we ever seen a legal, mod plated W/M injection system? No & multiple engineers we work with on modifications have not either to date.

Australia’s fastest Golf runs methanol injection – race track only! https://www.instagram.com/stock7r/