Well, finally decided, after many months studying solutions, results from other LNF/kappa -
my next step of power increase will be through nitrous. For the moment I will try use a 50hp wet shot, if everything goes as planned I will test the increase of power on dyno and on the track in this weekend.
If the results of tests are positive the big plan is to upgrade the internals (rods, pistons, gasket, arp head studs and valve springs) and build a complete wet direct port system for next year with all features possible for safety and efficiency (window switch, throttle reader, progressive controller, bottle warmer, fuel pressure safety switch, purge kit, etc) and push over 100hp shot.
Maybe some of you think this is strange, I thought same in the beginning, the idea to have 2 charging systems on a engine is not something which I would vote for, for me if the engine is turbo, develop the turbo system in order for bigger power. But after many months while I was reading tons of info, speaking with local successful tuners and modified cars owners, speaking with experienced guys from US in particular about my case, I have decided that nitrous is best solution for my case.
Some advantages for nitrous system versus other systems:
1)
Engine remains completely in same configuration, in the case of a shot of under 100hp, the only changes which are brought to the engine might be the colder spark plugs and maybe retard the timing a bit.
So the car remains same as fun on street as it is until now, because no mods will be made to the engine so the possibility to get into unknown waters like a turbo kit is lower.
2)
Best price per power gains and also a nitrous system allows to modify the power increase from 15-500hp with only maximum of hundreds of dollars. Switching from 75 to 100 or 150 or even 200hp gains needs only replacement of some nozzles and maybe changing the position of the fogger.
3) It's a great power adder and a very good balancer, what does that mean?
Great power adder: it adds same exact power all the time if you have a good kit and supportive features to keep the nitrous and fuel pressure constant. So no spikes or any other "surprises" which can happen far more often in other charging solutions.
Balancer: Even the power is increased, so more pressure in the cylinder, nitrous has one of the greatest cooling effects for the air getting into the engine so it minimizes the knock and combined with a parallel gas tank (filled with race gas or methanol) the system can be almost bulletproof in terms of knock when high numbers are aimed, a small parallel gas tank (with its own fuel pump) which can easily be used because nitrous is a parallel system with the engine.
Normally when power increase there are some aspects which are becoming problematic, mostly when the increase is more than 100hp in our engines:
- pressure increase which can be fixed by retard the timing
- detonations which can be solved by colder and shorter gaps of the spark plugs
- hotter EGT which can be fixed with bigger fuel nozzle so the mix coming from nitrous system makes the AFR a little bit richer without stressing the lnf fuel system when a parallel fuel tank is used.
- knock which can be solved using race gas or methanol instead of the normal fuel in the nitrous system
Basically, theoretically the rule about the juiced engine is that it should perform in almost same conditions with or without nitrous.
Some disadvantages of the nitrous, I don't have problems with them:
1) I have to pay for each fill of the bottle, something like 25-50$ for a 15lbs bottle which in case of a under 100hp shot can hold me 10 runs maybe even more
2) It is advisable to use it only at the strip, that is very fine for me, I gave up on street racing for about a year and actual power on street is enough for me
3) You can ran out of nitrous and that means no more power increase, I plan to have 2 bottles when going to races so I should be covered
The power is in the knowledge like always. So if everything is taking care the system should perform, stock LNF proved that can be reliable on a power increase (up to 450bhp) if the increase of power has no issues. Greaseyjockey did an experiment back in 2008 with a lot less resources that we have now and pushed his stock LNF engine to see how it would hold:
i started with a 75 single nozzle in the cold side charge pipe. worked fine. i then put a purge solenoid to the intercooler and moved to a 100 direct port shot. i popped 4 holes in the intake mani, tapped into the schrader on the fuel line leading to the mechanical pump and sprayed away. then in 50 horse increments, i worked up to a 200 shot. (lemme tell you what, 24lbs of boost and the spray make this thing a monster, i cannot wait till hptuners finishes that thing). now before you people all call me crazy, let me tell you that i was scheduled to go in for surgery in sept and knew i was going to have the winter away from work to play a little while i healed. so i got the monster jets out and figured a 300 shot would probly tell me where the weak point of this motor was. and it did. i'm figuring it took about 600 horse (260 stock, plus mods and boost, and 300 from n2o) before she let loose but heres the result.
Full story:
http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f63/engine-build-41759/There is a guy around here too which using a 50hp shot on a LNF kappa for many months without problems as far as I am aware of, petty he is not active, last time when I talked with him he was planing to upgrade for a 75hp shot.
I'm not worried about the engine not holding, I'm sure stock LNF engine can hold safely a 50-75hp shot, I'm more concerned about details like:
- nitrous pressure
- limiting the rpm range when sprayed
- detonations and finding spark plugs to perform good
- nitrous-fuel mix to keep almost same general AFR
I do this with the help of my friend with Opel Speedster who used this systems back in 2007-2008 for many 35-50 shots on stock 200hp engine, he opened the engine to upgrade it and his internals were perfect conditions even his engine is by far weaker and older (Z20LET) than LNF. I have also one of the best electricians around here to do the wiring and also I will have a greek tuner helping me with the tests on his dyno, he owned many highly tuned cars, one being Honda S2000 with turbo and nitrous and he succeed to blew 3 engines, but that happened many years ago (3-7 years) when I'm sure he was lacking many things which we have now.
Installation is almost complete, I use a NX system using a button and I hope tomorrow we will start the tests on dyno, we will have spark plugs on stock and we will start with the smallest shot which we have nozzles, something like 15hp shot and check everything and I will monitor using HP Tuners.
If everything turns out correctly (knock, afr, egt, fuel pressure on the engine, spark plugs checked after each run) we will step to a 35hp shot and re-do all tests and than 50hp shot.
I don't aim power gains in this point, being new territory for me,
all I care in this point is to have a properly working system, reliable and perfect functions parameters.A nice article for those interested in more info about nitrous system:
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techarticles/0802ch_nitrous_oxide_systems/index.htmlGreat details about nitrous and how to make it as good as possible:
http://www.nitrous.info/
