Fuel Cells for Autocross/Performance.

First and foremost, I have been looking it up, a bladder-type fuel cell is legal in BC and Alberta, but not in the United States on Public Roads. While there's no way an officer would be able to tell you had one, if you get into an accident and someone looks at the fuel tank, you're in trouble.

Now that I've gotten the legal nonsense out of the way, I was wondering if anyone has looked into a bladder-style Fuel Cell for a Fiero, specifically those who do either racing, or high-G cornering rather often. Anyone wondering what a Fuel Cell is, I'll describe what it entails and what the benefits are.

The Fuel Cell is a form of gas-tank that has been in use since 1990, and was interestingly pioneered by Nascar, before being adopted by FIA (Formula-series), LeMans series and ALMS. It was designed after numerous punctures led to fuel being on track, then being ignited by scraping metal of passing cars. Thus, the fuel cell was born.

A Fuel Cell is effectively a plastic bladder, which is surrounded by a soft foam which is then encased in a metal housing. The bladder prevents sloshing, due to the fact when gas is consumed, it shrinks the size of the bladder, which always keeps a fuel pump pulling fuel, even when under high-G's. The foam encasement around the bladder both keeps it steady, as well as acts as a safety device. If any fires start in the tank, the foam will release a cloud of CO2 and extinguish the flame. Last up, the housing contains the foam shell, shields the unit from basic mechanical damage and is the actual mounting point for the unit to attatch it to the car. It can be made of aluminum or carbon fibre (Depending on budget) and has a ground strap attatched to it to discharge static build-up.

The practical advantages of a fuel-cell are of course a constant supply of fuel, regardless of driving, increased safety (Although this is negligable on the Fiero, due to location of the tank) and lastly adjustable size (Again, negligable on the Fiero due to location).

To make a short story long, has anyone attempted this kind of thing for the Fiero yet? If not, is there any interest to do so? Unfortunately, my budget doesn't allow me to pick up a gas tank at Pick-A-Part, but when I can, I'll try and pick one up and rip it apart and look at doing it, if only for a proto-type, to see how difficult it is. If it turns out to be not so bad, I'll post another thread (Or edit this post) with a step-by-step, for member's like Brian, Colby, Allan and anyone else who would benefit from it.

You laugh, but I already made a very-small-scale one while bored using just that. It leaked.

Oh no, in fact, I'd feel bad hacking open a good tank. If anyone has a tank they'd much rather see gone, let me know. Thanks!

Interesting, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I've only ever had problems with lack of fuel supply when my tank is nearly empty, and I'm usually too afraid of running out of gas to let it get that low.

Romeo wrote: Well, as per the design of the Fiero (Long and skinny "Wiener tank") lateral movement isn't all too great a concern, however, physics are physics, and me being the OCD detail-orientated boy that I am, I'd like to do it, even if only to see how much it entails on a Fiero.

Bladder is least your problem, work on your suspension first so you won't get that lateral movement that you have now

Car-2-Lo wrote: Bladder is the least of your problems...

Depends. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.  

 

Patrick wrote: Car-2-Lo wrote: Bladder is the least of your problems... Depends. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

That's what the side of the road's for. Silly Patty...

Option #2...

 

Capt Fiero wrote: Fire it up, then locate the fuel pump fuse and pull it out.  At this point, this replicates the fuel supply being stopped.  Your car does not shut off instantly, it should run for a good 3-4 seconds...

I'm pretty sure anytime I've done that (to reduce fuel pressure prior to changing the fuel filter), the engine dies in about one second. I can't swear to it, but...

 

Romeo wrote: In stock-applications, baffles are great. The Porsche GT3 comes with them too. Wanna know one of the few things the Porsche GT3 gains for race-trim (Cup RS)? A fuel cell.

...that's because the racing rules require the safety of a fuel cell.    It's also a 100L tank too rather than the stock 60-ish litres so they don't need to pit all the time.

fwiw, when I have R-comp tires on my GT3 I can still turn incredible g-loading values while driving my car with the fuel tank on "reserve".  Baffles work fine with no fuel starvation issues.

There's actually quite a few differences between the GT3 street car and the Cup car beyond the fuel tank, but that topic is better discussed over beer and not in this thread.