Grant Fischer Ms. Knabel English 4 9 February 2018 How Nitrous Oxide Improves an Engines Performance In the beginning, cars were simply used as a means of transportation. They were used to take us from one place to another. But as time moved on, people wanted to push their cars and see how fast they could go. This is where nitrous oxide came into play. Although some are hesitant to use Nitrous Oxide, when used properly it can greatly increase engine performance. No matter what we are doing, as humans, we always want to be the best. And when it came to the automobile, it was all about who was the fastest. People were finding creative ways to improve their cars performance output, and this is where nitrous came into play. “Racers dabbled with …show more content…
“Simply put, Nitrous (N2O) creates large amounts of horsepower by creating more oxygen in the engines combustion chamber while simultaneously introducing additional fuel. The added oxygen allows the additional fuel to burn which creates increased horsepower for short bursts of torque and speed. In applications for vehicle racing, nitrous oxide (often referred to as just "nitrous") allows the engine to burn more fuel by providing more oxygen than air alone, resulting in a more powerful combustion” (Auto Gearhead). The reason it is good that nitrous puts more oxygen into the combustion chamber is because it in turn allows the car to put more fuel in it also. You see, vehicles must maintain a equal mixture of fuel and air. If it has a excess of fuel, then it is considered to be running “rich.” And if it has too little fuel, then it is running “lean.” So in order to get more power out of an engine, you need to be able in inject more fuel into it. But you can’t simply turn up the fuel injectors because then your car will run very rich. Also, there is no such thing as a “air injector”, and this is where nitrous comes into play. Nitrous allows a car to inject a lot more fuel into the engine without it running lean, and that is because of the nitrous equalizing the fuel/air ratio by cramming oxygen into the engine. “When you heat nitrous oxide to about 570 degrees F (~300 C), it …show more content…
Well that's true, they have many micro combustions and many components rubbing together. But the crazy thing about engines is that they like the cold, allow me to explain. Cold air has one very important thing that makes it superior to warm air, and that is how dense it is. “Cooler air is more dense than warmer air. Warm air can actually hold more moisture because molecules are farther apart, making more room for moisture. Cold air is dense and compact; it's "thicker," so when you breathe in you get more oxygen” (journey North). In this quote, they are referencing how colder air is better for humans when it comes to breathing, but this same idea applies to cars. The cooler the air, the more oxygen dense it is, and in turn, the more fuel you can mix into and engine. “When it vaporizes, nitrous oxide provides a significant cooling effect on the intake air. When you reduce the intake air temperature, you increase the air's density, and this provides even more oxygen inside the cylinder” (howstuffworks.com). Although this is a unplanned effect, it is a great bonus that simply backs my stand on how great nitrous is when it comes to engine