Alky or Propane?

[Murdoc]

From experience, what do you think is a better setup overall as an octane booster/intake charge cooler? Alcohol or Propane injection?
I would think propane since its high octane, is normally used as a fuel, and is already a gas so it should mix with the intake charge more uniformly, but this is just speculation.

 

[turbot2112]

imo, i think if you are in a colder climate, alky is the way to go. youwill need a bottle warmer to keep pressure up in colder temperatures with propain. both are great anmd if i lived in, say florida all year long i would have kept my propain setup.

 

[Razor]

I'm biased sorry

 

[1badTTA]

All depends, there are too many variables to look at to say which is better overall.

If you have stock or undersized injectors or an inadequete fuel system, propane will provide you with better results.

If you have a hotair car or an inefficient intercooler, alky will be a better choice as it provides greater cooling.

For overall driveability Alky is currently the winner due to the progressive controllers that are available (hopefully this won't be a factor for long)

For ease of maintenance, propane is the hands down winner as there are no pumps to fail, nothing corrosive anywhere and the propane tank only needs to be filled 1/4 as often costing only $1.50 versus $2.50-$9.00+ depending on container size and type of alcohol used.

For setup, it is pretty much a tie since either can be setup pretty easy or can be a pain depending on how you want it.

Ease of tunability is a tossup also as it all depends on the kit and the car.

From experience, what do you think is a better setup overall as an octane booster/intake charge cooler? Alcohol or Propane injection?

Your question in itself is impossible to answer as propane is a better octane booster but alcohol is a better intake charge cooler.

 

[lrover2]

propane is a better octane booster but alcohol is a better intake charge cooler.

How about both?

 

[Red Regal T]

Small detail.........$150 vs $700

 

[1badTTA]

Originally posted by Red Regal T
Small detail.........$150 vs $700

Ain't that abour the biggest apples to oranges comparison I have ever seen. If someone tried to build their own DIY propane kit it would be alot closer and then you need to factor in that there is no controller for the DIY so you can add to the price to be a little more reasonable.

Sure Alky is cheaper up front, there is no arguement there, but get your facts straight John as you have already admitted that it would cost you $175-$200 to do the same thing now as you did for $150 years ago.

Also, the ProPain kit is only $599

 

[Red Regal T]

OK......what do you choose?........$175 or $600? Even if they do the same thing.........which I question. I know what my DIY kit does. It has no drawbacks at my present performance level which anyone could achieve. I'll let you know if I ever encounter a downside.

Methanol costs me $13.50 for a 5 gallon can. It takes about three months for me to go through it. I drive my car at least 2000 miles a month. That's 6000 miles of driving, activating my methanol injection at 9 lbs of boost, for a cost of $13.50. Seems to me, this cost is hardly a factor.

 

[1badTTA]

What I am saying is that the closest comparison to the OGS propane kit would probably be the SMC kit and then it is closer to $400 vs $600 and $7-$9/gal vs $1.29-$1.50/gal. That is an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Red Regal T]

You can call it what you want. Yes, $7 to $9 per gallon, if you choose to use denatured alcohol......$2.75 for Methanol. SMC or the propane doesn't have anything on my DIY kit except both systems cost substantially more.

 

[Razor]

Sounds like we're bickering over whats the best football team. And based on the question posed by Murdoc, there are a lot of variables. To which, RedRegalT cant really say since his car hasnt had propane, and 1BadTTA cant say since his car hasnt had alky. The only bickering I see is over $$$. And in the grand scheme of things..not really a lot.. a few hundred dollars..

So to get a real perspective, unless we had an unbiased person, who has run all the current systems and ideas to theyre limit, no way to tell.

ET wise there has been an advantage on alky on the Buicks, but at the same time, alky outnumbers propane same as the poll 10:1. Does it make propane bad, no. Does it mean alky makes a car faster, no. And there havent been any reported issues with the propane kits, cept the green wire deal months ago. Which is a testament to the quality of the kits.

Unless someone has both systems, tunes the car out on both systems, finds the limit of both, and says..car went max'd out on prone xyz..and went maxed out on alky xyz.. then there may be some basis. Then we're talking et instead of $$$.

Suggestion, do as much research as you can on all systems, look for your answers, and post specifics. But a blanket statement, which is better? doesnt go really far when both work to cyrb detonation in theyre own way.

Peace

 

[wh1-Denver]

Get Razor's progressive kit and be happy!

Unless you end toasting your tanny, frying the posi clutches, and melting your tires every time you give it more than 1/8th throttle.

So now I have a car on alky (aka Steroids) but can't get the power to the pavement.

All I can say is the kit was by far the best bang for buck mod I have done to my car!!!!!

My car is now addicted to alcohol and I am to acceleration once the tires stop spinning.

 

[EclipseTurbo]

Hi my name is EclipseTurbo and I am an octane addict.


I have used the OGS propain kit. But I am using DIY alky now.

The propain when tuned properly can be pretty quick.

but it has a few disadvantages:
- it does not have any cooling effect
- pressure is a problem in colder weather, but a heater solves this problem
- refill.. I have to refill it every two weeks, because once the pressure drops below XX PSI you do not get enough propane that you tuned for and it would start to knock. You don't run it until empty. Have to unbolt it from the car and take it to the store. However it's very cheap. ($2 fill up)
- I feel it is taking up a little bit of displacement in the engine.. especially precious in a 2.0L motor. The propane is an expanding gas and would take up some room. Maybe if my engine had more displacement I wouldn't care. I don't have good proof for this but all I can say is at the same boost level with propane, I cannot make the tire spin like I do with some race gas.
- overall weight of the setup is more. Mostly the tank.

But, I like the in-car controller for the propain, altho I use it at full blast, I use it to adjust turn on point.

I then sold the propane kit and wanted to make the car run on race gas all the time, but decided to give alky a try.

It does have some advantage that stands out:
- cools the air below ambient and that alone adds torque and HP
- easier to fill up, just open the trunk and pour.

The alky lets me raise boost some more beyond the propane could so far. I think it's due to the cooling effect, it really stablizes the mixture.

So this is all just my opinion. not a very in depth comparison. The propane does have some minor disadvantages IMO.. but both has been enhancing the performance when using pump gas.

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by wh1-Denver
Get Razor's progressive kit and be happy!



So now I have a car on alky (aka Steroids) but can't get the power to the pavement.

IT'S ALWAYS SOMETHIN'................