ORIGINAL: Ram Jet
If an engine needs nitro at all it's probably because it has a poorly designed combustion chamber/piston crown combo and/or your compression ratio is too high.
Bill
No... if an engine needs nitro then odds are that the compression ratio is too *low*, not too high.
A high compression ratio will cause pre-ignition when nitro is added to the fuel and will run better with low/no nitro.
The reason most US engines are designed for nitromethane is simply because it makes engines much easier to tune.
Using a no-nitro fuel has a number of benefits including a lower rate of fuel consumption, less corrosion of engine internals and lower price.
I've been brewing my own fuel for nearly 50 years now and can't believe how much money people pay for store-bought stuff.