Nitrous System Upgrade - Testing Day

There's always room for improvement, the saying goes, and who are we to argue? On the other hand, our pal Dave Stoker was generally happy with the performance of his '67 Nova SS. Stoker has owned and raced his Deuce for eight years, and for six of those, many of his runs have been made on the squeeze. The car is a solid mid-11-second performer; last time out, in fact, Stoker ripped off a 7.19 eighth-mile, which ended his racing night, since the '67 has no 'cage. Stoker was running a bare-bones, old-school NOS Cheater system bought years ago. Would an injection of upgrades from the NOS catalog yield even better performance? We decided to find out.

The proof is in the numbers, so we'll only briefly explain what we did before moving on to the results. In general, NOS' extremely popular Cheater nitrous system hasn't changed in the years it has been on the market. Accordingly, our upgrades here mirrored the upgrades NOS has made. We replaced Stoker's old-style 10-pound bottle and high-flow valve with a new blue bottle and high-flow valve. More importantly, as you'll see, we also ordered two sets of NOS' Precision SS stainless steel jets to replace the motley assortment of old brass jets Stoker was running.

We also added some features that we consider nitrous necessities, even though they don't come in the basic kit. Chief among these is the blow-down tube, a safety measure you should have--and one tech inspectors will demand. Installing a purge kit was a bit of a challenge, but install it we did, since making sure the system is free of trapped air helps ensure consistent performance. Finally, we decided to try out the latest and greatest from NOS, the recently introduced P.O.D. system. According to NOS, the P.O.D. (Pressure on Demand) system seeks to take the guesswork out of maintaining correct bottle pressure. Long story short, the P.O.D. setup monitors bottle temperature and pressure through a transducer, and controls a bottle heater to automatically maintain a specified pressure. This is the most important of the system's many functions, since consistent bottle pressure is crucial to extracting maximum performance from a nitrous system.

In our case, however, the biggest key to max performance turned out to be a simple set of jets. Unlike the worn brass jets he'd been using, the new Precision SS jets came in precisely matched sets. Using the Cheater system jet chart, Stoker was able to dial in his nitrous shot with a much greater degree of accuracy. After a day at the track, running the various combos, Stoker was rewarded with a new fast e.t. And isn't that what it's all about when you're hittin' the juice? Read on to see the results of this nitrous re-do.

The primary duty of NOS' P.O.D....        read full caption The primary duty of NOS' P.O.D. (Pressure on Demand) system is to maintain constant bottle pressure. It comes with this palm-sized controller, which allows the user to set the target pressure and temperature, check the actual figures, and work the remote bottle opener.

Dave Stoker likes to keep...        read full caption Dave Stoker likes to keep his Cheater system hidden, so adding a purge valve required some creative thinking. Luckily, the purge solenoid fit within the air-cleaner housing with the rest of the works. With just a bit of bending, the purge tube was routed through the passenger-side windshield washer.

Precision SS jets are made...        read full caption Precision SS jets are made from stainless steel rather than brass. According to NOS, the tolerances are much more precise and won't change with wear and usage. Each and every jet is flow-tested before it leaves the factory.

Test Day Video

Windows | Quicktime

1. P.O.D. hookup is simple, requiring only a constant power source and a switched source.

2. The main controller box is mounted near the nitrous bottle; the black cable connects the controller to the controller/programmer unit.

3. By the time this story hits the stands, you'll be able to connect a progressive nitrous controller into the P.O.D. system, and even control it with the same keypad.

4. The nitrous pressure transducer allows the P.O.D. to monitor the actual bottle pressure.

5. A traditional pressure gauge provides a second way to check bottle pressure. 6. The P.O.D. also controls a remote bottle opener.

7. Bottle temperature is monitored via a temperature probe, placed under the heater straps.

8. The bottle heater is automatically cycled on or off as needed to maintain constant bottle pressure.

9. A blow-down tube provides an added measure of safety.

Dave Stoker brought along...        read full caption Dave Stoker brought along his own pit crew, namely his dad, Terry. The elder Stoker handled the multiple timing alterations we made during our testing, as well as the jet changes.	With the addition of a remote...        read full caption With the addition of a remote bottle opener and a heater, changing jugs became slightly more complicated. On the other hand, the performance benefits of using a heater to keep bottle pressure consistent weren't lost on Stoker.