Snow Performance's Boost Cooler takes intercooling to another level, chemically. The system injects a mixture of water and methanol into the intake tract and ultimately into the combustion chamber along with the existing air/fuel mixture. The added water and methanol cools the intake charge even more, making it denser, which means increased air volume and more power. Water has a high latent heat of vaporization, which means it can absorb heat better than almost anything else, including conventional intercoolers. But chemical injection doesn't just cool things down. The recommended water/methanol mixture takes the cooling process one step further by chemically increasing the existing fuel's octane rating. The higher octane mix allows for a slower burn in the chamber, which is the reason why additional ignition timing can be applied. That's the beauty of methanol, since it's a high-octane fuel itself, it will typically net about 20 octane points higher when mixed with regular pump gas. Even though methanol has such a high octane rating, it only has about half the energy content as gasoline does, meaning you'll use twice as much when used alone. But the Boost Cooler doesn't use straight methanol. It works best with a 51/49 water/methanol mix along with any vehicle's regular dosage of pump gas. At this rate, a two-quart reservoir will last the average 500hp car roughly 15 passes down the quarter mile. On the street this will last significantly longer.
The first thing you have to come to terms " with before installing any water or methanol injection kit is the fact that liquid injection by itself won't really get you any more horsepower. At first. When water is injected into the intake stream and sent to the combustion chamber as a vapor, it doesn't burn. It simply converts into a gaseous state and exits through the exhaust. During its state change the water absorbs much of the heat in the combustion chamber, lowering overall temperatures. The water occupies space that would otherwise be used for the air/fuel mixture, in turn, lowering temperatures but at the expense of some power since there's now less air and fuel in the chamber. As a side benefit, water also has a sort of cleaning effect inside the chamber, over time helping rid the area of potential hotspots and carbon buildup on valves, piston tops and the chamber itself. When methanol is injected into the intake stream though, it's also sent to the combustion chamber but, unlike water, it burns along with the existing mixture of gasoline. The addition of methanol makes for a much richer air/fuel mixture. Too rich really, and it's easy to actually lose a little power at first. In order to take full advantage of what methanol injection has to offer, things need to be leaned out. So without some sort of fuel controller, the benefits of methanol injection might be missed. It's possible to run a slightly leaner air/fuel mixture when using methanol than without. This is where the extra power from methanol injection starts to show up. This and the fact that more ignition timing can be applied are attributed to methanol injection's octane increasing effect. In some cases the addition of methanol has allowed ignition timing increases normally only associated with 118 octane, and this is with pump gas. This is because methanol actually burns slower than gasoline. It also has a much cooler flame front. And when combined with water, methanol also helps lower intake temperatures well over 100-degrees Fahrenheit. All of this is good when you're looking for safe horsepower increases.