FAQ's for Alcohol Injection

**Speedlimit** · May 9, 2006, 03:40 PM

Thanks to Ultimate CC for posting this summary:

1. How does alcohol injection work?
By injecting a fine spray of alcohol into the inlet air stream of the engine you will both dramatically cool the charge air and raise the effective octane of the fuel. Both help to eliminate detonation-the enemy of any engine, especially those under boost with today's lower octane gas.

2. How much horsepower can I expect to gain?
That depends on the application...but it is common to see a 20-30% increase in HP from the added boost and/or timing you will be able to run. We have over 1,000 turbo Buick's running over 20 psi on pump gas....some running as high as 24 psi! We also have a Stage 4 WRX running 24 psi and over 400 HP on pump gas. We have seen evo's with the stock turbos making over 400whp using these kits!!!!!!

3. Is alcohol injection hard to use?
A good system will be fully automatic after it is installed. It should know when to spray and when to stop, and also offer tunability and monitoring of the system parameters. An "In-Car" controller is preferred. Even better is a "progressive" controller that will increase pump speed as boost increases.

4. Can alcohol injection damage my motor?
No-as long as the injection system is working properly, it can only do good things. It will tend to keep your plugs, valves, and combustion chambers very clean, since the alcohol will dissolve carbon buildup. The damage from ignoring detonation is a blown head gasket, broken piston, or worse.

5. What if it stops working?
Only a few higher-end injection systems offer a failsafe device to sense line pressure and not allow high boost unless the system is functioning properly. This is available on the SMC kits and is meant to be used with a factory or aftermarket boost control device.

6. What kind of alcohol do I use?
SMC recommends pure denatured alcohol. It is sold as a solvent in gallon cans and is available in any large home improvement store such as Lowe's or Home Depot. This is grain alcohol that has been poisoned with a bit of methanol to make it non-drinkable. You may also use methanol if you have a source for it.