Q: What type of cam is best suited for use with nitrous oxide?
A: Generally, cams that have less exhaust overlap and more exhaust duration. However, it is best to choose a cam tailored to normal use (when nitrous is not activated) since 99% of most vehicle operations is not at full throttle. There are special cam grinds available for nitrous competition which have more aggressive exhaust profile ramping, etc. Since cam selection depends largely on vehicle weight, gearing, etc., it is best to stick to cam manufacturers' recommendations for your particular goal.
Q: Should I modify my fuel system to use nitrous oxide?
A: Most stock fuel pumps will work adequately for smaller nitrous applications. It is important to check to see if your pump can flow enough fuel to your existing fuel system (whether carburetor or fuel injected), as well as being able to supply the additional fuel required by the nitrous kit under full throttle conditions. It may be a good idea to dedicate a separate fuel pump to the nitrous kit
Q: Which is the best position to mount a nitrous bottle?
A: Nitrous bottles come with siphon tubes and, in order to maintain proper nitrous pickup, it is important to mount the bottle correctly. We recommend mounting the bottle at a 15 degree angle with the valve end higher than the bottom of the bottle. The valve end of the bottle should point to the front of the vehicle and the valve knob and label should face straight up.
Q: How important is it to use nitrous and fuel filters in a kit?
A: Some of the most important components of any nitrous system are nitrous and fuel filters. To keep contaminants from attacking the solenoid or plugging up a jet, nitrous filters feature a special stainless steel mesh element from the aerospace industry.
Q: What are the advantages of using nitrous compared to other performance options?
A: The cost of many other performance options can put you in the poorhouse. Dollar for dollar, you can't buy more performance with less money than nitrous. With a nitrous system, performance and reliability can be had for a much more reasonable price while still retaining the advantage of a stock engine during normal driving. And, Nitrous offers tremendous gains in torque without having to rev the engine to excessive rpm's.
Q: How do I know how much nitrous is left in the bottle?
A: The most reliable method was is to weigh the bottle to determine how many pounds remain. When a bottle is near empty (about 20% or less nitrous remaining) a surging effect is normally felt.
Q: What is the function of the blow-off safety valve on the bottle?
A: It is very important not to overfill a bottle; i.e., a 10 lb. capacity bottle should not be filled with more than 10 lbs. of nitrous oxide by weight. Over-filling and/or too much heat can cause excessive bottle pressures forcing the safety seal to blow and releasing all the contents out of the bottle.
Q: Will I have to change my ignition system?
A: Most late model ignition systems are well suited for nitrous applications. NGK TR-6 plugs are recommended.
CAN YOU RUN NITROUS WITH A 6 SPEED CAR?
Yes. Just make sure that you have the correct safety equipment before you do so.
WOT Switch
Window Switch
FPSS
How do I hook up my MSD window switch to my 5177 kit?
MSD Window Switch Diagram on 5177 Kit WOT - Wide Open Throttle Switch. It is placed inline with your arming switch, FPSS, and any other safety devices to activate your nitrous. This can be placed either near the throttle body or a momentary push button underneath the gas pedal for a stealth install.
Window Switch - Another wonderful (shouldn't be without) safety device. A must for a M6. It also installs inline with your FPSS, WOT, arming swithch, etc. The window switch does excatly what it says, it is a window for your nitrous to activate. Example. If you have you window switch setup for 3k and 6k, then the nitrous will only activate between those RPM's. It will come on at 3k and automatically shut off at 6k. (Providing it is wired correctly.) Some use pills while others just use dials or dip switches to set the corresponding RPM.
Tach Wire Location and Pin #'s (Pics)
Figure 3-5 Wet vs. Dry
These questions will come up alot, so I'll try to address them now. The main difference between the 2 is the Wet kit injects fuel AND nitrous into the intake tract, whereas the Dry kit will only inject nitrous. They both have their advantages and drawbacks. If you're new to nitrous, Dry is probably for you. Its very simple to install, mostly plug and play and gives the most hit. Wet kits are generally a smoother hit comparatively and require more installation. Dry kits do not inject more fuel into the intake directly, but if nothing else was done, your engine would lean WAY out, and thats never good. What the dry kit does is fool the fuel pressure regulator into thinking its not adding enough fuel. It opens it up (or closes it, however the LS1 works)[LSx platform uses the MAF to tell pcm to add fuel thru injectors, and LTx uses reg to spike fuel pressure with aux fuel pump. Robert56] and adds more fuel that way. The problem with this is its very easy to lean out. If the vaccuum line pops off or something goes wrong with the FPR, you can lose fuel and this can damage your engine in no time if the nitrous isnt turned off. Also, you'll probably get people telling you that you cant run big shots on dry. This is not true. USA Motorsports used to competitively race using a 2 stage dry kit 175-300.
Wet on the other hand is the most tuneable of the 2 (not including foggers or direct port, I'll go over that later). It adds additional fuel through a seperate solenoid and atomizes it with the nitrous in the intake tract. This is safer in the sense that you dont rely on the FPR to add more fuel, but the downside is if you shut down too early and do not stop spraying early enough, the fuel/nitrous mixture can puddle up inside the intake and cause a nitrous backfire. If you have never seen one, I hope you never do. They are not pretty. I had one in my old racecar. It was a 250 shot and it blew halfway down the track. The hood was toast, the intake was split in 3 pieces, TB cracked in half and the MAF was blown away somewhere and couldnt be found. Not fun. While this isnt a common occurance, it IS possable.