Water injection

[JollyGoon]

Hi hi...

This question posed to Cecil on Sept 12 2008 reminded me of something that a friend once told me. He said that injecting a mixture of water (and alcohol) into the combustion chamber of an engine will 'allow for greater compression ratios and largely eliminate the problem of engine knocking (detonation). This effectively increases the octane rating of the fuel, meaning that performance gains can be obtained when used in conjunction with a supercharger or turbocharger, altered spark ignition timing, and other modifications.' (wikipedia)
I also followed this link
to a website promoting a ready made mixture for it.
Does anyone know about or has used this type of thing in their car/motorbike/airplane/magic carpet?
Does it really work or is it like that Brown's Gas thingy?
I'm asking coz I feel like I'm buying into it....help, please...

[robby]

Posted too soon...

[robby]

Yeah, it can work, but only in very limited circumstances as outlined in the wikipedia article (i.e. when the throttle is wide open it will allow you to run a leaner mixture than you would otherwise).

Unless you are drag racing, I don't see much use for it in automobile engines. (It was used in WWII aircraft engines during takeoff.)

It is nothing like the Brown's Gas idea, though, which purports to use the water as fuel (which is just bunk).