Unicorn products? Wetter than wet, Litebrake, Alcohol Water injection?

[TexasCotton]

Okay
I was not sure where to post this and was going try here.

I am curious about the following topics
because the claims about increase mpg

Coolant Additive .....................Wetter Wet product sold Autozone Yes/No/No Diff?

Litebrake............................... alum clad rotor disc (pricy) Yes/No/ Any1 tried

AWK...................................alcohol water injection kits. aem/cooling mist some sold on
ebay. This concept has been around for a while during the 1970s fuel crisis .. ... also some do the DIY with some current cars. When I say water this is a term found previous really more of a liquid mix which some use variety liquids which is then either pump pressure indirectly into airintake or through evap. The following solution have also been done in the past water/alcohol/and sometime soap bubbles.................
... I am unsure about this on modern vehicle just like the claims with HHO just not found to be in the realm of do able or pratical..........

[MetroMPG]

Texas - hope you don't mind I moved your post into its own thread.

[UFO]

I was not aware of any mileage claims for Water Wetter, but it certainly does have less surface tension than water or coolant-water mixes, and therefore has better surface contact and better heat transfer.

[some_other_dave]

I'm not sure what the "Litebrake" thing is. If they have replaced non-structural parts of the cast-iron rotor with aluminum, that should shed some unsprung rotating mass. That will, in theory, help stop-and-go fuel economy slightly. In practice, none of us have sensitive enough instruments to be able to see an MPG difference for any reasonable amount of weight savings from a single part like that.

I am told that the water mist stuff can help keep the intake and combustion chambers cleaner, which can in turn help MPG a little bit in some cases. And they can help you run higher boost on the same grade of fuel, or run regularly on lower-grade fuel. I don't think those will improve your economy at all, though.

I've never heard reports of an FE improvement with Water Wetter. It is an anti-corrosion additive, and also as UFO said reduces the surface tension for better cooling. I think that will make your fuel economy slightly worse, as more heat from the coolant will be shed into the air. To make that up, the engine will have to burn very slightly more fuel. (I'm not sure that anyone in the entire world has instruments sensitive enough to measure any difference due to that, though!)

-soD

[Thenorm]

looking at that litebrake website. the science is sound, however, i don't know how well it actually works. (can it really dissipate similar amounts of heat as a vented cast iron rotor).
I don't believe their claim of 10% mileage, unless you had a car notorious for brake drag.

the coffecient of thermal expansion of aluminum is approximately twice of cast iron, but they're talking about expansion across the thickness of the rotor as opposed the diamater, which would be orders of magnitude higher.

some off the cuff math, if you got your aluminum rotor so hot it was to the melting point, about 500°C, it would only expand the thickness by 0.2mm from ambient temperature
thats 1000°F and 0.012 inch for you yankees (assuming a rotor about an inch thick)

is that enough to cause the pads to retract?


water meth injection is great for turbo cars. most people only do it for power, or safety, not fuel economy.

water wetter is good for places u cant use coolant (many race tracks for instance, because its too slippery when it spills.) i cant think it would improve your fuel economy.

[Cobb]

I use water wetter so I can run mo grill block in the summer. It seems to take longer to warm up in the winter and colder seasons.

[War_Wagon]

I always thought Water Wetter was for going to the racetrack. You aren't supposed to run antifreeze as if it leaks or spills it is hard to clean off the track, but Water Wetter works better than just straight water for cooling. Is it supposed to be better than antifreeze for everyday use?

[CFECO]

I don't know about the rotors or the Wetter Wet, I'd see who uses them with success. Water injection I did use very successively in the 70's on a Ford 390 pick up. I ran 12.5 to 1 pistons, big hyd cam, ported heads, and a 4bbl carb. The 2wd long bed 1/2 ton truck got over 20 mpg empty, if we could keep our foot out of it. Loaded, it ran like a beast, all on regular pump gas...and water. An engine built for economy, could use water injection with high compression effectively I believe. The alcohol is usually used for an antifreeze fluid.
Good luck with your project.

[Thenorm]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

I always thought Water Wetter was for going to the racetrack. You aren't supposed to run antifreeze as if it leaks or spills it is hard to clean off the track, but Water Wetter works better than just straight water for cooling. Is it supposed to be better than antifreeze for everyday use?

Originally Posted by Cobb

It seems to take longer to warm up in the winter and colder seasons.

water has a higher heat capacity than coolant. it takes more energy to heat up. and 1 gallon will hold more heat, so in theory, since your are moving the same amount of fluid through the radiator, but more heat is moved with water. I still dont think it will help economy. maybe you could use a smaller radiator, less air needed, lower drag?

However, i wouldnt want to use just water in the winter. you'll freeze. hence why we all use coolant aka antifreeze.

[niky]

Have heard nothing but good things about Water Wetter. Good product for track use. For economy? No.

Alcohol injection helps control detonation. It won't equal better economy on gasoline engines, not unless you tune the car to run much leaner and use the injection to keep the motor from blowing... I guess... but I don't know anyone who's tried that.

There are claims that it does improve economy for diesels, but I don't know if that's with retuning or not. Most likely with.