Norma Sports Racer with Type R motor on cellulosic alcohol

***NitrousG35*** · 02-01-2008, 02:23 PM

Car and Driver in the March 2008 issue, featured a section on eco friendly cars that performed well too. The Tesla was mentioned along with the Honda FCX Clarity that uses a fuel cell.

What caught my interest was a car called "the little green racing machine". The article discussed the use of cellulosic ethanol; an alcohol based fuel produced from switch grass and wheat straw. One of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it uses 80% less petroleum in production than does gasoline production. Greenhouse gas emissions are 85% better than gasoline. Additionally, cellulosic ethanol is superior to E85 corn based ethanol because it takes less energy to turn switchgrass into alcohol than corn.

The car that was featured is called a Norma sports racer. The car weighs a very svelte 1,190 pounds. What caught my eye was the fact that the car was using a stock Type R Civic motor rated at 220 hp. Because the car was running on cellulosic alcohol and retuning the ECU, the power increased to 263 horsepower.

Imagine a horsepower boost simply by changing your fuel and recalibrating the ECU. A 43 horsepower gain simply by changing the fuel is nothing to sneeze at. Motors like the K20z3 would peform better because of the high compression ratio working with a higher octane rating.

According to the article, the two cars entered in the Thunderhill 25 hours performed flawlessly, never missing a beat. It is great to see advances in fuel sources that not only are eco friendly, but make an engine like the Type R peform much better. It is a win-win situation.

kenchan · 02-01-2008, 02:57 PM

cooling machine!

**Izzy** · 02-01-2008, 02:58 PM

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

mattsbobo · 02-01-2008, 03:01 PM

Damn Nitrous! Good find. Wish I had one to do track days with. How I would fuel it is another story altogether.

***NitrousG35*** · 02-01-2008, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattsbobo

Damn Nitrous! Good find. Wish I had one to do track days with. How I would fuel it is another story altogether.

Matt, wish I could shoot you some rep, but my gun is shooting blanks at the moment. Thanks bro.

**Izzy** · 02-01-2008, 03:29 PM

Hmm, they can already retune the CTR engine?

I feel sad for our cars.

***NitrousG35*** · 02-01-2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izzy

Hmm, they can already retune the CTR engine?

I feel sad for our cars.

I know Izzy. It does show that Honda could do some tweaking on our North American cars if they wanted to.

FA555 · 02-01-2008, 06:55 PM

I just love looking at these suspensions. That geometry is so cool.

02-01-2008, 02:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
*NitrousG35* Mr. Cowl Induction Join Date: May 2007 Location: To Infiniti and beyond... Posts: 9,790 Wild VTEC'n Bill iTrader: 3 / 100%	Norma Sports Racer with Type R motor on cellulosic alcohol Car and Driver in the March 2008 issue, featured a section on eco friendly cars that performed well too. The Tesla was mentioned along with the Honda FCX Clarity that uses a fuel cell. What caught my interest was a car called "the little green racing machine". The article discussed the use of cellulosic ethanol; an alcohol based fuel produced from switch grass and wheat straw. One of the benefits of cellulosic ethanol is that it uses 80% less petroleum in production than does gasoline production. Greenhouse gas emissions are 85% better than gasoline. Additionally, cellulosic ethanol is superior to E85 corn based ethanol because it takes less energy to turn switchgrass into alcohol than corn. The car that was featured is called a Norma sports racer. The car weighs a very svelte 1,190 pounds. What caught my eye was the fact that the car was using a stock Type R Civic motor rated at 220 hp. Because the car was running on cellulosic alcohol and retuning the ECU, the power increased to 263 horsepower. Imagine a horsepower boost simply by changing your fuel and recalibrating the ECU. A 43 horsepower gain simply by changing the fuel is nothing to sneeze at. Motors like the K20z3 would peform better because of the high compression ratio working with a higher octane rating. According to the article, the two cars entered in the Thunderhill 25 hours performed flawlessly, never missing a beat. It is great to see advances in fuel sources that not only are eco friendly, but make an engine like the Type R peform much better. It is a win-win situation. __________________

02-01-2008, 02:58 PM	#3 (permalink)
Izzy Supreme Pizza! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Azusa, CA Age: 25 Posts: 11,938 iTrader: 5 / 100%	Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. __________________

02-01-2008, 03:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
Izzy Supreme Pizza! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Azusa, CA Age: 25 Posts: 11,938 iTrader: 5 / 100%	Hmm, they can already retune the CTR engine? I feel sad for our cars. __________________

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