RAD951

I went today to buy a gallon of that Toluene paint stuff. I was a bit weary at first, putting something for the use of painting houses in my porsche gas tank. But went ahead and did it. I poured a gallon of that stuff in 1/4 tank of gas. Drove around a bit, and I started noticing less hesatation right away. The car has more preboost power or less lag. I don't think its my imagination or placebo effect, but I do notice a difference. I was running on 16 psi of boost. I don't understand the thing about more octane = less detonation. Doesn't Octane make gas more violatile or explosive? How come after adding octane, it doesn't detonate,or detonates less? I thought it would be the opposite?

Danno

Well that's because the octane rating IS a measurement of knock-resistance, and that's all it is. There are rationalizations on volatility, flame-front propagation, density, etc. But all those are independent or semi-related properties that can also be custom-tailored as well.

Read up on the chapters in my Fuel-FAQ on my <a href="http://members.rennlist.com/951_racerx" target="_blank">951 RacerX website</a> for the low-down on fuels.

There use to be an Aussie site comparing the relative merits of those little bottles of over-the-counter octane boosters in auto-parts stores. Which basically summarized that they were all worthless. But it's no longer up. Anyone have an archive of that review?

pedro951

a gallon for a 1/4tank seems like alot. are there any drawbacks/dangers from too much?

RAD951

No, I don't think so. 1/4 tank is about 3 gallons. 3 gallons of 92 plus 1 gallon of 110 octane. Here is the formula, (3 x 92)+(110) /4 = 96.5 octane gas. Still not very much octane gas if I plan to run 18psi of boost safely, I think.

toddk911

Thanks to Dannos site I have done a lot of esearchon fuels and specifically Toluene.

Rad, Tolune is actually 114 octane not 110.

I have also researched Xylene as it is very close to Toluene. Octane is 117 and easier and cheaper than Toluene. The only diference I found is,and I can't rememebr which, maybe Danno knows, but one is C6 H4 and the other is C7 H8. Would Xylene have the higher hydrogen content, thus having higher octane ??

lobis

I put some in my 928 and could tell it picked up a little faster. I talked to a guy in a paint shop and he was telling be about stuff they used to use but it is illegal now. The Xylene stuff he said was drier than the toluene. So the toluene would be safer because it has more lubricants in it. Where I live they were both a little over $8 a gallon. exact same price for each one, at two diffrent stores.

Danno

Your car IS NOT A TWO-STROKE!! You don't need any lubricants mixed in with your fuel.

The only reason those over-the-counter little bottles of crap octane-boosters you get at auto-parts places have 1)ATF for lubrication and 2)mineral spirits for cleaning is that they use organo-metallics. Besides behing highly carcinogenic, they LEAVE DEPOSITS in your engine. The lube is to help your rings slide over these deposits and help your valve-seats slide them out. The mineral spirits is a solvent that then tries to remove the remaining deposits from your engine.

If you use a clean, pure hydrocarbon octane booster, not only do you get 10x the octane boost per dollar as those other stuff, you'll have a much cleaner engine as well...

user 8430

Where can you get toluene or octane?

toddk911

Kgain,

Toluene a paint store usually. Xylene is at Home Depot etc. and I have found to be cheaper.

Danno, What is Acetone? Can it be used as a octane booster?

In terms of cost Danno is on the money, no pun
intended. Those little octane bosters are 4-5 dollars for 16 oz and f you read the active ingrediant it usually says methylbenzene, which I found out is just another name for Toluene.

Alan C.

Maybe I missed it but did someone point out the fine print?

The 104 Octane Boost or whatever they market it as has a catch. You will note that they state 'up to 8 points' As in zero point 8 or 0.8.
In other words they are quite content for you to think 8 units not 8 tenths.

Depending on your area you may also want to look into a 50/50 blend of race gas. I run 93 octane with 110 and count on 100 final. In Cincinnati I can get 93 for $1.60 this weekend and 110 for $4.10. That works out to 2.85 per gallon. Not bad.

eugene

Hello Alan C.

Your effective Octane is 101.5 (based on your 50/50 of 93 and 110 )

I assume that you know that. Just in case.

BTW, have you run the car with the " New " engine ? Did it come out the way you wanted ?

Good luck.

Alan C.

Eugene,

Thanks, I usually figure a little low to be safe.
The engine has turned out as planned. I go to the dyno this Monday to set the fule curve.

Did a leakdown last weekend and the engine is at abut 2% with 3 hrs. on it. That compares well to the near 30% at 3 hrs. from Bodymotion.

The install by Dave Bearman was an excellent job.
No hack meister stuff. The previous engine had a sewage coupling on the inlet to the turbo. Although I guess that was appropriate for the level of workmanship <img src="graemlins/nono.gif" border="0" alt="[nono]" />

I'll post what I get next week.

Alan

86944turbo

I've used those 104 octane booster things till I had a valve stick shut 'cause of it. Sunoco GT-plus unleaded has a tremendous amount of toulene in it. Smells great. I've been told, but do not know for sure, that Sunoco GT-plus has no Dinosaurs in it. I had a barrel around for over a year and a half (kept in cool garage away from sunlight) and found no deterioration. While it is not cheap, I consider it insurance for runs of 20lbs. boost through all gears and 7000 rpm shift points.

pig4bill

You get Sunoco in California? Do they have it down south?

Danno

I've seen it in Vegas. Don't know where in California though...