METHANOL FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
 

Excitement it promises, and excitement it delivers, that is Bajan Motorsport. The thousands of spectators that come out to support the myriad of events can attest to this fact. So does the time and money spent by individual drivers and driving teams in an effort to enhance their performance. Such relentlessness speaks volumes of their competitive nature.

It is against such a backdrop that drivers may have turned to high performance fuels such as elf, avgas and most recently methanol to improve their performance; a move that has caused quite a stir as the use of methanol remains pretty much an unknown entity in Bajan Motorsport.  

It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odour. It is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol. 

However, there is still a great deal of interest in using methanol as a neat fuel. Many tests have shown promising results using 85-100 percent by volume methanol as a transportation fuel in automobiles, trucks and buses. The flexible-fuel vehicles currently being manufactured by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler can run on any combination of ethanol, methanol and/or gasoline. The intention is that neat alcohol fuels will become more prevalent as more flexible-fuel automobiles are manufactured.

It is evident that there is still much to be done as far as testing is concerned before methanol is considered a viable option for everyday use.  Its use however is prevalent in car racing, such that up until the end of the 2005 INDY Car racing season every race car on the circuit had to use methanol.  Many modifications have been necessary to efficiently run methanol in these cars, lets look at the changes necessary to do so.

One such parameter which would be of interest to anyone running methanol is the amount of fuel injected into each cylinder.  Due to the fact that methanol's energy density is about half that of gasoline; you use twice the amount of methanol to generate the amount of power when compared to gasoline.  In fact some cars have had to run eight (8) injectors to facilitate adequate supply of fuel.

Since methanol is highly corrosive the fuel system has to be upgraded.  This means fuel tank and fuel lines used must be more resistant to the corrosion that will be caused by the methanol.  This is also extended to the engine.  The engine block must be built to handle methanol.  This involves coating the pistons and bores of the block to prevent or minimize erosion. Good piston rings are also a must so as to prevent the methanol from leaking into the engine oil.  Contamination of the engine oil can lead to engine failure.

Basically to run methanol requires almost a full engine rebuild and depending upon where you get it done can cost anywhere  between 20 to 60 thousand pounds.  However provided the engine is modified correctly a driver can achieve great gains over persons using gasoline. Since methanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline this results in greater fuel efficiency with proper adjustment of the engine's compression ratio.

Having mapped the car to run on methanol after each event the racing team needs to take certain precautions to maintain the car.  The fuel lines must be flushed after every event.  The methanol is drained and gasoline used in the tank to facilitate the flushing of the engine, the driver may need to drive for a period of time long enough to ensure that the gasoline goes through and flushes out the entire engine.  This helps to prevent corrosion of the engine block. Depending upon how often the car is used the fuel lines will need changing 1-2 times a year, likewise the fuel tank foam will also need replacing.

Methanol is a cheaper higher performance fuel however the cost of modification and maintenance threatens to put the total cost way above that of using other fuels. With maintenance during the year at an estimated 5-8 grand on fuel lines, fuel tank and such like as well as the estimated costs for such modifications only those with deep pockets or huge sponsorship may be capable of reaping the rewards that methanol has to offer as a racing fuel.

Increased performance is what is all about, every driver wants to be competitive, its really up to each driver to determine at what costs they will seek to be competitive.

As we eluded to earlier, methanol is a new entity in Bajan motorsport, with such, there has been and will continue to be for quite some time concerns that will be raised.  Such heated discussion on the use of methanol may suggest the need for certain precautions and controls be put in place as its use on a large scale may be inevitable.  In our next article we will examine those concerns as they relate to motorsport in Barbados.

Writer: Antonia
Contributors: Damien 'Logic'  Yearwood