You can have both...you just need to run Methanol instead of Gasoline! Top Alcohol dragsters typically run a high compression ratio before supercharging, but they are able to get away with it due to the methanols cooling effects on detonation. I guess that's not a real good idea on the street though...
why not? Just use the right fuel system components (lines, pump, etc) and a fuel cell or tank that holds enough fuel to get you from point A to point B and back...and it should be OK. I have thought about this and there is absolutely no reason you couldn't run methanol on the street. Best thing about it is seeing the guy next to you cry like a little baby cause his eyes are watering from the fumes. Kind of like a diesel pickup.... Only other downside is that it costs the same as pump fuel but you use about twice as much, more or less. That and you just can't run down to Exxon and pump 25 gallons into your car....more than likely you'd have to have a couple barrels of it at the house. And moving those barrels is not easy when they weigh about 450 lbs a piece. Ask me how I know.....
The other option is to map out all the E85 stations around you and plan your trips accordingly. Ethanol burns pretty much the same as Methanol, not quite as well, but close enough for government work. It's not as toxic either. Higher compression on an alcohol engine is pretty much a requirement in my book. Just to get it to start in the morning and behave properly. When done right, E85 should net you about 80% of your fuel economy you got with gasoline. The other neat thing about alcohol on a blown engine is that if you inject it right after the compressor, the atomization and vaporization of the fuel cools the compressed air eliminating the need for an intercooler. AEM ran a turbo Acura V6 on Alcohol that would frost the compressor pipes at idle.
My lawn mower runs Methanol....and it's only 5.5:1 compression. Starts just fine. Alky works just as well on a low compression motor as it does on a high compression motor...difference being that you'll make a ton more power with higher compression. 13.5-14.5 being ideal, naturally aspirated. I've seen them as high as 17:1 or thereabouts, but that's when you start losing a lot of chamber volume and any mistake in tuning costs you big time. Bent rods, broken cylinders, burned pistons, etc. But that's not the point of the post....so this is just a waste of time & bandwidth.
Yes, I am very deep into this turbo'd Mav. But it should be done by the end of the year. BTW, whoever, and I mean whoever is interested in a turbo Mav setup, pm me. My buddy makes turbo kits for early Mustang/Mavericks/Falcons, etc. And they are nice.
