tornado019

I was just curious if there is a good way to tell if a car is using nitrous, other then asking the driver. I ran this civic the other day and it was fast as hell. It was just a stoplighter, so the start wasnt taken serious by me so he got a big headstart, and I just couldn't pull him in. I heard once somewhere that you can smell it in the exhaust, and I also heard you can sometimes see it, is this true? He did have visible exhaust, kinda whitish, like steam almost. My windows were up though, so no smell. I later stopped him and asked what he was running, all I got was "just a little four cylinder", although I didn't expect a real answer, but worth a try.

Whitemax

Easiest way to tell? If he beats you.

vipervadim

iTrader: (10)

from what i remember from the olden days, there was a distinct smell from nitrous but the only way you'd be able to smell it would be if you drove directly behind him trying to smell the nos vapors or if you directly smelled his exhaust.
but to shed some light on your mystery i'd say it was a supercharger. or he had an engine transplant like a JDM B16A or a 2.0 or a 2.2 from a predule. i'm more leaning toward a SC. a turbo wouldn't really pull much from the start, since it needs considerable time to spool up, and then kick in real well once the engine picks up rpms and exhaust gasses REALLY start flowing. A supercharger on the other hand gives power thoughtout the low and high rpm band since it its belt driven, that explains the fast start. it is also possible he had nitrous with a SC so you never know however it is usually the case to shoot nitrous in when the engine is in mid 3rd gear and later. starting after about 50mph. but usually it is done when in 4th and in 5th. so how fast was this guy going at this stop light? max of 60 maybe. besides once you turn nos on it is harder to stop the car, and it takes a considerable amount of time after the kill switch for the engine to return to its regular mode of operation so he would be able to stop at the next light.
translation: he probably didn't use nos. but he had a SC. this should solve your mystery.
now where's my Scooby Snacks?

MaxSpeedSE

iTrader: (3)

yeah like Viper was saying, i hurd the only way to tell is by the smell, and to look for a little mist coming out the muffler



-ChRi§

black019

you can usually hear the engine too

Jime

iTrader: (10)

There is no way to tell by looking at or smelling the exhaust.
Asking the driver is totally unreliable as well.
Listening to the engine will not tell you either.
Checking under the hood and knowing what you are looking for is the only way to tell for sure.

At the last race I went to, the NHRA tech inspector looked at my car for 10 mins and then ask me why I was running in Power Class which is for Turbo, S/C or Nitrous, so those guys aren't all that swift either.

ReichMax97

Maybe that big wing slowed you down

vipervadim

iTrader: (10)

Jime is right in the way that it is the only DEFINITE way to determine it since nitrous has to physically flow into the intake manifolds or into the fuel rails which facilitates the use of nitrous line from the bottle to the engine.
On the street especially when you're in your car and the guy is in his, good luck in trying to stop him and search his car to DEFINITELY determine whether he's using nitrous. unless you're a police officer on duty in your jurasdiction with reasonable cause to stop him and search his car, one can only speculate. what i wrote was from experience and observations.

-Vadim

P.S. when you assume you make an A$$ out of U and ME

Quack 2x

You could watch to see if he purges the lines before the run... if he has them vented to the outside, you should be able to see the little plume of N20.

Quack2x

bullseye

Not necessarily... I ran my purge line under the car, to hide the N2O plume.

tornado019

I'm pretty sure it's not sc or tc. It could be an engine swap though. All I know is that I heard he had nitrous, but you know how that goes. He had that damn weed wacker wraped up so much it's really hard to tell by engine sound, I know it was pulling high *** rpms, at least 8K by the sound. And I saw the exhaust and that made me think nitrous, well that and the fact that a four cylinder was giving me a run when I regularly put down V6s all day. He will only race me for money now, so I guess I'll have to scrap some up and see what hes really all about

SkylineGTR

what kind of civic was it?

H.N.I.C.95

What about extra Gauges, could that be a way to detect?

turbomax97

iTrader: (6)

you cant really assume its anything unless you knew exactly what those guages were, you could assume some kind of large power adder i.e. nitrous, sc, turbo... if he had things such as boost guage(obvious) oil, that sort of thing.



Btw, please do not smell civic exhaust for long periods of time. Side effects may include 10 sets of neon lights, plethora of stickers, Maxwell can attached to the rear and a stadium bench stuck on your trunk.

XXXL Cracker

iTrader: (3)

Btw, please do not smell civic exhaust for long periods of time. Side effects may include 10 sets of neon lights, plethora of stickers, Maxwell can attached to the rear and a stadium bench stuck on your trunk.



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LMAO!!!!!!!

tornado019

I don't know for sure what kind of civic it is, I would say mid to late 90s model hatchback style. It has a full out body kit on it and no emblems, but it does have some nifty stickers!