.
.
Last edited by Hanssen26; 05.25.25 at 10:05 PM.
Tim, two reasons they want a spec fuel: 1) to balance the Honda engine performance playing field so that everyone is getting "equal" power from the fuel, and 2) because it makes it much easier to test each racer's fuel for cheating.
The tech people know the chemical "fingerprint" properties of the Sunoco fuel (dielectric constant, density, RVP, reagent reactions, etc), making it easier to confirm if a competitor has illegally added any performance improvers.
Side note: Illinois and Wisconsin pump gas at 93 octane contains approximately 10% ethanol. My guess is the Sunoco 93 has no ethanol.
Last edited by Jon Jeffords; 05.10.25 at 9:15 AM.
10% ethanol will make about 4-6 hp less than 100% gasoline. There are fewer simply fewer BTUs in ethanol than gasoline.
“Racing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.” -Peter Egan
Track prices for Sunoco 93 are higher than regular retail, although the usual markup is usually only about $3 to $5 per gallon which in some cases is actually well worth it if you don't want to go tooling around town with 30 gallons of gasoline in your trunk. So on the face of it it does seem a bit excessive.
But that's how modern "pro" racing "sponsorships" work, especially when said "pro" series can't skim $1 million. For instance, in F1600 we pay a bit of a premium for our spec tires, even though they're identical to the club-racing tires that are on average $150 a set less from non-series tire dealers. But, we get good service each weekend, they make sure to stock more than enough tires, and they give away up to a dozen a weekend as part of the prize package.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)