Nitrous and the Rules, PCA, POC.

2.7RACER · 08-20-2005, 10:57 PM

Is there anyone who knows why Nitrous is not legal to use at PCA or POC events. We have a nitrous equipped 944S2 in our group that wants to participate in auto-crosses and DE's.
Upon checking PCA General Competition Rules and POC rules I noticed nitrous is specifically not allowed.
Our philosophy is to allow folks to run what they brung, as long as their cars are safe and we have some idea where to class them.
I'm afraid some folks have expressed displeasure at letting others run on the "bottle".
We have accomodated this car and the times "on bottle" vs. "off bottle" are running about 1 second difference on a 1.66 mile, 14 turn course. !:37's vs. 1:38's.
This with a capable experienced driver claiming about 60 to 70 HP boost with the bottle.
What are the issues for classing such a car? What should we look for as far as safety for the car, driver and the rest of us?
Thanks for your input,

ted · ted's Garage

I think it's not allowed for good reason.

Minor contact now is just that.
Combine that with a cracked nitrous line and a hot engine...
A nitrous fire is like a bomb followed by a flame thrower.
I think the crash crew would need fire proof suits, and quicker response times to be meaningful.

makaio · 08-21-2005, 01:16 PM

Nitrous doesn't burn by itself, it just increases the intensity of a fire. The scary part is the nitrous cylinder under pressure is a short range missle waiting to go off if damaged. But of course the same could be said about a fire suppression cylinder.

ted · ted's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by makaio
Nitrous doesn't burn by itself, it just increases the intensity of a fire.

True perhaps a more intense fire is a bad thing?
Agree, when I had it on a car I didn't like having the bottle in my car. Ever seen the damage from a leaky nitrous solenoid on engine start up, always hold your throttle full open just in case you do have a nitrous intake backfire.....

Google nitrous explosion or fire.

"It's highly flammable"
Wrong - nitrous itself is not flammable at all, it is however an oxidizing agent, which accelerates the combustion process. Spray petrol onto a pulsing spark plug and it will ignite. Do the same with nitrous and it won't do anything at all. Holding a lit match to the end of a nitrous line and releasing the gas will make the match burn brighter and quicker. It will not cause the tank to explode. If combustion is already present, ie. a vehicle already on fire, then it will have the same effect it does in the engine - a more volatile fire. There isn't really anything to worry about from a safety perspective (providing the system is fitted correctly).

2.7RACER · 08-23-2005, 08:40 AM

Thanks for your responses. Is anyone aware of any official position regarding nitrous and competition?

Eagledriver · 08-23-2005, 07:18 PM

It's up to the group and what rules they want to run. The easiest thing to do is to not allow it. If you are running with POC/PCA then it's already outlawed. If you want to let it into your group then classify it based on it's power to weight ratio. Bump it to the approprate class. If you make the bump punitive enough the person won't run with it anyway.

-Andy

2.7RACER · 08-23-2005, 07:32 PM

Thanks Eagledriver, out here in New Mexico we don't get huge turnouts like California or other more populated states. As a result we try to include as many enthusiasts as possible.
This nitrous thing seems to come with some baggage so I'm trying to understand as much as possible.
Thanks again,