Nitrous Oxide

Bond: "Nitrous oxide on a Herald? You're joking!"
Q: "I never joke about my work double-oh-seven."

Nitrous-oxide (N₂O) was discovered by an Englishman named Joseph Priestly in 1772. The "laughing gas" he discovered is still used as an anesthetic today. During the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force used N₂O to boost the performance of the aircraft engines on their Spitfire interceptors to counter the German air threat. After the war some enterprising veterans experimented with nitrous on their hot-rods. Nitrous oxide gives more horsepower per dollar than any other performance modification you can make to your vehicle.

Nitrous oxide works so well because it is 33% oxygen compared to ordinary air, which is approximately 21% oxygen. Acting like a chemical supercharger, injecting nitrous oxide into an engine increased the amount of oxygen available to burn and thus the amount of power generated. Because nitrous is stored in liquid state it comes out of its tank cold. This increases the density of the intake air even further.

Injected nitrous into an engine without adding additional fuel will result in an ultra lean condition. This will quickly lead to detonation, which will melt pistons and blow head gaskets. Most nitrous systems consist of an adapter plate which sits between the throttle and the intake manifold. The adapter plate contains a gasoline jet and a nitrous jet, which are controlled by a pair of solenoid valves. When the valves open they spray a controlled mixture into the intake. The amount of horsepower generated is determined by the size of the jets. An arming switch turns the system on, and a wide open throttle switch under the gas pedal opens the valves for an instant boost at any speed or RPM.

Since I have electronic (throttle body) fuel injection on my Triumph Herald my nitrous system will be a "dry system" which has only a nitrous jet. The additional fuel will be provided on demand by the existing fuel injector, simplifying the installation.

by Erik "Iceman" Quackenbush