m-5 hydrometer check

I got my mad scientist hydrometer toy today The m-5 I have is only reading 6 % nitroparrafin

KY JELLY wrote: I got my mad scientist hydrometer toy today The m-5 I have is only reading 6 % nitroparrafin

The hell you say.

Is that good or bad Randy?

m5 is the w of slicks ........

the M-3 and M-5 methanol available from VP containes MTBE, an oxygentating chemical additive that is HIGHLY TOXIC and does make more power. This used to be common additive in unleaded gasoline. There were some NHRA top alcohol racers who added this to thier fuel a few years back and were caught. It is NOT LEGAL in TAFC or TAD and is not detectable at the standard fuel check. It is colorless, and mixes perfectly with the methanol. It evaporates very quickly and some of the teams using it would immediately open the fuel cap after a run to allow it to evaporate out of the tank. It can only be detected in a lab test which is cost prohibitave to NHRA to perform at regular fuel check. Some people think that certain A-Fuel teams are using it to cut thier nitro percentage instead of pure methanol therby giving them an advantage.

QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO M5

Q. Does M5 contain Nitromethane?

A. M5 contains nitroparaffins, which are relatives of nitromethane in the same chemical family.

Q. Are there any applications where M5 isn't appropriate?

A. So far M5 has worked in every application I have tried it in. From a single cylinder Briggs JR dragster to a Brad Anderson blown hemi. If you're adamant about running methanol, there is no reason you shouldn't run M5. It's more consistent, you'll use less, and it makes gobs of Hp.

Q. What jetting changes does M5 require?

A. This fuel seems to be very friendly in jetting. Steve Petty dynoed a 1000 rear wheel Hp vehicle and increased the jetting 15% and the car made 1080 to the tire. He reduced the jetting to 7% and the car went 1079 to the tire. This is an 8% tuning window. I recommend you jet up 10 to 12% to start and then you can back down from there. Al Brown (Antron's father) did a back to back test with M5 vs. M1. His combination is a 540 ci injected big block Chevy running Top Dragster. With no difference in jetting, the car picked up .11 seconds and 6 mph. Again, every combination is different and you'll need to run the tests to determine what your combination likes.

Q. What timing changes does M5 require?

A. As with ROO16, so far I have left the timing alone. Run what timing you had with regular methanol. Here's my thought. The hydrocarbons in the fuel help vaporization, so you SHOULD be able to retard the timing a bit. But the fuel also contains nitroparrifins, which generally need the timing advanced to start the burn earlier. Since they are both in the fuel, they almost seem to cancel each other out, hence the timing will stay the same. Weird huh?

Q. Do you need to use an upper lube with M5?

A. No, M5 already has enough upper lube in it. While VP's M2 is excellent for use for straight methanol, I don't recommend adding it to M5. I have seen injection nozzles clog up because of the extra lube.

Q. If I'm using regular methanol now, should I try M3 or M5?

A. Unless you've already tried M3 with success (and M3 works great in many applications), I'd go right from regular methanol to M5. The range of applications that can benefit from M3 is slightly more limited than M5, while M5 will pick up virtually any application you put it in.

Q. Why does M5 work so much better than straight methanol?

A. In two words, BETTER VAPORIZATION. Regular methanol doesn't like to vaporize in the combustion chamber. It likes to stay in liquid form. In the combustion chamber on the combustion stroke, the engine needs to burn 2 things, fuel vapor and oxygen. If the fuel doesn't vaporize well, then you will have wasted fuel going out the exhaust. The hydrocarbons and nitroparrifins in M5 help to vaporize the fuel more efficiently. This way there's more fuel vapor in the combustion chamber and in turn the engine will make more power.

Q. How long can I leave M5 in my fuel cell between uses?

A.I recommend the same as Q16. If the car is going to sit for a week or so, drain it out and put it back in the drum. Also, the fuel will not separate.

QUESTIONS RE: METHANOL IN GENERAL

Q. Can M3 or M5 be used with a methanol injection kit?

A. I'd use regular methanol like VP's M1 for the injection. This is what I personally use. All you are using the injection for is to cool the air charge. This is how you get more power, because you can add more timing or boost with a cooler charge. M3 has a hydrocarbon in it and won't pull the heat like M1. M5 has a hydrocarbon and a combustion additive. I would definitely not use this. It could have bad results by combusting in the air inlet tube between the turbo and the throttle body. M1 is your best choice.

it aint got much.............

Where did you find that info Nick ?

Kerry I think it is a good thing because my back to back tests have showed a tenth of a second gain in et and I am going to mix up my own fuel with nitromethane and 12 % would be mean stuff.

Nitromethane carries a lot of oxygen itself supposedly the correct fuel mixture at 100% is about 1.8 - 1 where alcohol is about 6 :1 and gas about 14 :1 . So you are not as dependant on the quality of air to make power. You just have to keep oil pans and rods in or on the engine

we should have a new oil pan in stock in about 10 days.

remember M5 is a "power adder"................

MTBE is from natual gas.....what's that gotta do with nitro?

I have no idea, I just know it makes the bitch smell awesome...............

What is MTBE?
MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) is a chemical compound that is manufactured by the chemical reaction of methanol and isobutylene. MTBE is produced in very large quantities (over 200,000 barrels per day in the U.S. in 1999) and is almost exclusively used as a fuel additive in motor gasoline. It is one of a group of chemicals commonly known as "oxygenates" because they raise the oxygen content of gasoline. At room temperature, MTBE is a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid that dissolves rather easily in water.
Why is it used?
MTBE has been used in U.S. gasoline at low levels since 1979 to replace lead as an octane enhancer (helps prevent the engine from "knocking"). Since 1992, MTBE has been used at higher concentrations in some gasoline to fulfill the oxygenate requirements set by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. (A few cities, such as Denver, used oxygenates (MTBE) at higher concentrations during the wintertime in the late 1980's.)
Oxygen helps gasoline burn more completely, reducing harmful tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles. In one respect, the oxygen dilutes or displaces gasoline components such as aromatics (e.g., benzene) and sulfur. In another, oxygen optimizes the oxidation during combustion. Most refiners have chosen to use MTBE over other oxygenates primarily for its blending characteristics and for economic reasons.

KY JELLY wrote:Where did you find that info Nick ?

Kerry I think it is a good thing because my back to back tests have showed a tenth of a second gain in et and I am going to mix up my own fuel with nitromethane and 12 % would be mean stuff.

Nitromethane carries a lot of oxygen itself supposedly the correct fuel mixture at 100% is about 1.8 - 1 where alcohol is about 6 :1 and gas about 14 :1 . So you are not as dependant on the quality of air to make power. You just have to keep oil pans and rods in or on the engine

The guy I used for the dyno and flowing the fuel system has dabbled in the nitro mix a bit, on a typical BBC making 700 hp a 15% mix yielded 60 hp gain, Gerald tried to get him to go 30 and the dude chickened out lol. One thing he did say was to crank a bunch of timing in it and it would be fine.

We considred making a pull with it in mine for the "HeRo" dyno sheet, but after his dyno wouldn't even hold this thing on a easy rot gut pull it was not discussed anymore lol.

Typical dnyo tuning on 2 carbed 306 sbf M vs M5 with optimum timing and jetting for both was about 24 hp..........these were 550 hp smallblocks corrected. I see about a tenth and 1.5 mph myself with the M1 vs M5 on the track.

Its worth a little power, but not near as much as some would like to think it is lol.

For breacket racing I see no advantage and it costs too much, if your needing every last hp then there ya go.................just like Q16.......

Alcohols for drinking !! just ordered 3 drums of C23
Frank

Hmmm...... Q16 has MTBE

whatbumper wrote:Hmmm...... Q16 has MTBE

Pump gas had MTBE before the EPA desided it was poison. Cheap octane it is.