Fuel

[Al Hasenfratz]

Anyone have any experience using ethanol vs. methanol for fuel? A friend mentioned that he sells crops to an ethanol facility and I wondered if that was a viable option to use in the karts. Thanks!

[Kurt Bogerman]

I don't have first hand experience with racing alcohol, but i have been curious about ethanol, especially E85. I just read te following article, and it seems to address a lot of the pros and cons of gasoline, methanol , and ethanol, with specific focus on E85.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/ctrp-1008...race-fuel/

I would be curious to know if it's a worthwhile endeavor in vintage karting, or just a novel pursuit.

-Kurt

[doug tenney]

I remember at TBO some years ago, Stan Wauthier and his son Joel mentioned that they'd run E85 in karts before.  I asked Stan how he liked it.  I recall that he just shrugged and said, "It works."  You might be a able to reach him on the REAR site to learn more.

In general, I recall that ethanol has a slightly lower heating value than methanol, but it's less aggressive on elastomers (rubber hoses, carb gaskets, needles, etc) than methanol.

[ted johnson]

The consensus in racing circles seems to be that ethanol produces less power, is harder to get in pure form, and runs somewhat warmer than methanol. I believe ethanol is less corrosive, but don't know if it's more corrosive than gas. If you run castor, you will still have to purge with gas and mineral oil to drive the castor out of your needle bearings. Anyone who's lost an engine due to castor gumming up wristpin needles knows about this. Despite the hassles, I will continue to use methanol and castor. I have not lost one engine while running alky/castor. TJ

[Al Hasenfratz]

Good info, thanks!

[Ramon Montanov]

What is a good fuel and oil ratio mix iam running a modified 820 on alcohol ?

[ted johnson]

Guys use anywhere from 8 Oz castor per gallon to 10 Oz/Gal. I always use 10 Oz/Gal, and have no plug issues. Ted

[stan wauthier]

It's true! We have run E85 with no issues. A few years ago my source for methanol closed up and in a pinch I decided to try E85. The alky carbs dialed in quite well. If I recall correctly I was running HL355s on WB820s. Didn't get the power we got from methanol, but it was barely noticeable. I don't think I'd rely on E85 if I was racing, but for a play day it was good.

Ted's correct, still necessary to flush at the end of the day.

[Brad G Emery]

I run 8 oz of Klotz per gallon in my Mac 91B1 in vintage enduro. Have had no problems running 40 minute races. Just be careful not to lean that needle down to much. Let it smoke just a bit.

[steve welte]

I have a half of drum of E 98. That is 98% ethonal and 2% gas. That is what the American Ethonal people supply for race cars. There is almost no difference in lap times between that and Methonal. The only reason you have to flush the E 98 at all is because of Castor. It won't corrode like Meth.