Hi,

I'm thinking about NOS for my fabia vRS.

I found this, seems to be getting good reviews

Diesel Cars

anyone got it or is it advisable etc? let me know your thoughts please

and is it as simple as just buying the kit in that link or would additional kit be required etc cause when it comes to engines its kinda over my head! lol

Cheers

Why?

You wont be able to use it legally unless on a track.

Excuse my ignorance......I thought you could declare it to insurance?

Or is this a NO NO mod in insurers minds? I don't know the in's and outs' as such.

I take it people have it just put it in and say nothing?

It's not the insurance issue, although many will not insure you with NOS limiting your choice, and bumping the price.

But you cannot use NOS on the roads under normal driving. You are only allowed to use it on tracks and private land.

So why bother burning £400 unless your after a killer 1/4 mile time at santa pod?

Fair point I suppose really. Tho I know of one or two people who do use it on the open roads here, what can happen if caught? Is it a Police matter etc?

I didn't know it was illegal to run it on public roads. Doesn't Devonutopia have it on his mongrel TDI Fabia. He also injects propane to add more fuel (diesel will just make it smoke) and now water/methanol to keep things cool. It produces around 260 BHP.

The views on punishment seem very grey. There's also the issue of legal requirement of having a compressed gas sticker. It'd likely void your insurance, as your insurance will probably cover it to be installed, but not being used.

But like they say in fast and the furious, NOS is for people that dont know how to drive properly.

LOL....like the fast and furious quote.

Thanks gadgetman

From Wizards of NOS FAQ.

Q) Is nitrous legal on road cars? WON team, who single handedly convinced the insurance industry, to reverse the anti-nitrous position that they held up to a few years ago. In general the legality of nitrous use on the road varies from country to country, even within the EU. Furthermore there is no relevant law in the Highway Code or the MOT handbook prohibiting the use of nitrous injection. It should be remembered that just as with any tuning modification, the owner must inform their insurance company and obtain adequate cover, otherwise any performance modification would be illegal. Therefore the only way you will break the law by having your street car fitted with a nitrous kit in the UK, is if you fail to inform your insurance company that you have done so. Insuring a nitrous injected vehicle has become even easier than it was when WON first joined forces with Adrian Flux, because other insurers (like Greenlight Insurance) have also started offering cover for nitrous equipped cars.

There is a degree of confusion over the need to have a hazard warning sticker on the outside of the car. We previously explained that nitrous oxide is neither a flammable nor a hazardous gas but it is a relatively highly pressured oxidiser. Whilst there is a legal requirement for commercial vehicles to display a suitable sticker, this same rule does not apply to private vehicles, which are not even obliged to display a green compressed gas sticker. However, displaying such a warning sticker might well be advantageous to you and the emergency services, if you were unfortunate enough to be involved in any kind of accident, as this would inform them that you were carrying a container of compressed oxidiser in your car.

A) In the UK nitrous oxide use is legal on road cars (contrary to what many people believe, including some police officers)

Good points in that FAQ there.

So would any other engine components have to be changed to run NOS or whats the scores on the doors?

It's not the insurance issue, although many will not insure you with NOS limiting your choice, and bumping the price.

But you cannot use NOS on the roads under normal driving. You are only allowed to use it on tracks and private land.

Not true as far as Im aware. I looked into just before I had it fitted to my Focus and I was advised I shuld display the relevant chemical sticker on the boot of the car - that was the only requirement. The local police certainly knew the car had NOS - they used to pull me over just to ask what I'd done to it and the insurance was aware also. I did however have a key lockout on the system to stop anyone else using it (if it was stolen etc) and the insurance company were more than happy with this.

Lee

Yup, what these two have said, all perfectly legal for road use

There was a test on fifth gear a while back where they fitted NOS to a Golf 1.9D Auto and it went like a rocket. Can't remember what they said about the legalities.

But if it's legal and you have the money and want to do it... then go for it!

What sort of performance gain would you expect from it?

Also what if the system was just for off-road use. Would it still need to be declared to your insurance company?

Phil

Well, I'd generally trust "Wizards of NOS" to give good advice; they have the same sort of reputation for NOS kits that Awesome do for "conventional" VAG tuning. If they say it's road legal, it will be.

Phil, with the note that the fuel system and internals have to be able to stand the extra fuel delivery required and power generated, you buy NOS kits as "+ N bhp", so there's no reason other than the risk of escaping conrods, why you shouldn't get whatever sort of gain you want. If you're significantly interested,, I'd have a browse around the WNOS website (qv), but I'd not go past about +40bhp on a 1.3l personally.

For the OP, if you're going ahead with this, would you keep us posted please?

If you're significantly interested,, I'd have a browse around the WNOS website (qv), but I'd not go past about +40bhp on a 1.3l personally.

More curiosity really but if I were to ever do it I wouldn't really want to go past +20 or 30bhp tbh and it would be rarely used.

Phil

I'd stick to a 30-40bhp shot on that car personally. Consider a 'maximiser' or similar control unit to 'feed it in rather than just give it in one big bang (nicer for the drivetrain and traction) and I'd 100% recommend specifying a bottle heater in this country. Depending on the ambient temps, without such a device, you'll find that your 40bhp shot may actually be a 70bhp shot. :eek:

Also be aware that, depending how much you use it, it can become costly.

I used to pay around £52 for a refill and it would last approx one and a half minutes. Then again it was a 70bhp shot so the jets will flow more at any one time.

Lee