SuperTech

By “WingTips” Jeff Nelson

Former “Wild” Willie Stutzman Crew Chief

The simple answer is ‘because they can’. But a better answer is because methanol is an excellent racing fuel. So buy me a scotch (12 year old single malt preferably), sit back, and listen to “WingTips” talk methanol. By the way, while methanol is a form of alcohol don’t confuse it with the alcohol that is suspending the ice cubes in your rocks glass sitting there on the bar. Methanol is extremely toxic and ingesting even very small amounts will cause blindness (at a minimum) or death. So even though you got away with doing those other things that your mother told you would cause blindness, drinking fuel from the bladder of a supermodified is guaranteed to do the job, so don’t!

SOMEWHAT CORNY

There are several different types of alcohol used as a racing fuel today. In addition to methanol (that has been used for many years), some racing organizations are now using ethanol for fuel. Ethanol is the same type of alcohol (made primarily from corn) that is becoming more common as a component of the gasoline motor fuel you purchase at the pump for your street vehicle. Use of ethanol as a racing fuel is a recent phenomenon occurring mostly for marketing and political reasons.  As a racing fuel the characteristics of ethanol are much more like gasoline than methanol. Because ethanol lacks the high octane and latent heat value advantages of methanol it has not earned its way into the fuel tanks of supermodifieds and we won’t examine it further in this discussion.

One more type of alcohol (Isopropyl or ‘rubbing’ alcohol) also finds its way into fuel tanks, but not as a fuel and usually not in racing. Isopropyl alcohol is the main ingredient in most ‘dry gas’ additives marketed for adding to your tank to prevent fuel line freeze. Dry gas prevents fuel line freeze by allowing water moisture in the fuel tank to blend with the gasoline so that it will stay in suspension and move out of the tank by being burned along with the gas. Water condensation in a gasoline tank without the blending effect of an additive will settle to low points in the fuel system and freeze to ice thus blocking the fuel lines. The only use of isopropyl rubbing alcohol around supermodifieds I have ever seen was by “Wild” Willie Stutzman who used to rub it over his sore achy body after assailing the concrete walls of Winchester Speedway for a weekend.

A BIT WOODSY

Methanol is a form of alcohol sometimes referred to as wood alcohol because a lot time ago it was actually made from distilling wood byproduct. Today most methanol is manufactured from natural gas. It has been the fuel of choice for many years in open wheel racing including sprint cars, midgets, supermodifieds and Indy cars. In the case of Indy cars the adoption of methanol as fuel was mandated in the sixties after severe crashes and subsequent gasoline fires took the lives of some of the sports best know drivers. Methanol burns much less intensely than gasoline fires and unlike gasoline it dilutes readily with water making it easier to wash down and extinguish. The one caveat to methanol fires is that it burns almost invisibly making it difficult to determine if a driver splashed with fuel is on fire. If you watch pit stops closely during Indy races you will see the fueling area of the car being hosed off with water in the brief moment between when the refueling hose is disconnected and when the car leaves. Also notice the large fuel pods and refueling rigs which we will discuss in a minute.

The use of methanol in sprint cars, midgets and supermodifieds evolved many years ago for two principal reasons – its high octane rating and its excellent latent heat value. The high octane rating of methanol (higher than even the highest octane racing gasoline) allows the use of higher compression ratios and greater advanced spark timing which in turn results in increased horsepower. But it is perhaps the high latent heat value in addition to the high octane rating of methanol that made it a favorite fuel of sprinters and other open wheel racers years ago.

HEAT IT UP

The latent heat value of methanol is a reference to the amount of heat that it absorbs in the process of changing from a liquid to a vapor as happens at the point it is atomized at the fuel injector nozzle in the intake manifold. A high latent heat of vaporization value means that methanol produces an intense cooling effect to the surrounding air as it is vaporized in the induction manifold. The cooling sensation you notice when you rub some rubbing alcohol on your skin is a good demonstration of this. Cooling the intake air makes it more dense allowing that the engine to take in more air in each intake cycle – again increasing power output. In addition to the increase of power, this cooling effect could be very important to early open wheel race cars that often had marginal cooling systems. Because (unlike gasoline) methanol can be run at relatively rich mixtures without suffering excessive power loss, racers could use adjustable jetting controls in the cockpit to richen the fuel injection system for additional cooling when the engine temps got too high. These characteristics of methanol also make it an easy fuel to work with for engine tuners.

Methanol would probably be popular in even more types of racing were it not for its’ relatively (compared to gasoline) low heat energy per pound. Due to this lower energy (BTU / pound) it is necessary to burn about 2.5 times the amount of methanol to produce the same amount of power as gasoline. This means that fuel mileage is less than half that of gasoline. Remember those large fuel pods and refueling equipment on Indy cars? That’s why. Look close the next time you see a supermodified  and you will discover that the fuel cell is extremely large considering the relatively low distances that they race over. Interestingly, unlimited hydroplane racing boats (before they switched to running turbine engines) were powered by supercharged Rolls Royce and Allison WWII fighter plane piston engines that consumed 100 gallons of methanol fuel in a 5 minute heat.

PARLOR TRICKS PROVE A POINT

Methanol prices and availability have remained very stable over many years which also make it popular with racers. One potential downside to methanol is its’ tendency to attract moisture from the air. If not stored in tightly sealed containers it can absorb a significant amount of moisture reducing its’ power output. An interesting bar trick you can do demonstrates how alcohol mixes with water. Bet someone that you can take a shot glass full of vodka and a shot glass full of water, pour them together in a larger container and when you pour them out into the shot glasses two full glasses will not return. (HINT – chanting abracadabra as you do this will enhance the effect). The reason that you do not get two full shot glasses back, is because the water and alcohol molecules share the same space. You got back the same amount of alcohol and water as you put in (the combined weight is the same, just the volume has changed) but they are sharing the same space. Again, if you do this with methanol – DON’T DRINK IT!

The fact that alcohol absorbs and holds moisture from the air means that it can be highly corrosive to metal components in the fuel system. The fuel injection systems of supermodifieds that are not raced every week or so should have fuel removed to prevent damage to fuel pumps, barrel valves and other fuel metering components. Methanol can also be damaging to some types of plastics and rubber seals which is easily remedied by using alcohol resistant o-rings and seals in the injection system.

IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS

If you find yourself around the pits on a hot, humid summer night watch the supermodifieds closely as they come in off the track and you are likely to see a caking of frost or ice around the base of the fuel injection manifolds. That’s the evaporative cooling effect of the methanol in the manifold condensing and freezing the night air. Your friends will be mightily impressed when you point this out.

So when it comes to fueling a supermodified, methanol is indeed, a pretty “cool” fuel. Add a high octane rating to the excellent latent heat value and you’ve got an ideal way to feed our favorite ground pounders. So order us another round and let’s discuss who’s going to win the International Classic 200 this year.

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