How Nitrous Oxide Increases a Vehicle's Performance
Nitrous Oxide (commonly referred to by the trademark name "NOS") is a great way to gain large amounts of power relatively quickly. However, it isn't quite as simple as sticking a bottle in your trunk and driving down the street. Basically, as the name implies, nitrous oxide is a combination of nitrogen, and oxygen, known as N2O. At room temperature, it is a gas, however, nitrous oxide can also be stored as a liquid.
When your car is fitted to run with nitrous oxide, it isn't using it all the time. Nitrous works by splitting the N2O into its parts, using the heat of your car's engine, and has two effects on your vehicle's power. When the oxygen is freed from the nitrogen, it can then be used in combustion. This allows more fuel to be released to counterbalance the oxygen, which gives you more power during your combustion stroke. Then, when it's broken up, nitrous also lowers the temperature of the air that goes into the engine, increasing its density and allowing it to make even more power.
Nitrous systems or kits come in two varieties; wet and dry. A wet nitrous setup mixes the nitrous with the fuel and pushes it directly into the intake. A dry setup only sprays the nitrous into the intake. Dry setups are generally cheaper, but in order to run them safely, you will most likely need to upgrade your fuel pump and injectors to handle the extra pressure. A wet setup, while more expensive, runs fuel independent of the fuel pump, so the upgrades to the fuel system aren't required unless you run large amounts of power.
There are side effects to running nitrous though. Without modification, high amounts of nitrous -- called shots -- can melt the internals of your engine such as pistons and valves. In order to run higher doses of nitrous (125 horsepower shots or above) your vehicle will require forged aluminum pistons and rods. Running that much nitrous increases the heat inside the combustion chamber dramatically. Also be sure to check your state and local laws to make sure nitrous is legal in your jurisdiction before you purchase or install. If you plan on running nitrous in a racing application, check with your sanctioning body to be sure that nitrous is allowed within your race class as well.
