Scoring is on a scale of 1 to 5
PERFORMANCE: * * * *
PRICE: * * * * *
OVERALL RATING: * * * * 1/2
About 2 weeks ago, a
new product called NITRO BLAST hit the market. They claimed that it increases
power, decreases engine temperature, increases RPM, decreases idle, increases
fuel economy, and decreases smoke and noise. Any product that claims all this
is a definite one on our "products to be tested" list. Much to our surprise,
there were no false claims made by NITRO BLAST. We were able to turn our idle
down to normally unreachable settings, so we gained some power there. The
engine also ran quite a bit cooler, so we leaned it out more and got even more
power. RPM's were noticeably increased, so we got some more top end speed.
Finally, there was much less smoke and noise. This doesn't increase power or
speed, but it's always nice to have a quiet, non-smoking car.
After doing
hours of testing, we decided that it was time to test in a race. We ended up
decreasing our lap times by just under a second a lap on a normal 24 second
lap. Although this may not sound like much, in a 6 minute race you will gain
another lap, or close to one. Anything that will gain you that much is
definitely worth getting, and at a price of about $7 for enough to mix up one
gallon, you can't beat it!
Scoring is on a scale of 1 to 5
OVERALL RATING: * * * * 1/2
Our test area was the smooth Commissary parking lot in San Francisco's
Presidio. For starters I warmed up the Mini with regular Blue Thunder 20%.
After zipping it back and forth a couple of times the engine flamed out after
about 7 minutes of driving. I verified I couldn't pull start it again, and let
the engine cool for a bit. I ran the rest of the fuel through on the second run
and then added the Nitro Blast enhanced fuel. For our test fuel we emptied the
Nitro Blast sample in a brand new bottle of Blue Thunder 20%, shook it up
vigorously and poured it into the Mini. I gave the pull-start a couple of tugs
and we were off and rolling again. Instantly, I noticed a definitely smoother
sounding engine. I really wanted to give Nitro Blast a run for it's money so I
didn't hold back. It was full throttle all the way with the Mini zipping this
way and that. After 5 minutes our test run almost came to an abrupt end, with a
Toyota Corolla coming to a dead stop as I skidded the Mini right under it's
front end. What a sigh of relief to see the Mini in all its 3D glory as the
Toyota slowly rolled forward :) With the lot clear, I zipped it around a few
more times and brought it back in. This is when I noticed that I couldn't keep
the Mini still. To compensate for the reduced friction and smoother engine
operation, I had to readjust my carb settings to lower the idling. At times the
engine did flame out, mostly due to improper carb settings, and my harsh
testing runs of 30 to 60 seconds of continuous full throttle runs, followed by
half throttle and then more full throttle runs. But in each case it was
definitely easier, and in most cases not a problem to restart the engine hot.
Our testing was done over 2 days and on the second day Nitro Blast was even
more impressive. The carb was adjusted right at this point and the engine just
seemed to want to idle for days even after some extended full throttle runs.
The only thing that kept this car from continuing were the bolts that kept
coming loose on the can muffler.
For the racer, in my opinion Nitro Blast
can only help enhance your driving experience. For the everyday parking lot,
backyard basher Nitro Blast can only make your outings more enjoyable with less
engine problems. And, at about $8.00 for a gallon treatment you just can't go
wrong.
Nitro Blast is a company that is not
very well known. They have introduced a few products aimed mainly at the nitro
and gas crowd that claims to increase performance and life of your engines. I
got a hold of a container of their X1 Diff & Gear Grease and decided to
give it a try in my Nitro Quake. If you remember from my Nitro Quake review,
moisture seaped into the rear diff housing and the diff gears started to rust.
What better way to test Nitro Blast's products then in a harsh environment then
this?
I opened up the small container of X1 and was surprised to see it
packed full of grease, much more then you normally see when you buy diff
grease. With this much grease you shouldn't have to buy a replacement for a
couple years!
I took a pretty good dab of the grease and spread in on the
Nitro Quake's ring and pinion gears. I reassembled the case and pretty much
forgot about it until I needed to tear it down again to install a center Torsen
unit. Since it was at lease 10 tank full of gas I'd run through it since I put
on the X1 grease, I figured it was time to dig deeper to see how it held up. To
my surprise the grease was still in place.
Sure, the gears had squeezed it
out so some of it on the diff hub itself, but if you look closely at the top
half of the diff case you will see that none of the X1 grease was flung off of
the gears. Pretty impressive since this Nitro Quake gets a beating. Further
inspection revealed that no new rust had appeared on any of the gears and I
didn't even have to regrease. All I can say is if you are looking for a gear
grease that "hangs tough" then you have to consider Nitro Blast's X1 Diff &
Gear Grease the next time you head to the hobby shop.
Reviewed by:
Michael
Luvara RCU Member: Mluvara mluvara@earthlink.net
Click here to see Michael's review
P R O D
U C T I N F O R M A T I O N
Every so often in the R/C Hobby, we come across
new products aimed at improving performance of our aircraft. From radios to
engines, there's always a product claiming to better something. Nitro Blast is a new high performance engine
additive aimed at improving fuel economy and improving engine performance by
reducing friction and temperatures. Let's take a look at Nitro Blast and the results that we obtained to see
if it lives up to its claims. It was elected to use an old tried and true motor
for the RCUniverse test of Nitro Blast. A 3
year old OS 46 FX motor with probably 75 hours of run time and many gallons of
fuel through it fit the bill well. Furthermore, since data had been taken on
this particular motor in the past and a baseline was established, any
noticeable differences could be substantiated easily. To measure the changes in
the aircraft and engine's performance, a real time telemetry unit was utilized
that would allow monitoring and recording of flight and engine data to be
compared as needed. While the aircraft was on the ground and in the air, live
monitoring via a laptop was possible to examine the trends and results. In
particular, we were interested in engine RPM, Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT),
and Cylinder Head Temperature (CHT). Additionally, data for Indicated Airspeed
(IAS, altitude and G forces were recorded. Notes were taken for the ambient
temperature and other atmospheric conditions of the day to help further
substantiate the data. Spot checks were also made with a Fluke Thermocouple
meter to back up our telemetry measurements.
OS 46FX ENGINE TEMPERATURE
PROBES RPM COMPONENTS AMBIENT TEMP Adding Nitro
Blast to the fuel INSTRUCTION MANUAL: Instructions for Nitro Blast are on a single 8.5" x 11" sheet of
paper. They include a basic explanation of how the additive works, and how to
treat an engine on the first three tanks of fuel. Complete instructions:
Nitroblast Instructions Procedures for treating one's engine with Nitro Blast is relatively simple. You first add the
1oz bottle of Nitro Blast to a full gallon
of fuel and then condition the engine over the next three tanks of fuel.
Moreover, the claim is made that one can transition the needle further in after
each run of Nitro Blast during the initial
few runs, resulting in better fuel economy. Below is a summary of points made
by Nitroblast's instructions. Tank #1: Run the engine slightly rich and towards
the end of the tank, lean it out a couple of clicks. Refuel and run the engine
again (No need to let it cool). Tank #2: Run engine with leaner setting than
tank #1. After tank #2, engine's idle setting will need to be readjusted.
Finish tank #2 with variable throttle settings. Tank #3: With fuel tank full,
go run the engine again - no need to let it cool in between runs.
R E S U L
T S STOCK RPM STOCK CHT TEST DATA:
Even though data existed on this motor
prior to the test, a baseline was taken with untreated fuel on the day Nitro Blast was mixed with the fuel. For this test,
15% Powermaster fuel was used and the results could and probably will vary by
fuel type. Some statistics derived from historical data (before treatment):
AVERAGE IN-FLIGHT RPM: 13,700-14,100 AVERAGE IN-FLIGHT EGT: 478 deg F AVERAGE
IN-FLIGHT CHT: 322 deg F HIGHEST PEAK RPM: 16,200 To the left is some baseline
data taken from the day of the test before treatment was applied. It is
important to note that the engine was running slightly rich for this run,
therefore RPM and temperature values are low. The EGT probe also became loose
during flight and data was discarded. AVERAGE CHT: 282 deg F AVERAGE RPM:
14,026 Once Nitro Blast was added to the
fuel, further flights were made (total of 9) with variable engine settings.
Some flights were richer or leaner than others. Rather than present all of the
data to the reader for interpretation, it has been summarized into the
following table. An important note - all average data was comprised of 300
samples (approximately 25 seconds) taken from normal flight at about 1 1/2
minutes into the flight with the exception of the peaks which are taken from
the highest seen for each flight. Wherever 300 consistent data points were not
available (engine throttled back, aerobatics, etc), the data was taken from 200
or more. The peaks were made by diving the aircraft at full throttle from an
altitude of approximately 500ft. All temperatures are in Degrees Fahrenheit
(F), and IAS (Indicated Airspeed) in miles per hour (MPH). Flight # Engine RPM
(Average) Engine RPM (Peak) CHT (Average)(Deg F) EGT (Average) (Deg F) Peak IAS
(mph) Ambient Temperature (Deg F) 1* 14,026 15720 282 N/A (1) 111 65 2 14,245
15,625 324 458 107 68 3 13,970 15,767 340 469 116 69 4 13,925 14,775 322 472 91
68 5 14,192 15,515 325 476 113 70 6 13,846 15,421 323 464 104 69 7 14,105
16,586 320 445 121 68 8 14,066 15,877 331 471 116 72 9 14,240 15,452 360 449
115 75 10(2) 13,599 14,491 395 471 87 83 * - Untreated fuel, engine rich 1 -
EGT probe loose, no data available 2 - Engine lean and no dive made for peak
values Note: Peak IAS (indicated airspeed) values will vary depending on
severity of dive on the particular flight and head/tail winds during that time.
Flight 6 RPM LET'S LOOK AT THE DATA CLOSER: To the left is more flight data
extracted from testing. In particular, we have chosen to look at flight #6 with
the Nitro Blast treatment in the fuel.
Several dives were made to speed up the engine, along with varying the RPM at
times during flight. These occurrences can be seen from the graphs. Flight 6
Temperatures HIGH-G's: One known characteristic of this particular aircraft and
engine was that the motor had a tendency to sag and drop rpm noticeably during
high-G maneuvers. This all changed after Nitro
Blast was introduced to the fuel. As can be seen in the graphs below
(from flight 6) and to the right, severe G's were applied to the aircraft after
an extended dive and the engine's rpm didn't drop much at all! Looking around
3.45 minutes into the flight, one can see the aircraft at diving peak speed
(~118mph) just before high G's where applied. CHT was dropping because of
airflow over the cylinder head, EGT rising because the motor was working harder
and RPM peaked. Shortly after, the hard pull was made and the engine quickly
regained RPM back to normal operation. This is a complete change from previous
runs with stock fuel and it is still quite amazing that the engine runs as well
as it does when subjected to extreme flight. High-G Pull After Extended Dive
Indicated Airspeed (IAS) and Altitude During Dive & High-G Pull Engine RPM
and Temperatures During Dive & High-G Pull
LAST FLIGHT: After 8 flights
with treatment, it was decided to run the engine leaner than before.
Unfortunately, the needle was leaned out too far and the engine was running
hot. The results are shown to the right for reference. Several days after the
flights were completed, the engine was started to take some new ground
reference measurements. Upon advancing the engine to full throttle, the engine
was running pretty rich. To peak the motor, it required approximately 3/16 of a
turn in and peak rpm on the ground was near 14,100 rpm! This was a number never
before seen on the ground and no changes had been made to the aircraft's needle
valve or fuel since the last run. Obviously, Nitro
Blast made a difference here. Of note is that in the instructions,
it states that running the engine hotter will help Nitro Blast treat the motor. Perhaps the last
hot-running flight helped the motor like it is claimed? Certainly, the engine
had never run that well before... Last flight, RPM Last flight, Temperatures
IDLE: One of the more pronounced changes in the engine was a lower idle. Prior
to treatment (below) the minimum idle was around 2300 rpm. After treatment
(right), it reduced to approximately 2000 rpm and even had a distinctively
different sound. Idle RPM (Un-treated) Idle RPM (Treated) CHANGES IN THE
ENGINE: I'll wholeheartedly admit that I was skeptical as to if Nitro Blast would change the running performance of
the motor at hand. Quite surprisingly, there were noticeable changes and
they were ones that the manufacturer claimed. They included a significantly
lower idle, improved engine performance in the air, and easier starting when
hot! For example, take the G force data and engine idle discussed above. The
data shows the engine sustain rpm in a high-G turn and that the engine had a
lower idle. Obviously, the results seen were over a short period of time and it
would be interesting to see what happens over time with this additive.
CONCLUSION: Overall, I would say the claims made by Nitro Blast on their website and written
documentation are representative of the product. Nitro
Blast did show some performance enhancements for our tested engine.
These included a lower idle, about the same or cooler running, easier starting
when hot, and a slight increase in RPM. Fuel economy couldn't be accurately
judged because a fuel flow meter was not available for testing, however the
needle valve may be further in than when we started testing. The most
noticeable changes were in the engine's lower idling ability and starting when
hot. However, the cost difference between an additional $7.95 per gallon and
increased fuel economy may or may not fit the bill for everyone. If you want a
lower idle and a slightly cooler running motor with some extra RPM and other
performance benefits, then Nitroblast may be the solution for you. Note: The
engine treatment is not permanent and will wear off after use without it.
Within three tanks of non-treated fuel, it will return to its previous
performance level. The tests presented here were run on one engine and with one
type of fuel. Results may vary with differing setups.Lower Idle: Increased RPM:
Lower Temperatures: Increased Fuel Economy: Easier Starting: Price: Packaging:
Good instructions Lowered idle Saw slight performance increase Engine easier to
start when warm Bottle serves as handy primer bottle after treatment emptied
into fuel
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