The Radio Control Nitro Boats operate on a special prepared nitro boat fuel. The mixed blend contains several key components to provide the power, lubrication for longevity, and de-foaming action.
The nitro fuel can be mixed individually, however it is often much more simple to buy the pre-blended fuel at your local hobby store. This approach is recommended.
Nitro Boat Fuel – Oil Content
Nitro boats require an oil content of 16% or higher. Being a vehicle powered through water, a nitro boat engine is constantly under high amounts of load. This higher oil percentage will encourage longer overal engine life.
Nitro Boat Fuel – Content
Nitro percentage can vary quite a bit depending mostly on whether the boat is raced or not. The range best suited for nitro boat engines is from 15% to 65% nitro content. For racing applications, it is common to use a blend that contains 30-65% nitro. For sport boating, it is not necessary to have higher nitro content. 15 to 30% nitro would work well for all boat applications.
High Nitro Vs. Low Nitro
Higher nitro content does lead to higher power as you probably would have expected. Although it has its advantages, there are also disadvantages. The disadvantages to higher nitro content is firstly price. The cost for the extra nitro in the blend does drive cost up. Also, the higher nitro blends requires the engine to burn more fuel consuming more fuel. However, the tune required at these setting have a smaller operational or performance range. What this means is that it is much more difficult to keep a good performing tune with higher nitro content. This makes it more beneficial to a sport boater or new boater to use lower nitro percentages. This will ensure more time running the boat then tuning it for proper operation.