Nitrous Oxide is the equivalent of very cold oxygen rich air except that unlike air, it is always force fed into the intake under it's own pressure. It is always rated by how much horse power it can add since x amount of air generally equals x amount of power when properly mixed with the right amount of fuel. The limiting factor is always the ignition. Either the ignition isn't powerful enough to spark the higher compressed mixture, or the mixture ignites before the spark causing preignition and or detonation. The amount of torque that nitrous oxide adds is inverse to the speed at which the engine is spinning. As the engine is spinning faster, nitrous has less and less effect on torque since the engine requires more oxygen just to produce the same amount of torque. At lower engine speeds nitrous instantly adds gobs of torque. At 1500 rpm a 100 hp shot of nitrous adds 350 lbft of torque instantaneously. That's more than enough to destroy a very stout motor and or driveline. At that rpm, it also drastically raises cylinder pressure very close to idle where the risk of detonation is highest. If you do use nitrous oxide to help spool a street turbo, you should use the smallest amount that you can. One nozzle from an eight nozzle 100 hp kit would make 12.5 horses. Twelve and a half horses at 1000 rpm adds about 66 lbft of torque.
Last edited: