Has anyone tried fitting nitrous to a townie yet as i think it would help with overtaking etc in short bursts.I wrote to a Nos company the other day after watching top gear nitrous up a Golf tdi auto( not new about an N reg i think)and almost beat a Honda NSX in a drag race .
Nos on diesels looks to be taking off ,who knows maybe Santa will bring me some laughing gas for xmas as system costs about £700.
Regds PB

- (#13278) Paul, 10 Sep 04 22:54

Sadly, when my Masterace pulls away from the lights, the looks on the faces of other motorists indicates that they might have been having a whiff of nitrous oxide !!

- (#13278) John Davis, 11 Sep 04 02:11

If you're being serious, nitrous is realistically the LAST thing you'd do. You gotta blueprint what you've got, then add loads more cool air, then up the fuelling to match. Are you intercooled yet? Well, that's where to start- cool the charge air, increase the boost pressure, increase the fuelling . Repeat as necessary.

When you've run out of ways to get more air or more fuel into the engine, THEN it's time to think about propane as a fumigant. Only after that would you need nitrous...

- (#13278) David Miller, 11 Sep 04 02:24

In effect Nitrous is a relatively cheap way to get (temporary) extra power. However I would agree with David, first you need to get reliable extra torque & power by way of intercooler, extra fuelling & boost etc. Methinks though, that the poor old 2CT could be a bit delicate for all this, the cooling system especially is on the edge when the engine is standard, start going too far & the thing may end up a bag of scrap metal.

Personally I'd look at intercooling as the best way to improve torque.

P.S. I've had a Motorbike with a Giggle gauge, the extra power for 10-15 second was fantastic, could almost blow you off the back of the bike if you hit it right. But perhaps the Townie isn't the best place to put a tank of gas.

Regards Rob.

- (#13278) Rob Drinkwater (CAFTEC), 11 Sep 04 02:57

If you are wanting advice on nitrous systems you could do worse than speaking to my long time friend Trevor Langfield who has been fitting them for over 20 years.
He used to run a spare parts facilty for old British bikes and when the market in those went dead he switched to developing his own nitrous systems onto old British bikes, he is a quite a character too.
He fits the systems to anything now.

website below

http://www.noswizard.com/information.php



Jim
- (#13278) J Adgo, 11 Sep 04 07:12

I don’t know much about nitrous but I think it works against the grain of almost every Townace philosophy I can think of. I think notrous seriously shortens engine live which is the main reason I wanted a diesel. And given that the Achilles heal of the Van is a barely adequate cooling system, it doesn’t make too much sense to add a fuel that can as much as quadruple the oil temperature in less then five seconds.
There is, however, another great option that I am about to implement on my TA. Keeping in mind that I really don’t know shit about engines, here is my plan: As some of you might remember a few weeks ago I posted a question about intercoolers. I am still contemplating this idea but I think I have a much cheap solution (that could still work with an intercooler). I want to install a methanol mist sprayer into my turbo. This is apparently common in very high performance sports cars. It adds power (mind you, no where near as much as nitros) because if the increased volatility of the methanol. However, its main function is to cool the air down. And apparently it does this very well. By cooling the air down you also get an increase in power because the air is much denser thus more oxygen. The cool air also increases the longevity of the turbo and marginal with the engine. Apparently this system works great with diesels too. I heard that diesel tractors in tractor pull competitions use it because intercoolers have nowhere near the cooling capacity for their 1000+ horsepower engines. I also heard that such a methanol mister system could be made simply with junkyard parts. You just find a windshield wiper pump (I think you UK guys might call windshields something else?) and tank. On the end of the hose you place a very fine mister which I think you could get from a hydroponic plant store. I think an adjustable pressure sensor would work. You would just have the mister kick in when the turbo pressure reaches a certain level. You could adjust methanol quantity by hose gauge diameter. I think you can get Methanol really cheap in bulk. It would not be practical if you bought it otherwise. Two of my brothers have these things set up on V12 BMW’s and they only go through a couple of liters/month and love the systems. Methanol is also extremely clean burning. And also, if you run out of methanol, you can just use water. This cuts down on the power increase caused by the methanol but you keep the power increase caused by the cooler air. The water turns to vapor instantaneously. Many people just use water. And the water cools great. (On a different note, I’m also thinking about another similar water mister system set up in front of the fan/radiator to help with the cooling system.) Now I really don’t know if this will work in a Townace but is sounds like a great way to get some extra power, cool the air down and it’s cheap. Let me know if you think this is crazy or what?
- (#13278) lee laskin, 13 Sep 04 01:10

Be VERY careful. Methanol can indeed be used in diesels, but you must ensure total atomisation otherwise hydrolock is a possibility. Plus you have to mist downstream of the turbo (so you've got to have a high pressure pump) otherwise you will see rapid erosion of the compressor wheel.

Honestly, the way to make power in diesels is simple. Add more air, add more fuel.

Have a look on the web, there's a number of forums and lists that will be of use to you- some for older VW diesels- the indirect injection ones are very similar to the 2CT, and then there's www.toyotadieselmadness.com

- (#13278) David Miller, 13 Sep 04 01:54

The firs thign with a diesel is always to make it breath better - a wider exhaust is first, then make sure you intake is free flow, then intercooler would be next.

However, there is a commercially available gas conversion for diesels which introduces the Autogas in just the manner Dave Miller suggests.
It increases the burn of the diesel and gives cleaner emmissions, more power, and better economy - and as it is a professional fitment, you have a good chance of it not blowing things up!

- (#13278) DaveW, 13 Sep 04 19:53