Yet another perpetual motion gimmick! "Runs on water - produces only water". No claims other than you can buy it. Send me the 5.99, I'll do something better with it - I'll buy gas for my Firebird!
I guess you could do that too but I thought of it first!
This has been a popular "gimmick" since the 60's. You can inject water into the combustion chamber and not do dammage if the amount is small, BUT it has never been PROVEN to boost mileage. Besides, up here in Minnesota, where it is presently -16 F, any water would be frozen and the "pickle jar" storage container would shatter.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
It was proven, back in the late 70's, that a small amount of water misted in with the gas will stabilize combustion. It would be of some 'help' with very high compression engines. It proved especially helpful with Chevy engines with domed pistons.
They used water injection in fighter planes in WWII for emergency power. The problem was that once you used up the water you had also used up the engine.
Water injection, vapour injection, cracking your own hydrogen with a spare coil and using the hydrogen as a "catalyst" during combustion, all that stuff has been around as long as the 200 mpg carb with about the same credibility. If there was any truth to it the car companies would be all over it. EGR was introduced to do what the water was doing with no refilling or freezing of water containers - reducing the temperature of the combustion under light to medium loads to reduce nitrogen oxides, formed when combustion temps get over 2500 F.
And yes it did help with gas mileage, allowing a decent amount of spark advance while preventing pinging.
The phony baloney explanations about fuel injection being tuned for pollution is exactly the opposite of the truth but typical of the unscrupulous trying to baffle the unwashed.
Water injection systems are predominantly useful in forced induction (turbocharged or supercharged), internal combustion engines. Only in extreme cases such as very high compression ratios, very low octane fuel or too much ignition advance can it benefit a normally aspirated engine. The system has been around for a long time since it was already used in some World War II aircraft engines.
A water injection system works similarly to a fuel injection system with the difference that it injects water instead of fuel. Water injection is not to be confused with water spraying on the intercooler's surface, water spraying is much less efficient and far less sophisticated. A turbocharger essentially compresses the air going into the engine in order to force more air than it would be possible using the atmospheric pressure. More air into the engine means, automatically, that more fuel has to be injected in order to maintain the appropriate stoichiometric value of the air/fuel ratio (around 14:1). More air and fuel into the engine leads to more power. However by compressing the inlet air the turbocharger also heats it. Higher air temperatures lead to thinner air and therefore an altered stoichiometric ratio which results to richer mixtures. Over-heated air intake temperatures can cause detonation. Detonation, an effect also known as engine knock or pinging, occurs when the air/fuel mixture ignites prematurely or burns incorrectly. In normal engine operation the flame front travels from the spark plug across the cylinder in a predefined pattern. Peak chamber pressure occurs at around 12 degrees after TDC and the piston is pushed down the bore.
In some cases and for reasons such as a poor mixture, too high engine or inlet temperatures, too low octane fuels, too much ignition advance, too much turbo boost, etc. the primary flame front initiated by the spark plug may be followed by a second flame front. The chamber pressure then rises too rapidly for piston movement to relieve it. The pressure and temperature become so great that all the mixture in the chamber explodes in an uncontrolled manner. If the force of that explosion is severe some of the engine's moving parts (pistons, rods, valves, crank) will be destroyed. Detonation, in any engine, should always be avoided by either lowering inlet temperatures, using higher octane fuel, retarding ignition (hence lowering engine output), lowering engine blow-by (a situation in which high crankcase pressure sends oil fumes back inside the combustion chamber), running the engine a little richer than at the stoichiometric ratio, lowering the compression ratio and/or boost pressure, ... . Water injection is used to lower in-cylinder temperatures and burn the air/fuel mixture more efficiently thus helping avoid detonation.
In high pressure turbocharged engines the air/fuel mixture that enters the cylinders can, in some cases, explode prematurely (before the spark plug ignites) due to the extreme engine environment conditions. This situation is extremely destructive and results in severe engine damage (piston piercing). To avoid damaging the engine by detonation or pre-ignition phenomena, water is injected, along with fuel, in the combustion chambers in order to provide a water/air/fuel mixture which not only burns more efficiently and avoids detonation or pre-ignition but also provides additional inlet air cooling and, hence, denser air. The sole function of water injection is avoiding detonation.
There are mainly three variations of water injection systems. They are dependent of the location of the water injectors. The first technique consists of injecting water at the entrance of the intake manifold. The second injects water at the exit pipe of the intercooler. The third technique injects water at the entry of the intercooler and is only used in competition vehicles. In this latter variation most of the in-cylinder detonation prevention is done by injecting additional fuel which is then used as coolant (i.e. is not burned) and runs the engine above the stoichiometric ratio (i.e. rich).
How water injection works
The system is, usually, made up of 3 elements:
A water injector (similar to a fuel injector)
A high pressure pump (capable of attaining at least 3 to 4 bar pressure and sometimes even more)
A pressure sensor connected to the inlet manifold
An inlet air temperature sensor
Usually a water injection system is engaged when the inlet air temperature is exceeding a certain value, typically 40 degrees Celsius, and the engine is on boost. The most advanced systems add to the above electronic circuitry that provides 3D cartography similar to the one used in fuel injection systems. Cartography based devices take into account many more parameters such air/fuel ratio, throttle position and so on.
Nice info... This is the part I remember... QUOTE: Water injection is used to lower in-cylinder temperatures and burn the air/fuel mixture more efficiently thus helping avoid detonation. It was published in Hotrod magazine in the late 70's. I can actually remember reading it in 11th grade math class(pre-calc). Clear as if it were yesterday..
The water absorbs some of the heat that is released and flashes into steam, keeping the overall temperature down but still using the heat to build pressure in the chamber, so the power is still there without the dangerous high temp.
Remember that the sole purpose of burning gasoline and oxygen is to heat up the inert part of the mixture (nitrogen) along with the waste gases and make pressure in the cylinder to push on the piston. Using the heat released during the burn more efficiently (quickly and at the right time) makes more power. The higher the temperature, the more pressure can be made ( Boyle's Law) but past a certain point (2500 F) other things start to happen. Heat (energy) that is absorbed by converting nitrogen and oxygen to nitrogen oxides is wasted as is pressure that peaks too soon, too late or too slow.
Water injection was de rigueur on the crude turbo systems of the time. Fortunately the car companies solved most of the problems for us with fuel injection and electronic spark control. Intercoolers also helped!
Lead increases octane by slowing the burn down to get the push on the piston for the longest time and makes more power. (Also lets you runn more compression).
Slowing down the burn means that you have to ignite the mixture sooner than a faster burn. That also means that more pressure is building as the piston is still moving up to TDC (negative work) to allow peak pressure at the most efficient time which is about 12 degrees ATDC. The pressure against the piston on the way up decreases the amount of work the engine can do. That's why fast-burn chambers make more power.
If you could have the mixture burn instantly at 12 degrees after TDC you would have the full push against the piston without the negative push BTDC and make more power. If you didn't have to worry about heat being conducted out of the mixture by the metal surrounding it you could have the instant burn at TDC and get a bit more. Of course this is only theoretical because in real life burning takes time and engines aren't adiabatic - yet. But hopefully that helps explain the need for a fast burn.
Octane is a measure of the resistance to self-ignition or detonation, not how fast or slow it burns.
Flash point is the lowest temperature that a flammable liquid can form an ignitable mixture with air. Opposite end of the spectrum, needs an ignition source as opposed to lighting off by itself because of the temperature. Gasoline typically has a flash point of -50 F and a self ignition point of 495 F.
Clear as if it were yesterday.. 
