Water Injection: Pros and Cons

[Sig]

Those who have opinions on water injection as a means for cooling a charge, please comment!

 

[sjs]

A godsend in the old days of draw-through carbureted turbo systems like my Z, but today a bandaid for an otherwise sub-optimal setup like the Ford Lightning with a chip upgrade. Not that it’s the worst thing you could do, but nor is it the best. I’ve wondered how much of the intake charge must be displaced to achieve a given amount of cooling. Probably not much, and the fact that the resulting charge is more dense may mean that you still get the same amount of fuel to burn. Anyway, it works well enough if properly controlled, and if you have an AEM, Motec, etc. then no need for it to cost $900. I just think it should be a last resort rather than a primary component. I’ve considered using mine for extreme conditions, having it triggered only when the IAT exceeds a certain threshold or knock is sensed. But I'll probably spray the outside of the intercoolers instead.