When you have RC cars, the degree of taking care of it and the importance of regular maintenance is high. There are a lot of things needed to take note of and still many things to learn about owning a remote controlled car. Also, the difference between electronic powered cars between a nitro fueled ones has to be mastered accordingly.
Of the several important things needed in running nitro-fueled RC cars, there are three important facts you need to know about nitro fuel and what it does for your car. The basic components of a nitro fuel have three blends. First, there is the methyl alcohol or otherwise known as the methanol, then there is the nitro-methane or simply called nitro, and then of course oil. Although these components may sound so technical (especially the first one), finding nitro fuel for your car isn’t that difficult since you can purchase these blended fuel with no problems via online or straight from your local hobby shops.
Now, we go back to methanol or the other names it has such as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naptha or wood spirits. What it does is it provides power for the engine and it’s the primary power to be provided to RC cars running on nitro. An ideal fuel this is, mainly because it’s not as flammable and it tends to release more energy per pound compared to gasoline.
A disadvantage in using methanol is that it can intoxicate you but not directly kill you since it isn’t poisonous. Once exposed to it, the toxic breakdown in the body caused by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase forms formic acid in the liver which eventually leads to blindness. Be careful not to inhale this fuel or to have your skin absorb it. Be sure you contact a medicine expert for any suspicious central nervous system depression that occurs.
But going back to methanol’s main purpose to RC cars, it is an important component to boost your RC car’s energy and overall performance. It is, also affordable compared to gas so expenses shouldn’t be of any issue with this type of fuel.
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