Summary of Email responses for subject Nitrous Oxide
c60c...@web-2f.berkeley.edu
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Date: Mon, 4 May 92 09:51:34 -0400
From: ma...@world.std.com (Matt Saucier)
Message-Id: <920504135...@world.std.com>
To: c60c...@WEB.berkeley.edu ()
In-Reply-To: c60c...@web-2f.berkeley.edu's message of 4 May 1992 06:47:45 GMT
Subject: Nitrous Oxide
Status: R
[...]
I am really excited after reading the magazines, since I have a fairly slow
car (Honda Civic) and $600 is something I can afford if it achieves such
bewildering performance figures. Does it harm the car? I mean, if I
use it too much, does the engine explode or fall apart? Please let me know.
600 first, then you have to continually buy more Nitrous...
Yes, it does harm the engine... and if your engine's timing is off, or if
you hit the nitrous while the car is moving slowly, well, um, let's
say you don't want to be anywhere near the car when your engine BLOWS
UP (literally).
It has too many drawbacks for use in cars all the time... You can only
add Nitrous so-many-times before you have to get a new can, and there
are SO many dangers with using it improperly, that the auto-
manufacturers can't sell it in cars....
The liability would be tremendous... there would be lawsuit after
lawsuit, when people's engines blew up, possibly killing people...
You can have nitrous, I think *I'll* stick with turbo's and
superchargers... (And I'll see you in my rear-view-mirror when *I'm*
doing 150 in a super-charged car)
Matt
From sa...@igor.tamri.com Mon May 4 11:04:33 1992
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Date: Mon, 4 May 92 11:10:09 -0700
From: sa...@igor.tamri.com (Salil Saxena)
Message-Id: <920504181...@igor.tamri.com>
To: c60c...@WEB.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: Nitrous Oxide
Newsgroups: rec.autos
In-Reply-To: <u2mmh...@agate.berkeley.edu>
Organization: TOSHIBA America MRI, San Francisco
Cc:
Status: R
In article <u2mmh...@agate.berkeley.edu> you write:
>Recently, there has been a lot of talk in the press about Nitrous Oxide.
>For example, this month's Motor Trend has an article about a Corvette that
>was equipped with NOS. Also, their special "Sport Cars of the World" issue
>had a Suzuki Swift equipped with NOS (with acc. and quarter-mile performance
>equal to that of a 5.0L Camaro). That boggles my mind! And Car and Driver
>had an article on a Mercedes 300 (right?) that was equipped with NOS.
>
>Anyway, what strikes me was that the phrase "cheapest performance boost
>available" kept occuring in all the articles. What's the trade-off? I
>mean, if it is so great, then wouldn't all manufacturers be using it, instead
>of all the R&D into turbo-chargers and super-chargers. Two thousands messages
>ago, Sean Crandell wanted a turbo in his RX-7, at the cost of rougly $2000!
>Nitrous is only $600 (according to the magazines, does not include labor).
>I am really excited after reading the magazines, since I have a fairly slow
>car (Honda Civic) and $600 is something I can afford if it achieves such
>bewildering performance figures. Does it harm the car? I mean, if I
>use it too much, does the engine explode or fall apart? Please let me know.
The trade off with having NOS injection is probably over-stressing major
engine components (block, clutch, transmission, etc.). Thats another major
reason why NOS injection systems only allow a several second NOS injection
at a time. Additionally, I believe that NOS injection really screws up the
emmisions released by the car. It may even have damaging effects to the
cat. converter.
--
Salil Saxena Gotta love those British Roadsters - '91 Lotus Elan SE
Toshiba America MRI, Inc. Internet: sa...@igor.tamri.com
South San Francisco, CA 94080 Phone: (415) 872-2722 x2283
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Opionions expressed are mine and only mine <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
From GRA...@ecs.umass.edu Tue May 5 09:57:19 1992
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Date: Tue, 5 May 1992 12:55 -0500
From: GRA...@ecs.umass.edu
Subject: Re: Nitrous Oxide
To: c60c...@WEB.berkeley.edu
Message-Id: <FB9892ABA040056E@UMAECS>
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Status: R
From: c60c...@web-2f.berkeley.edu
Date: 4 May 92 06:47:45 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
>Nitrous is only $600 (according to the magazines, does not include labor).
>I am really excited after reading the magazines, since I have a fairly slow
>car (Honda Civic) and $600 is something I can afford if it achieves such
>bewildering performance figures. Does it harm the car? I mean, if I
>use it too much, does the engine explode or fall apart? Please let me know.
I agree with most of the netters that nitrous, while giving you the cheapest
*large* horsepower gain for your dollar, is also the best way to blow your
motor to pieces, especially if you are unexperienced. I used to own a Honda
Civic and had the same itch as you do now. I thought about turbos or nitrous,
but after thinking about all the possible reliability problems with such a
setup on a Honda, and talking to others who had done the same, I decided to
go the more conventional route with my car (aftermarket cam, headers, Weber
carb). This will give you a much more modest increase that won't make your
drivetrain fly apart, and will be more reliable and cheaper.
What year Civic do you have? There is also the possibility of swapping
engines, say out of an Accord, Prelude, or Integra. This is what I did
with my '76 - I dropped a 1980 Prelude engine (1751cc) right in, everything
bolted right up, including the old transaxle. The only thing I needed to
modify was my old flywheel; it had to be machined slightly to fit the
crankshaft flange of the 1751. Coupled with the modifications to the
valvetrain, induction, and exhaust, I got a very hefty increase in power
and torque, and best of all it was very reliable and pleasant to drive.
If you want more information about aftermarket parts suppliers for Honda,
there are a number of them that advertise in the car mags. The one I dealt
with was Jackson Racing. They are exclusively Honda, have been in the
business since the late '70s, and have good products.
Good luck!