The History of NOS

[johneroberts]

The use of nitrous oxide (N2O) as a performance enhancement has been traced back to World War II, where it was employed to give Allied aircraft "emergency" boosts in both airspeed and altitude capabilities. However, with the advent of jet propulsion at the end of WWII, the government's interest in piston-powered aircraft waned, and for the most part, nitrous R&D was shelved.
There were sporadic attempts at using nitrous oxide in race cars over the next few decades, but since for the most part it was a clandestine, closely-guarded secret, and not too many people were aware of its existence.

Finally, in the 1970s, nitrous "came out of the closet". It was the hot topic of conversation. Especially since a number of entrepreneurs brought systems to market that were highly erratic, at best. It was at this point in time when a couple of successful automotive technicians and racers, Mike Thermos and Dale Vaznaian, saw there was a potential for nitrous -done right.

In 1978 Mike and Dale formed Nitrous Oxide Systems, Inc., and the rest is history. They didn't invent nitrous oxide -they simply perfected its use and elevated it to a position of prominence in the automotive performance community.

The company's early years were largely spent demonstrating that nitrous oxide was an efficient, safe and reliable form of performance enhancement. NOS has always been known for thoroughly engineering each application (unlike our competition), using only the best quality materials, and producing kits that were easy to install and built for long service. And with enthusiast publications like Hot Rod, Car Craft and Popular Hot Rodding, among many, informing their readerships with in-depth tech features on NOS systems for various applications, the word began to spread.

Perhaps the greatest boost to the popularity of nitrous oxide was the advent of drag racing's Pro Mod class. Early pioneers like Charles Carpenter, Bill Kuhlmann and Robby Vandergriff captured the imagination of race fans with their impressive performances with stock-bodied cars. And NOS was there for every performance milestone -the first 200 mph run by a "doorslammer," the first 6-second run, etc. In fact, every single key performance milestone with nitrous has been set by racers using NOS systems.

Today, with over twenty years experience building nitrous systems for racing and street applications, NOS remains THE dominant force in the industry. A great deal of the company's success can be attributed to its ongoing pursuit of perfection and extensive R&D efforts. Another key factor is the relationships that NOS has forged with leading racers and professional engine builders. Their input has served to keep the company on the leading edge of technology.

As we enter the next millennium, NOS as part of the Holley family, stands ready to serve its customers with the industry's most complete selection of nitrous oxide systems and a technical support team that's often rated as the best in the business.

Overview of products

[Andiroo]

You seem to be posting about NOS quite a lot recently John, anything we need to know about [img]images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Andiroo

[zeke]

Very nice history johneroberts, so is there anybody that you know were we can by a kit for the RS4?
Regards