How Are Propane/Nitrous Setups Done To Preserve Engine Life

[Kelly06]

I read one of the posts on this subject which basically stated that such setups could be done to preserve engine life/longevity and I wonder specifically how this can be done. From personal experience (burned up a Calloway camero with nitrous) and from reading other forums, it has always been stated that with nitrous, you do sacrifice longevity.

[Skip White]

Well I would say a car that is properly set up would show no wear and tear to speak of. There is no doubt more load on the bearings and other parts, but no where near the amount it would take to harm them, that is if your motor is in very good condition. A loose worn out motor, with a 150 shot on it would not last long.

The most common reason for sudden engine failure is an imbalance of fuel to air/nos ratio, and not giving attention to things like to much engine timing, low octane fuel, to much compression on the engine to start with, etc.

As far as Nos giving an engine longetity, I believe this is said, because of the cooling effect Nos has on the combustion chamber, that's if it's set up right.

There is much to running Nos, Tom Welch is very confident running huge amounts of it.

One good safeguard, if your not sure of the setup is to run less, 50 or 75 HP shot is very forgiving on the engine.

I'm really going to get into this, as it's a great way to add some power along with the many other mods you have.

Skip White

ps, hyperutectic pistons on the 2000 and up cars are not as forgiving. Better have everything setup perfect, if running a big shot.

[Tom Welch]

Kelly,

Skip is correct in that improper air/fuel is a major reason for any forced air induction based modification to fail. The real culprit is "Detonation" which is the killer of ANY nitrous/turbocharged/supercharged applications. Detonation is the result of inadequate fuel delivery, too much ignition timing or a combination of both.

There is also what I like to refer to as the "dumb ass syndrome" where the owner comes out of the movie theater from watching Fast and the Furious and decides to go home and drill out his nitrous jets or other stupid "in home Sanitation Engineering brainfarts", blows the motor and proceeds to tell everyone how terrible nitrous is.

From personal experience of over 20 years of racing and using nitrous, I have never hurt an engine using nitrous. My Viper has been using nitrous for over 5 years and runs consistantly in the 9's at over 145 mph. The motor compression and leak checks as good as it did when I first checked it.

On a different note, using my own Viper engine as an example, I have about $ 4,000.00 in modifications to the engine from when it was stock. It has been making about 800 RWHP and 1000 RWTQ for several years. Do you have any idea how much one would have to spend to match that power output and reliability from a different method? Add another ZERO behind the 4 in 4,000.00 and you will be getting close. In reality, If my Viper engine blew up today, I would give it a supreme burial ceremony in the backyard next to my pets, salute it for incredible service, and call Dodge to order another one!
I have got my monies worth out of this combination of strong stock components and a quality nitrous system....several times over! (if the engine did break, chances are that the cylinder heads and all of the nitrous components could be re-used, therefore only requiring my investment in a new basic engine..LOL)

I'm a hardcore racer, the kits that I sell have an excellent record. I have never had a customer call me and say that the nitrous system did not perform. I know customers who have sold their Vipers and my nitrous kits several times over and they are still working properly after changing hands several times.

Over the years of Viper racing and watching the Viper High Performance Industry grow, more and more tuners are using nitrous, even using it as an additional modification to other modifications like turbochargers and superchargers. Nitrous is still king at the track as well.

With that giberish said, to answer your question about longevity, my kits are designed with that in mind. Specifically with propane usage the torque gain is tremendous especially when comparing performance tests to a typical gasoline wet kit torque output. The usable RPM power band when using nitrous is lowered about 1200 RPM when using my systems, this means lower shift points. This in itself will aid in longevity. Also keep in mind that with other types of power adders some of these do indeed induce constant wear on components. Nitrous is only "wearing" if you will, during the short bursts of time that you are using it. So, longevity in my opinion is a proven statement based upon engine performance and miles or races campaigned over the life of the engine. No power adder is guaranteed to make your engine last longer(and usually the opposite is true)...that kind of majic stuff can be bought at Autozone and poured into the engine from little plastic bottles....LOL.

I hope that this helps. Feel free to search these forums or contact us via EMAIL with any questions or for a list of customers who would love to tell you about their nitrous systems.

Thanks

Tom

[Kelly06]

Skip, Tom
Thanks for the info. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get my viper to Florida.

[Skip White]

It's to simple to believe how to hook up. As I've said in the past, go to a reputable audio store, and I mean one that has a real sharp installer there, and let them do this. These guys can do this with one hand behind there back, in no time. Have you ever seen some of the wiring they do on audio systems. I really choose them over a good mechanic, as they don't have the best skills in hooking up lines and wiring. I'll let the mechanics work on the powertrain.

Tom has instructions with his system.

4-6 hours tops.

Skip White