If Sunoco bought the rights to get racers to buy their fuel it has totally backfired on them.. Very few people want to use it now.
How many fuels , gas , are available , leaded gas for racing , hard to believe they would be that much different.....let alone cause a misfire or a bog.....
If Vaporization is a problem I would suspect EFI setups to fare better than carb.
How many fuels , gas , are available , leaded gas for racing , hard to believe they would be that much different.....let alone cause a misfire or a bog.....
You can see by the NHRA/IHRA Acccepted Fuels List that there are a number of choices for racing fuel. And there are a lot of differences between brands and blends of leaded race fuel. Each race fuel company, just like each cam or piston manufacturer, has it's own idea of what will make the most power and torque in every application.
And those ideas are based on lots of testing and on science.
But since each company has a different idea of the best fuel for each application, there are tuning differences involved, some very minor, some larger. And that's what you're seeing here in the current problems with the new fuel supplier. A different tune up is required, and once that tune up is finalized, the power levels should be very similar to the old fuel. The Renegade Racing Fuels, while not allowed in Pro or Comp classes, would make as much or more power and torque, but would require a different tune up as well.
However, Comp, like Pro Stock, is given only one choice while other Sportsman classes has an array of choices. Comp doesn't have the Pro Stock budgets.
I may be wrong, however, I can't recall a single Comp team that was involved in the testing of the SR-18 fuel with Sunoco. Lots of teams purchased their own fuel without the help of Sunoco and they their own testing without the assistance of the manufacturer.
Good comments, however, your statement may also imply that the Comp racers have lost their touch in tuning and flogging their engines. As as shared by others, some have lost power, and others have even damaged their engines trying to regain the power levels they had with VP C25.
Similar gains to the VP C25 fuel? A racer would expect the Sunoco fuel to be at least +/- 1% or better in performance when compared to VP C25 fuel.
I don't think anyone lost their tuning skills. And i'm sure that racers and/or engine builders were brought into the development of the new fuels. But like switching brands of tires, there is a difference in design and function. So it takes a different set up to get the same performance. But i have no doubts that the racers in Pro Stock and Comp will figure out the new tune up very quickly.