fatherlarry
10-17-2006, 08:13 PM
What you need to know about fuel for Corvettes and other high-performance cars.
http://www.idavette.net/hib/fuel/index.htm
You’re leaning against your Corvette, holding the gas nozzle lever open, watching the counters flash. Sound familiar? Beyond reading the price and the octane on the pump, ever wonder about what goes into your Vette’s tank? If you have; read on. We’re going to cover some high-profile, gasoline issues of interest to Corvette enthusiasts.
Gasoline is a mix of volatile, flammable, liquid hydrocarbons. “Volatile” means it readily evaporates. “Flammable” means its vapor is combustible. “Hydrocarbons” are compounds of hydrogen and carbon. When hydrocarbons are burned in an engine, expanding gases apply force to its pistons and that’s what makes your car go.
Many hydrocarbons are in crude oil. To extract the specific hydrocarbons that make gasoline, “crude” is processed or “refined” by one or a combination of: “distillation”, “cracking,” or “polymerization”. The first boils crude in a vacuum to separate it into various factions, of which gasoline is one. The other two chemically modify hydrocarbons to give them desired properties.
Research for this article led The Idaho Corvette Page to Tim Wusz, an engineer at Rockett Brand Racing Fuel. Wusz has worked for Rockett and its predecessors, 76 Performance Products Division of Conoco/Phillips, Tosco Corporation, Unocal, and Union Oil Company since 1965, spending much of that time developing racing gasolines. Wusz is a former drag racer, a long-time musclecar nut and a former Corvette ZR-1 owner.
http://www.idavette.net/hib/fuel/index.htm
You’re leaning against your Corvette, holding the gas nozzle lever open, watching the counters flash. Sound familiar? Beyond reading the price and the octane on the pump, ever wonder about what goes into your Vette’s tank? If you have; read on. We’re going to cover some high-profile, gasoline issues of interest to Corvette enthusiasts.
Gasoline is a mix of volatile, flammable, liquid hydrocarbons. “Volatile” means it readily evaporates. “Flammable” means its vapor is combustible. “Hydrocarbons” are compounds of hydrogen and carbon. When hydrocarbons are burned in an engine, expanding gases apply force to its pistons and that’s what makes your car go.
Many hydrocarbons are in crude oil. To extract the specific hydrocarbons that make gasoline, “crude” is processed or “refined” by one or a combination of: “distillation”, “cracking,” or “polymerization”. The first boils crude in a vacuum to separate it into various factions, of which gasoline is one. The other two chemically modify hydrocarbons to give them desired properties.
Research for this article led The Idaho Corvette Page to Tim Wusz, an engineer at Rockett Brand Racing Fuel. Wusz has worked for Rockett and its predecessors, 76 Performance Products Division of Conoco/Phillips, Tosco Corporation, Unocal, and Union Oil Company since 1965, spending much of that time developing racing gasolines. Wusz is a former drag racer, a long-time musclecar nut and a former Corvette ZR-1 owner.