Combustion is between oxygen and fuel. The ratio of the two determines whether a mixture is best horsepower, best torque, rich, moderate, or lean. Air to fuel ratio (AFR), the basis for tuning with ProCalc, combines the weight of the air and the weight of the fuel. The air is only 23% oxygen by weight. The remainder of air is essentially inert to horsepower making combustion.
Methanol is a combination of combustion-making compounds, carbon/nitrogen/hydrogen, and oxygen. The oxygen to fuel ratio (OFR) combines the the oxygen from the air with the oxygen from methanol. That is ratio’d with the combustion making compounds.
The air to fuel ratio (AFR) and the oxygen to fuel ratio (OFR) are in proportion for straight methanol. Nitro has a different amount of oxygen. The amount of oxygen in a nitro-methanol mixture is more complicated. It is a function of several items:
- air density
- amount of air intake
- nitro-methanol mixture ratio
- amount of fuel to the motor.
The oxygen to fuel ratio (OFR) takes all of these into account for a single numerical rating of the tune-up. As the air density changes, the tuner can adjust one of the others, in exact proportion, to hit a target oxygen to fuel ratio. The result:
- a simple determination, ahead of time, of a tune-up to best avoid engine damage
- a powerful tool to develop maximum power around the maximum OFR ratio.
More results will follow.