> Contrary to one netters opinion, alcohol burns longer than > regular gasoline, and produces more BTU's, and ultimately more > horsepower. That is why alcohol dragsters are a HIGHER class of > racing then 100 octane racers are; they are faster. >Colin Rainey ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following is from Mother Earth magazine. There seems to be a conflict of fact / opinion here. Larry Flesner http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me1.html HEAT VALUE The heating value of a fuel is a measure of how much energy we can get from it on a per-unit basis, be it pounds or gallons. When comparing alcohol to gasoline using this "measuring stick", it's obvious that ethanol contains only about 63% of the energy that gasoline does ... mainly because of the presence of oxygen in the alcohol's structure. But since alcohol undergoes different changes as it's vaporized and compressed in an engine, the outright heating value of the ethanol isn't as important when it's used as a motor fuel. The fact that there's oxygen in the alcohol's structure also means that this fuel will naturally be "leaner" in comparison to gasoline fuel without making any changes to the jets in the carburetor. This is one reason why we must enrich the air/fuel mixture (add more fuel) when burning alcohol by increasing the size of the jets, which we'll discuss further in another section.
