Ok, so here we go.

Which is better and why??

Typical bracket deal, lets say racing in the midwest with 3 seasons of racing, with the ET range of 4.50 - 6.99.

I use both. Gas in the pits and Methanol on the racing surface. 500+ runs on these. Same consistency start to finish.

This has been discussed many times. I prefer alcohol and will continue to run it. Some say on very large cubic in high compression motors that gas will make more power. Like 632 or larger, I suspect it is due to it needing different cam specs or something else. On most all others alcohol will usually make more power and be faster.
Alcohol is typically harder to start in cold weather and may not be best for you if you run a lot in cold weather.
Alcohol for most of us is cheaper to run.

I suggest methanol in a hi compression race engine is less costly than Race gas. It’s also easy to control cooling temperature, especially when going rounds.
A negative is you need lots of it compared to gas. if racing out of town at multi day race you need a drum.

Too many unknowns in this situation. What size motor? What head? How often does the person race?

We have ran: 3 different brand alcohol carbs, a toilet system with and without primer plus, have ran a terminator with primer plus and ran multiple different gas carbs. Over a decade of experience on alcohol injection. As of right now the plan is to keep our stuff on gas.

It might be easier to ask for a list of the positives and downsides to each fuel.

Speaking from my own experience, (I raced on gas for over 20 years, switched to methanol 7 years ago), Alcohol is:
Less expensive (by far).
More consistent across changing weather conditions, (considerably so).
Significantly Quicker & faster.
No more cooling concerns in hot weather/late rounds.
And I can eat a sandwich after fueling the car without washing my hands.

quote:

Originally posted by FootbrakeJim:
It might be easier to ask for a list of the positives and downsides to each fuel.

Speaking from my own experience, (I raced on gas for over 20 years, switched to methanol 7 years ago), Alcohol is:
Less expensive (by far).
More consistent across changing weather conditions, (considerably so).
Significantly Quicker & faster.
No more cooling concerns in hot weather/late rounds.
And I can eat a sandwich after fueling the car without washing my hands.

All depends on the motor combination, ran faster on gas than alcohol. Dyno made more horsepower on alcohol, but didn’t run as fast on alcohol

Gas: less maintenance, don’t have to bring 3 times the amount of fuel with me to the track, easier to crank without starter and flywheel issues. I don’t have to crank it up and let it idle forever to build heat in the cold months.

Pros and cons to all

Most agree alcohol is more consistent over wider range of weather. From what i hear if you bracket race that is king.
Alky runs cooler and very few heat issue. You do not have to idle forever to build heat if you have a lean out of some sort. Injected you just pull fuel shutoff until motor starts to idle up.
Cost generally runs less especially if run higher compression ratios that require the topend gas.

Started running alky injection in 1985 and never understood why more where not. Back then I think locally there where 3 or 4 cars running alky .Now all where injected and not sure about alky carbs back then.

quote:

Gas: less maintenance, don’t have to bring 3 times the amount of fuel with me to the track, easier to crank without starter and flywheel issues. I don’t have to crank it up and let it idle forever to build heat in the cold months.

Pros and cons to all

Just for discussion purposes, what do you mean starter and flywheel issues?

I will never run gas again switched like 10 years ago.

Speaking impartially, gasoline is faster n/a.

I've seen it on a 434 23 degree sbc, I did for a guy, I pitted with for years.

665" bbc. Switched to alky and won't look back. Injected. Car is faster than it was on gas, I don't have cooling issues anymore, and fuel costs are way down despite its healthy appetite for the juice. I won't run gas again.

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Ticket:

quote:

Gas: less maintenance, don’t have to bring 3 times the amount of fuel with me to the track, easier to crank without starter and flywheel issues. I don’t have to crank it up and let it idle forever to build heat in the cold months.

Pros and cons to all

Just for discussion purposes, what do you mean starter and flywheel issues?

A high compression big cubic inch motor will have a harder time starting on alcohol than on gas especially in colder weather. Despite priming the alcohol system with gas, it can still cause kickbacks when trying to crank. The kickbacks can cause: chipped teeth on the fly wheel or even small fires. It’s not something overly common, but a pain when it does.

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Ticket:
Ok, so here we go.

Which is better and why??

Typical bracket deal, lets say racing in the midwest with 3 seasons of racing, with the ET range of 4.50 - 6.99.

Talk about a can of worms!!!!!!!!

Both work and work well under the right combo's and tuning!!
Both have pro's and con's so it really comes down to a personal choice in most cases.
Cost is not a large difference between the two, you will use 2 to 2.5 times the alky vs gas so it come close to leveling the cost,,, I would not choose alky due to cost savings as a major factor for sure.

I have run both and won't say you should be on gas or alky without more info on what your trying to do. And I don't care how many years someone ran gas or alky, it doesn't matter...

Just about everything that was previously posted here, I disagree with, other than they both have pro's and con's. Way to many absolutes stated that just aren't true or always true!