Quote:

Ummm, no - not in a spark ignited (Otto cycle) engine, friend. What you are speaking of is running alcohol in a diesel cycle.



ummm, yes - heard of the term direct injection? This is being developed for both gasoline and diesel engines and is being used by more and more major manufacturers every day. One of the main development testbeds for this technology was the audi R8 LMP1 car. They have since then expanded the technology to many production cars, as have other brands.

Also, as far as the main disussion goes, ethanol does not have near the stored energy that gasoline has. The performance benefit with forced induction is because of the ease with which ethanol can gain high octane ratings. Now for some more drawbacks. Ethanol has a tendency to attract water into the fuel system and also will eat up most stock fuel delivery systems that have not initially been designed for it. However, I am very much pro-ethanol as long as the research and development time is spent to make it a more viable option than it currently is. The potential is there it has simply not been realized yet.

99 csvt 68 cuda fastback 340 00 gp gtp (wife) 01 gs500