Snow Performance Stage 3 Boost Cooler Water/Methanol Injection - Tech - Modified Magazine

Description
Turbocharged engines love cold, dense and detonation-free intake charges, but providing those optimal conditions can be a bit of a challenge in the real world - especially when race gas can cost upward of $10 a gallon. Therefore, for most of us, pump gas has to suffice. Problem is, the lower octane levels prevent us from extracting every last ounce of power from our motors, so we go about our business making due with what power we extract from pump gas. There is, however, a much less costly solution to extracting race gas-like numbers from your turbocharged engine, and it comes in the form of methanol injection.

Methanol is rated at about 116 octane, so injecting it into your intake tract will raise the effective octane level and increase detonation resistance in your fuel. (Not to mention the added benefit of cooling your pressurized charge.) Methanol is usually distilled with water (50/50) to reduce flammability (methanol has a flash point of 140 degrees Fahrenheit - when mixed with water, it increases to approximately 650 degrees). It also makes it easier to tune because the air/fuel ratio won't be affected as much, and it's much more cost effective - on average, a gallon of meth/water injection would cost you $1.50, yet the mixture still retains the same knock-resistant, high-octane cooling properties that your engine so badly longs for.

The Stage 3 Gasoline MPG MAX Boost Cooler kit from Snow Performance offers a safe and reliable method of injecting the water/meth into your engine. The key is the system's accurate and adjustable settings with an LCD controller that when set up properly provide ample power gains, with no detrimental effects.

Snow Performance also offers a SafeInjection box that can be added onto the Boost Cooler system to reduce boost and timing when no injection is present and an aggressive tune is being used. A SafeInjection flow gauge displays real-time water/methanol flow in ml/min, adding another level of protection.

The days of having to worry about running out of water/methanol and blowing a motor are long gone, thanks to Snow Performance's entire lineup of water/meth products. There's really no excuse to avoid using the stuff - unless you don't want the extra power.

Results
It may look like a daunting task, but installing the kit isn't that difficult - it's more time-consuming than anything. Once you have all the lines, pump, controller and tank in place, you'll be thankful because the kit rewards your hard work with lots of horsepower.

We took our test mule, a '10 Mitsubishi Evolution X GSR with all the bolt-ons, over to the tuning experts at RRE who have handled countless water/meth tunes. That's where the key lies with water/meth, it's in the tuning. If you simply hook the kit up and decide to drive around, you won't notice any gains; in fact, your car may run worse due to the increased octane and lower air/fuel ratio.

Mike Welch's expertise with water/meth paid off as he was able to net the kind of results we were more than happy with. By raising boost to 30 psi and adding several degrees of timing to his non-meth tune, Mike produced a staggering 370 whp and 391 ft-lbs of torque on the stock EVO X turbo with zero counts of knock. Without meth injection, a peak 347 whp and 354 ft-lbs of torque was achieved. When the car came in untuned, it laid down 326 whp and 351 ft-lbs of torque with a lean air/fuel ratio.

The dyno numbers further solidify the fact that not only is the EVO X an extremely tunable car, but with the use of water/meth injection, it can be elevated to produce numbers that no pump gas stock turbo setup can touch. If for some reason you can resist the urge to constantly floor the gas pedal, Snow Performance claims an increase in gas mileage as well, but somehow we doubt that to be possible when there's almost 400 ft-lbs of torque available under your right foot.

Key Features
Includes LCD screen and push-button digital variable mapping controller
Water/methanol injection cools your engine while increasing performance
Designed for your specific year, make and model vehicle
Run more boost for longer periods without threat of detonation
Decreases EGTs by up to 250 degrees and air intake charge by up to 200 degrees

Gains Made
+42.5 whp
+40.9 ft-lbs tq
Before: Red & Green line - stock untuned: 327.8 whp & 350.3 ft-lbs tq
After: Pink & Blue line - water/meth injection: 370.3 whp & 391.2 ft-lbs tq

+22.6 whp
+36.5 ft-lbs tq
Before: Thin Green line - RRE tune, no meth: 347.7 whp & 354.7 ft-lbs tq
After: Pink & Blue line - water/meth injection: 370.3 whp & 391.2 ft-lbs tq