Here's my understanding of the issue:
The methanol is essentially a high octane fuel. I believe it has an effective octane rating of like 116 octane or so.
The water is a cooling agent. Water has an amazing ability to dissipate heat.
If you have too much water in the mix, all you are going to do is quench the spark. You may cool the intake temps some, but the negative effect of blowing out the spark can outweigh that.
If you have too much methanol, the car will run considerably richer. It should reduce the probability of detonation, but you don't get all of the same effects as water as far as cooling and heat dissipation.
Methanol does not MAKE power, it helps reduce detonation. As a general rule, if you are running lean, you want to add fuel, because fuel makes power. If you are running rich, you want to pull out methanol.
A 50/50 or 60/40 methanol mix helps reduce the chances of detonation, still provide cooling of the intake charge temps, and not cause an exceedingly rich condition or blow out the spark.
That's simply my understanding of how the stuff works from my experience in the Supra and Viper world. I was running the windshield washer fluid (@18% ****) in my Viper and switched to my own blend of 50/50 **** and water. My tuner was able to roll more timing in without dentonation by having more **** in the mix, and I don't have any spark/ignition issues at all.
Just my $.02
Mark, Based on what you said here it is likely that increasing my **** percentage richened my AFR and cost me some rwhp. I guess I need to either add timing or go back to the lighter mix. Thanks
I would think that you are running rich. You haven't hurt anything, you just have to retune. You don't necessarily have to go back to the lighter mixture, either. I would put the car on the dyno and see what it is doing. Chances are, it's running a lot richer than it was because of the extra percentage of methanol. Rather than run a lower percentage of methanol, leave the 50/50 mix in the tank and either (a) add some timing if there are no signs of detonation and/or (b) pull some methanol out using the Vec2. Just get into your % tab anywhere you are rich and reduce the percentage of water/**** being sprayed in. You "should" pick up more power by leaving the mixture 50/50 and adjusting the tune, than you would going back to the old mixture.
Remember, if you've got a lean spot, add fuel. If you've got a rich spot, use the VEC2 to pull out some methanol. That's the general rule of thumb.
And if you hit 700 rwhp, you owe me dinner!