FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q. How does Bazell Race Fuels store their fuel?
A. We store our fuel in underground tanks except for a few of the specialty fuels we buy in drums. We have surprisingly little storage for the amount of fuel we sell.  Most of our fuel deliveries are done on the way to or on the way back from the refinery.

Q. Can I store my fuel through the winter?
A. Race fuel has a very good shelf life.  It is however, very sensitive to light, so it should not be stored in clear containers. Fuel can be stored for extended periods of time as long as it is in an air tight container. Race fuel jugs are not good for long-term storage; if you are going to store your fuel for the winter, use a steel drum and keep it inside.

Q. What is Octane?
A. Quite simply, octane is a fuel’s resistance to burn. The higher the octane, the easier it can withstand higher compression and temperature without igniting and causing pre-ignition or detonation.

Q. What is Detonation?
A. Fuel doesn’t explode as much as it burns. A proper fuel air mix will have a flame front that travels from the initial ignition point (spark plug) and travels across the face of the piston. Detonation occurs when the fuel mixture ignites other than at the spark plug. This causes several flame fronts and when these flame fronts collide you have detonation. Higher octane fuel will usually solve the problem.

Q. What is pre-ignition?
A. Pre-ignition is exactly that, the fuel ignites before the spark plug fires. This is usually caused by hot spots within the cylinder. Higher octane fuel will usually solve the problem.

Q. What Octane should I be running in my car?
A. This is one of the most asked questions and it is also one of the hardest questions to simply answer. A lot of information is needed to assess an engine’s needs. A rule of thumb to start with is compression. The fuels page of this site will help you determine what Octane you should start with.

Q. I have a low compression engine.  Why shouldn’t I run aviation fuel?
A. Aviation fuel usually has an octane number of around 103 (r+m/2) and it has a relatively low lead content. Aviation fuel is designed to burn at a high altitude and relatively low RPM. Unlike airplane use, racing applications have a wider RPM range and the air is much denser.  Therefore, aviation fuel is not a good choice.

Q. What can I put in my fuel to increase horsepower?
A. There are a lot of products on the market that claim increased horsepower.  I am not an expert on all of these products, but I have not seen any of these work as they are advertised. It is possible to put chemicals in the fuel that increases the power output, but in most cases this will cause you more problems than it is worth. Fuel designers have worked to give us the safest and most powerful fuels available and back yard chemistry will usually end up with bad results.

Q. Will Nitromethane make my car faster?
A. Nitromethane is a very powerful fuel, and it can be used to increase power output in racing applications. Nitro does not mix well with gasoline so therefore you are restricted to alcohol applications only. Nitro creates tremendous amounts of heat when it is ignited, and without spending obscene amounts of money, it is hard to use nitro in racing applications.

Q. What would happen if I put leaded gas in my street car?
A. If your street car has pollution control devices (catalytic converters) or oxygen sensors it would not be wise to do this. The lead in the fuel will ruin the O₂ sensors and eventually plug the catalytic converters.  Leaded gas is illegal to run on the street. Our GT-100 is an unleaded race fuel that is legal for street use and performs great in the newer vehicles.

Q. Why is Sunoco Standard 110 listed as 115 at my track?
A. Sometimes fuel is listed by the research octane number (RON) for marketing purposes. Bazell Oil always uses the anti-knock index (RON + MON/2) to market our fuel.

Q. What grade of Methanol does Bazell Race Fuels sell?
A. There is a lot of misconception about methanol and the types of methanol on the market today. We buy methanol with a minimum purity of 99.95%. Some people believe there is a difference between industrial methanol and racing methanol, but there is no difference. The key is to make sure of the purity of the product. Some of the confusion comes from the reclaimed methanol on the market. Reclaimed methanol is methanol that has been used in a manufacturing process and is then recycled and cleaned. Methanol is very fragile, and reclaimed methanol cannot be cleaned completely.  Its purity will be lower than "virgin" product.

Q. Why won’t my methanol pass the "water test"?
A. The water test is a way of checking for the presence of hydrocarbons. Personally I don’t like this test, because it tells you that there is a hydrocarbon in the methanol but it doesn’t tell you anything more. This test is extremely sensitive, so it can detect a hydrocarbon of less than 1%. A teaspoon of gasoline in 20 gallons of methanol will fail the test.

01/25/02  Russ Bradford, Bazell Race Fuels

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