[blc1001]

We are in race karting and we saw a mechanic putting a kind of pill just before the race in the fuel tank... His kid was a lot more fast in that race... We are racing in Rotax 2 strokes engines... What substance coould that be ?
Thanks to everyone

[blc1001]

And if there is a specialist... does it help to get higher octane fuel to help our 2 strokes ?

[Arkcon]

I really don't know how go-cart engines work, but given that they are two stroke, it almost doesn't matter what the fuel is, the inefficiencies are all, "built-in" as it were.  Maybe at go-carting forums, they have more specific information.  Although it is probably useful to keep the engine as maintained as possible: proper spark plug maintenance, clean fuel tank and lines, clean, so far as possible, the combustion chamber.  But whether its better to have high octane fuel, which is slower burning, or lower octane fuel, which ignites faster, I don't know.  I also don't know if modern automobile gasoline, blended with ethanol is helpful for two-stroke engine or not -- although I don't know where you're going to find gasoline without ethanol, or other oxygenate, anyway.  Let us know what go-cart forums suggest.

[fledarmus]

Whether you use high or low octane fuel depends on the compression ratio of your engine. The more you compress the gasoline, the higher an octane level you will need to keep it from exploding before you actually send a spark through the spark plug. That is where you get engine knock.

If your engine isn't knocking, you won't get any advantage out of going to a higher octane.

[blc1001]

OK nobody in karting will help us because stategy wise...
we are running supreme fuel from ragular pump but i think there an additive (not legal) that will help produce HPs

anybody can help ?

[discodermolide]

Could it be this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexamine_fuel_tablet ?

[curiouscat]

Often its some oxygen source.

[Arkcon]

If oxygenates are beneficial, than ordinary (for the US) ethanol-added fuel should be helpful.  But then, you're depriving the engine of real fuel, as ethanol provides less energy density.  I suppose, you could try what was used before ethanol became all the rage -- methyl t-butyl ether.  That fits the description of "illegal", since we don't use that in automobile fuel any more for environmental reasons.  Still, if you're going to use the fuel on a crowded track, maybe you shouldn't be mixing in crazy reagents ad lib.

[billnotgatez]

@blc1001

Could it have been larger than a pill
maybe mothball size
If they did I guess they are looking to change engines
myth-busters found it plausible at one point, but I am not sure
I doubt nitroglycerine tablets as well

[blc1001]

nitro tablet could help ?