ChrisJ951

Anyone out there ever put octane boosters in with a new tank of gas? I'm thinking of putting 104+ in my 86 951.

Brett Jenkins

waste of money, will not give you 104 octane

streckfu's

At most, they've been found to add .1 to the octane of fuel. So for $3.99 fo can get 93.1.... Huge waste of money.

Jakerx

^^ what he said. if you want 104 octane gas, you'll have to buy actual 104 octane gas.

hacker-pschorr

Even if it did work, what do you hope to gain by running 104 octain gas? If your car is heavily modified, please ignore this question.

Gas station down the road from me sells 110 racing fuel.


I think this stuff stays on the maket because they do act as a good fuel injector cleaner. Take some older car that is running sluggisth. A mis-informed consumer pours in 104 octain boost to "wake up" the car. The result is cleaner injectors, and a car that "feels" faster - presto, a happy customer.

Fishey

FORMULA 1
Toulene
R+M/2...114
Cost...$2.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...94.2 Octane
20%...96.4 Octane
30%...98.6 Octane
Notes: Common ingredient in Octane Boosters in a can. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. Often costs $3-5 for 12-16 ounces, when it can be purchased for less than $3/gal at chemical supply houses or paint stores.

FORMULA 2
Xylene
R+M/2...117
Cost...$2.75/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...94.5 Octane
20%...97.0 Octane
30%...99.5 Octane
Notes: Similar to Toulene. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. Usually mixed with Toulene and advertised as *race formula*.

FORMULA 3
Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE)
R+M/2...118
Cost...$3.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...94.6 Octane
20%...97.2 Octane
30%...99.8 Octane
Notes: Oxygenate. Very common in octane booster products. Has lower BTU content than toulene or xylene, but oxygenate effect makes the gasoline burn better and produce more energy.

from
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octanebooster.html

ChrisJ951

I figured they were a joke. There are a few Shell stations in Atlanta that sell 100 octane and I'll most likely go there, but wanted to see what you guys thought of the additives.

linust

Check out this page for more on the use of toluene as an octane booster. You'll have to drill down a few links, but short story is toluene was the main component of the trick fuel in Formula 1 back in the 80s. The costs/gallon noted above are a bit out of date...try 2x or 3x depending on how good a source you find (and your volume). Note that 10% means 2 gallons per tank for us.

http://www.elektro.com/~audi/toluene/

special tool

All of my 500 plus rear wheel HP dyno runs were done on 30% xylene and 93 octane pump gas.

FRporscheman

93 octane pump gas.... You can't find that here in CA anymore. It's either 91 (premium) or the uncommon 100.