As so many of the innovations in the realm of automobiles go, the lineage of performance-enhancing parts traces back to aviation, and such is the case of water-meth injection. And, since water-methanol injection is best used for a more varied approach to air/fuel mixture than factory vehicles, it’s fitting to see the folks at Banks Power make use of the technology for a variety of applications. The company’s new line is called Straight Shot, and it looks to be a state-of-the-art development.

The Straight Shot water-methanol injection system uses microprocessors to help fuel burn more completely in an engine.

Catching up with Gale Banks at the recent SEMA Show gave us all we could imagine about the Straight Shot system, and then some. “Our big push is the use of microprocessors,” he explained. “With the microprocessors and the right sensors, you can do virtually anything. What we do is map the engine demand on a dynamometer and ‘perfect the curve,’ if you will, so that the flow point and intercept point are in sync.”

This permits the injection of water-methanol to be the happy medium to an engine; it’s not undersupplying the engine with too little, and it’s not oversupplying the engine with too much. “Run too little, and it can’t perform at peak efficiency,” Banks offered. “Run too much, and you’re wasting the water-methanol mixture. The ideal state of water-methanol injection suppresses detonation and helps the fuel burn completely inside the combustion chamber.”

Making more power is the name of the game at Banks, and evidence of this could be seen in a 4.0-liter, straight-six motor on display at the booth. “We looked at what these Jeep owners were doing, we wanted to offer them good, controllable torque so there aren’t any turbo-lag surprises when rock-crawling,” said Banks.

The architecture of the motor has an outside air intake that flows into the turbocharger’s inlet. The geometry requires the movement of the idler pulley and alternator out of the way to make room for the turbocharger, yet the overall appearance comes across as OEM-like thanks to Banks’ one-piece mount. A bung was placed on the pipe leading from the water-to-air intercooler for water-methanol (or straight water) injection, too.

All in all, the water-meth injection kit is an awesome development to see coming out for the diesel and off-road markets. Find out more about Banks Power by telephone or computer with the provided contact information below.