Nitrous 101

[dive!dive!]

Right then folks. This is a bit of a thought experiment at this point so bear with me. I'm contemplating spraying my motor. Its a 1776 125-130 FWHP in a Beetle, weekend summer fun car, drives very nice indeed. It would be nice to have a bit more power on occasion. I've thought about building a bigger motor, and also thought about a turbo but not sure I want the hassle of the turbo. So back to nitrous. I am quite aware of the potential risks involved in going down this route, but hopefully I can mitigate a lot of them as the car is full EFI and I have nitrous control options on the ECU. I would probably go for one of the Wizards of  NOS wet systems with a nozzle in each port. Maybe a 50 shot to start to see how things go.
Not having seen or been in a nitrous car I have a very basic question for you guys that run it : once its armed and assuming its triggered by the TPS , do you use it in all 4 gears  or deploy it only when you've got the car moving ? I could imagine it would be a bit brutal in 1st....
Interested in the answer here and any pointers to other info would be great - are there 'must have' or 'must do' things if I go down this route ?
Thanks!
Steve

[Jesse Wens]

Hey,

I installed a WON kit last year on my 1600 fastback.
I don't have EFI so I used a seperate fuel system and the crossflow nozzles in each runner.
I installed the nozzles low in the type 3 IDF manifolds and for my streetengine this seems to work.
I have seen them installed high up in the airhornes and maybe this is better for high rpm. Maybe somebody else has more experience.
I started with the 25 hp jets and had one chance to race and test.
With the 25 hp jets I just used a button on the steeringwheel and used it in second gear first. I dont have Lambda measurement so trying to feel if it was ok.
I played around with the fuel delay. Nitrous has more pressure so comes out first. This is probably not an issue with EFI.
Next I started with the Nitrous in first gear. Traction never was a real issue but now first gear was all wheelspin.(165 tires) I actually ran slower that run.
At the end of the weekend I was using the 25 hp shot without lifting through the gears.
The basics are there. Next year I want a throttle switch, lambda measurement and bigger jets to see how far I can take this.
I'll probably put on some decent 185 rubber on it aswell.
So, nothing spectacular but I hope it helpes.
All here to learn right?

[dive!dive!]

Thanks.... beginning to wonder if I was talking to myself in here - 300+views and until now no response.... :-)

[richie]

50hp shot will be quite a lot, on the road i wouldn't use it in 1st gear as it will just over power tyres & more likely to wheelhop and damage gearbox/axles  , even in 2nd unless its really dry road and decent tyres it will most likely overpower them, but it will be a lot of fun I would use ECU to progressively bring power in to help smooth it out and give everything a chance

cheers Richie

[AZOfftheWall]

I have an old NOS system on my car, for drag racing 2nd, 3rd and fourth gear, i would not use it without lifting EVER even with a rev limiter. On the street 2nd is iffy at best, car usually spins the tires. My kit has fogger nozzles mounted in the manifolds (IDF's) just below the center, started with the largest jets in the kit (+50hp) and drilled them out, probably a 75hp gain. Turned a 14 sec car into a low 12 sec car, motor is 9:1, forged pistons, VW rods with chromoly bolts, polished beams and lightened on the big end & an old weld counter weighted crank and big valve heads, recently changed the heads to 42x37.5, can't wait to try it out with those.