VP fuels "M5"???

Hey all,i have a close friend who is considering the change to M5. Just wondering,what are the benefits of using it and what actual additive is incorporated into it??
Thanks guys!!!
Jason.

 

Thanks Mike!! A couple guys i know from here in Oz are over there at Bonniville at the moment, running a turbo charged,methanol bike.It ate an exhaust valve after a couple 198 mph runs and they were considering M5.
Good idea or not??
Thanks for the help!!
Jason.

 

m5 contains 5 percent nitro and vp says to lead nitro with timing.

 

is M5 legal in nhra alcohol classes?
do they sell it as an additive?
would just adding 5% nitro be the same?
Thanks in advance!
-Dennis

 

I thought we debunked the idea that there is nitro in it

 

the VP m-5 is NOT legal for nhra top alcohol classes, it wont pass fuel check because its has additives in it. and its NOT nitro. and dont worry what it is. if you are not a chemist why bother "making " your own fuel?

 

VP M-1 is the only legal VP Methanol for the Top Alky classes. Here's the link from VP site.

http://www.vpracingfuels.com/fuels_spec.asp

 

We ran M5 as primary fuel last season. About 10% richer than M3, more power, different smell, plugs look different. No problems.

The can had nitromethane warning labels, but as said and saw one VP guy post that additive is not straight nitromethane (CH3NO2), but with others (nitropropane?, C3H7NO2) etc.

 

It was my understanding that it contained nitroparrafins (simalar to nitro but different) but due to the increase in vaporization it did not slow the burn rate the way nitro does, making it easier to control cylinder pressures and generally running safely with the same timing as straight alky. Just add 10% additional fuel and go from there.

Richard Gavle

 

how much less timing andhow much more fuel do you have to run with m5 and how much more a drum than regular vp

 

M5

What would switching from Pure methanol to the M5 do if you were running a program like Jetsize? Would would it make that program less accurate or useless all together?

Corey

 

Nitromethane is a nitroparaffin , aka nitroalkane. One of them.

http://www.dow.com/angus/prod/nitroparaffins.htm

As I said, the drum had Nitromethane hazard labels on it, so the mix of additives should fit in the class.

Or maybe VP just had a "Nitromethane" stamp handy!

 

After doing some more reading I really don't see where there is a conflict in what I said,

It was my understanding that it contained nitroparrafins (simalar to nitro but different)


Taken from VPs website,

Q. Does M5 contain Nitromethane?

A. M5 contains nitroparaffins, which are relatives of nitromethane in the same chemical family.

I guess I should have said other nitroparrafins simalar to nitro but different, but anyway thanks for the post making it more clear. My main point was that it did not burn slower so it would not be a good idea to throw extra timing at it.

Mikes recommendation to pull a few is probably a safe approach particularly till you get the exact fuel enrichment dialed in.

Richard Gavle

 

Richard, just wanted to elaborate, not prove anybody wrong. Nitroparaffin is a generic term, like "alcohol". Ethanol, methanol, propanol are all alcohols.

One other source said that M5 contains mix of nitroethane and nitropropane, not nitromethane. But since they are same family (nitroparaffin) and % is not that big anyway, it's not that important.

 

Hello Partel,

No offense taken, it was a little early in the morning. I appreciate the link and the information, as its helped improve my knowlege (or lack thereof ) on the subject.


Richard Gavle

 

not nitro

the M-3 and M-5 methanol available from VP containes MTBE, an oxygentating chemical additive that is HIGHLY TOXIC and does make more power. This used to be common additive in unleaded gasoline. There were some NHRA top alcohol racers who added this to thier fuel a few years back and were caught. It is NOT LEGAL in TAFC or TAD and is not detectable at the standard fuel check. It is colorless, and mixes perfectly with the methanol. It evaporates very quickly and some of the teams using it would immediately open the fuel cap after a run to allow it to evaporate out of the tank. It can only be detected in a lab test which is cost prohibitave to NHRA to perform at regular fuel check. Some people think that certain A-Fuel teams are using it to cut thier nitro percentage instead of pure methanol therby giving them an advantage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_tert-butyl_ether