WEBVTT - What type of gas do race cars use?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuffworks dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question. Do

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<v Speaker 1>race cars use gasoline like normal cars do or do

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<v Speaker 1>they use something else? It depends on the type of

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<v Speaker 1>race car you're talking about. For example, NASCAR engines burn

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and ten octane leaded gasoline, Indy cars burn

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<v Speaker 1>pure methanol also known as wood alcohol, top fuel, dragsters

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<v Speaker 1>and funny cars burn nitromethane. Each of these fuels has

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<v Speaker 1>advantages and disadvantages. For example, the methodol fuel used in

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<v Speaker 1>Indie cars has the advantage that it can run at

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<v Speaker 1>extremely high compression ratios, meaning more power and the engines

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<v Speaker 1>able to handle TERMO charging easily. Methodol also has a

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<v Speaker 1>nice safety feature. You could extinguish a methodol fire with water.

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<v Speaker 1>Hundred and ten octane gasoline also handles high compression well.

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<v Speaker 1>Nitro Methane is basically a liquid explosive and contains a

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<v Speaker 1>great deal of energy per unit volume. It has more

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<v Speaker 1>than twice the energy is a similar amount of gasoline.

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