Topic: Octane boost

[snaponbob]

As Jack Webb said in 'Dragnet' (god, I sound SOOOO old) "the facts, ma'am, just the facts".

Who knows what about octane booster and what information is available to back up the information?

[HotScott]

Best thing to do is google it, there is a lot to read out there about Octane Boosters and which work, and which don't.  Over all from what I read, was you were better off paying for a gallon of 100 octane gas ($7.95) then to put in a bottle of octane boost.   I am lucky that within a 20 min ride from my house is a gas station that sells 100 octane unleaded race gas. 

[spicy3480]

I have 110 octane on my corner at $8.49 a gallon...how much of a difference would one gallon in the tank make?

[HotScott]

Roughly calculating, would bring a tank full of 93 octane up to 94.   I think our tanks are 13.3 gallons full.   For me it takes 2 Gallons of the 100 to bring it up to 94+ octane.   Anything over that to me seems a waste, I don't think the tune will take advantage of anything over 94.   Of course Lyndon does have a tune for 100 octane only.   But thats an expensive tank full of gas.   

[lil goat]

I use NOS Race Octane booster or something like that, in tests it was good for about 2 points, although they of course claim a lot more. It was one of the better one's tested and is easy to find

[snaponbob]

Google netted a bunch of good info. If the car was tuned to 98-100 octane, anybody with Sunoco stations would benefit. With the KR function within the ecm software I guess one could obtain a tune for 93 or 94 octane gas and let the KR handle 91 octane for everyday use. But, the flip side is the drive cycles needed to to "learn up" to the higher octane. No simple solutions, huh?

[G8TR]

My car is tuned for 93, as we have plenty available here in Florida. There are Sunoco stations here also, you just can't count on them or I would have mine tuned to a higher octane number. 

[tazz]

Race fuel mix or Torco.
Though the use of too much race fuel if leaded will damage and shorten the life of the O2 sensor because of the lead in the fuel.
Torco
Can be used with no damage to the O2 sensor.
It actually will lower the burn rate of the fuel your using effectively doing the same thing as the higher octane fuel thus allowing for an advance in timing to take advantage of the slower burn for more power with no detonation.  It's not cheap IRRC a 32oz can of Torco is around $60 but can raise the octane level 2 points on 50 Gallons of fuel or something close to that(I dont have the exact figure).  You can use more Torco for X amount of fuel to raise the rating more but then it really does become expensive to use.
Really none of the other Octane boosters work with a higher octane fuel to raise whole points.  Most all of the octane boosters base there gains off 87 octane and not anything higher since the gains are not linear in the higher octane fuels.  Also when most say a 5 point increase they actual mean 5 tenths of a point which would be half of a full point.  So 87 to actually 87.5 would be a 5 point increase to most.
Interesting note is that the stickers you see at the service stations stating the Min Octane Rating is just that and most of the Good Fuel companies there fuel does actually test higher than the Min Octane Rating.  Shell and Amoco usually test 1 point or higher on there top tier fuels so 92 would actually be 93 or lets say 93 would actually be 94.  Though the way the law is written they cannot advertise the fuel rating is higher than the Min.
Best thing would be to be able to use the HTP software to flip tunes  if your going to the track to race and use the higher octane fuel and change the tune for that fuel.  Then when done flip the tune back to the lower octane fuel and fill it up at your Service Station you go to.

[1LILNDN]

Locate a Sunoco Station that sells the Purple pump .They can't advertise anything over 100 Oct. but has been rated at least 104-112 or use Cam-2 . I now and then get 4 gal of purple and top w/93

[lil goat]

Here is the formula:
( Gallons of gas X Octane of gas ) + ( Gallons of Gas X  High Octane rating )
___________________________________________________
                        Total Gallons

(12x93 + 1x110)/13= 94.3 octane       (11X93 + 2X110)/13= 95.6

50/50 with 6.5 gallons of 93 and 6.5 gallons of 110 would be 101.5 octane.

[G8TR]

Thanks for all the help guys. I didn't ever think about the rating is the minimum the fuel can be. That's a great tip that I'll keep in mind. I will definitely use some Sunoco if I see it, just to see if there is a difference.

[DeepBlueGXP]

Good info Goat, Lyndon gave me a tune that said must be 100 or above.  He warned about use on 91 you'll blow the motor. 

Here is the formula:
( Gallons of gas X Octane of gas ) + ( Gallons of Gas X  High Octane rating )
___________________________________________________
                        Total Gallons

(12x93 + 1x110)/13= 94.3 octane       (11X93 + 2X110)/13= 95.6

50/50 with 6.5 gallons of 93 and 6.5 gallons of 110 would be 101.5 octane.

[lil goat]

I was doing some research on the fuels, BE CAREFUL very often 110 is LEADED, I have not seen anything over 104 in unleaded. Leaded will trash your oxygen sensors and your cat, not to mention void your warranty. A 55 gallon drum of 104 unleaded is about $450 if you have a place to keep it.

[G8TR]

Storage would probably be a problem. They have a tendency to be a bit anxious about us storing large quantities of high octane fuel within the city limits, at least as long as we aren't a gas station or business. 

[lil goat]

That's why I am getting my buddy who has a custom bike shop to store it, not to mention the fact I sure as heck don't want 55 gallons high octane gasoline in my garage. They will also ship it in 1 gallon jugs. I think the thing to do if you were going to the track is get down to about a 1/4 tank and then mix and run, they say it takes about 10 miles before you can feel the difference, both learning and clearing the lines of the untreated gas.

[G8TR]

I've got a friend that could probably store at his place, but I'd have to do a whole lot more research before I use it. That's what I love about the Sol guys, y'all are so much more about making this car faster and getting everything out of this car that you can. Most of the Sky people are more about just the ride.

[lil goat]

The car with a stock tune can take advantage of up to about 98 octane, they set the threshold high because they basically want the car to be running with a little KR all the time by design. I have read just going from 93 to 95 you will notice a difference. If you have a Wester's tune he can set it for whatever you want. I have a 100 octane tune, never tried but... Increasing octane with higher octane gas will not damage your car, going with too high an octane will just be a waste of money. Increasing octane with octane boosters CAN cause damage, tolulene actually burns so slowly that in to high a percentage you can actually have fuel still burning as it goes out the exhaust. All gas has some tolulene in it and this is usually only a problem on high reving cars like ours, but you need to be adding a lot of tolulene. Adding a gallon to 12 gallons of 93 should not be an issue at all.

[Deep-GXP]

Some people local to me sell 55 gallon drums of 100 octane sunoco fuel.  I wonder how much that'll run me.   A 76 Gas Station a couple cities away sell 100 octane for $8/gal so i would hope that buying in 55 gallon bulk would lower the price.  Depending on the price of the drum i'll determine if i should get the drum or go with Xylene instead.

[lil goat]

I posted a link in one of the other threads that to the Sunoco site, it was I think $424 for 54 gallon's of the Sunoco 260 GT Plus 104 octane, that's $7.85 a gallon. Here's the link
http://www.worldwideracingfuels.com/category.aspx?categoryID=161


In my on going effort to turn Chuckdoc into a gear head here is some more info, Chuck there will be a test in the morning.

Listed below are the four basic qualities of fuels. As in everything, there are trade-offs. You can't make a racing fuel that has the best of everything, but you can produce one that will give your engine the most power. This is why VP produces different fuels for different applications. The key to getting the best racing gasoline is not necessarily buying the fuel with the highest octane, but getting one that is best suited for your engine.

1. OCTANE: This does nothing more than rate a fuel's ability to resist detonation and/or preignition. Octane is rated in Research Octane Numbers, (RON); Motor Octane Numbers, (MON); and Pump Octane Numbers (R+M/2). Pump Octane Numbers are what you see on the yellow decal at gas stations, representing the average of the fuel's MON and RON. VP uses MON because this test method more accurately simulates racing conditions. The conditions under which fuels are tested using the RON method are not as demanding, thus the number is normally higher than the MON rating. This leads many other fuel companies to rate their fuels using the RON in an effort to make them appear more resistant to detonation. Don't be fooled by high RON numbers or an average -- MONs are the most relevant ratings for a racing application. Be aware, however, the ability of fuel to resist detonation is a function of more than just octane.

2. BURNING SPEED: This is the speed at which fuel releases its energy. At high RPMs, there is very little time (real time - not crank rotation) for fuel to release its energy. Peak cylinder pressure should occur around 20° ATDC. If the fuel is still burning after this, it is not contributing to peak cylinder pressure (which is what the rear wheels see).

3. ENERGY VALUE: An expression of the potential energy in the fuel. The energy value is measured in BTUs per pound, not per gallon. The difference is important. The air:fuel ratio is expressed in weight, not volume. Generally speaking, VP's fuels measure high BTUs per pound and thus, have a higher energy value. This higher energy value will have a positive impact on horsepower at any compression ratio or engine speed.

4. COOLING EFFECT: The cooling effect on fuel is related to the heat of vaporization. The higher a fuel's heat of vaporization, the better its ability to cool the intake mixture. A better cooling effect can generate some horsepower gains in 4-stroke engines, and even bigger gains in 2-stroke engines.

[Frank I]

I use NOS Race Octane booster or something like that, in tests it was good for about 2 points, although they of course claim a lot more. It was one of the better ones tested and is easy to find

Goat:
NOS Race Octane Booster claims up to a 60 point increase which equates to a 6 full octane number  increase, i.e. 10 points equals 1 octane.
From the reports I have read, NOS Race Booster was rated the best and is what I use.  I have tried about everything on the market and the NOS Race version works best for me. 
For those of you considering the purchase of racing fuel in large quantities, don't forget gasoline does go stale so you would have to use it at a relatively quick rate and make sure the container is really sealed properly.   

Frank I

[lil goat]

I use the NOS too, but maybe going for the race gas as I also have a Harley with an 11:1 compression ratio and a high lift cam, I think one of the tests of NOS I read said they saw a actual increase of a bit over 2 points in 21 gallons, so a little beter than that for us.

[G8TR]

Let us know what the results are, I'm sure a lot are interested. 

[Deep-GXP]

Man I am so confussed with this NOS stuff.

Frank I said it claims 60 points = +6 octane rating
lil goat says it is good for 2 points = +2 octane rating
I was told that 1 point = .1 octane rating

Does a bottle of NOS increase your octane by 2 OR 6 octane ratings???

Im stumped!!

[tazz]

The point system is in tenth of a point so in short NO it won't even raise it 1 full point. 
The only products that will raise octane effectively and somewhat cost effectively are Torco, Higher octane Unleaded fuel the best answer if you can find it at a decent cost,
Toluene (sp), Xylene (sp) can also be used but may be hard to find and not really sure on the cost.  Not sure if there are any negative affects on your vehicles system for the last two but I wouldnt try them unless I know for sure nothing will be harmed. 
I still think the best advice would be to have a duel tune which you can switch over from your everyday driving or if you know your going to race get some Unleaded race fuel and switch to that tune.  Anything else is really not practical IMO.  At least that was they way I treated my other vehicle which is basically a Ford Lightning Supercrew for the past 6yrs.  Have duel tunes for street and track but rarely use the track tune since I really dont like spending $8+ a gallon for 100 unleaded octane.

[1LILNDN]

When my girlfriends Dad flew his plane he had 3 drums of Aircraft fuel in his hanger . My 47 and PT were using that every Sat. Nite at least 115 Octane  Fun Fuel .if you have access to that highly leaded