Introduction:
NOS (N2O) is an abbreviation of Nitrous Oxide Systems. For the engine, Nitrous Oxide, sometimes also called laughing gas, is a purer form of normal air. Because we are only interested in the oxygen in the air, Nitrous Oxide is a simple way to increase the amount of oxygen in order to get more horsepower. The extra power always comes from additional fuel. Nitrous Oxide is not a fuel. Nitrous Oxide is an easier way to get more oxygen, which is needed to burn more fuel. When Nitrous Oxide is supplied to the engine, combustion is accelerated. Nitrous Oxide only ensures that larger quantities of fuel can be burned in the same amount of time. The overall effect is a substantial increase in engine power.
History of NOS systems:
You might not think so, but the use of Nitrous Oxide in engines dates back to the Second World War. The Allies used it in their airplanes to have extra power on hand in times of emergency so that the aircraft could fly faster and climb to higher altitudes. With the advent of jet engines, interest declined. In the seventies, interest in it returned, but now in racing. Since then it has never disappeared. In the beginning these were fairly makeshift systems where quite a few things went wrong. But thanks to companies such as Nitrous Oxide Systems (NOS) and Nitrous X-press, the product has been further developed so that safety has improved significantly compared to the past.
During the 1950s, the famous stock-car racer ‘Smokey Yunick’ rediscovered nitrous injection as one of his many tricks to win races, until it was discovered and banned by NASCAR. Nevertheless, over the years various scandals have come to light within NASCAR involving the abuse of nitrous, and it is likely that to this day it is still used by the slowest among the racers. In the late seventies and early eighties, nitrous was discovered by street racers.
Dry and Wet systems
There are 2 different types of Nitrous systems: the Dry and Wet systems.
- Dry System: There is the most confusion about the “dry” system. A “dry” Nitrous system simply means that the required fuel is supplied by the standard injectors. The upper part of the intake manifold remains dry (no fuel). This is achieved by two methods. First, the pressure is increased by supplying Nitrous when the system is activated. This results in an increase in fuel flow. The second way of supplying the required fuel is by extending the time that the injectors remain open. This is done by changing what the computer “sees”; forcing the computer to add the required fuel. Now that there is enough fuel, the extra fuel can be burned with the help of the Nitrous and thus provide more power.
- Wet System: The second type of Nitrous kit is a “wet” system. The kit delivers Nitrous and fuel at the same time. This system wets the upper part of the intake manifold with fuel. This system is recommended for turbo/supercharged engines.
