Alright, I posted something about this a while back, but Id like to get some discussion going and hopefully get some answers.
Do octane boosters really do anything?
On the yes side:
-The head service advisor at my work has told me that yes, 100% they do work, since he used to race motorcycles and his engines would ping without it all the time
-Option magazine did a test and rated NOS brand octane booster #1… I didnt actually see the article though
On the no side:
-Adam says it will only raise the octane rating by about 0.3, and obviously he knows his stuff.
Well if you do some simple math you can sorta figure out that a 1/2 L bottle won’t add much ‘boost’ to a 60L tank. Now the mortorcycle may notice a bigger difference because his gas tank is alot smaller. If you require a high octane fuel then run with Sunoco. Beyond that you will have to run with race gas.
Well Im not asking whether octane booster could be a replacement for high octane fuel, but rather Im looking for a more technical explaination of whether it does/does not work and why.
One example is called “Super 104+ Octane Boost”. From their website:
"Question: Why do you call it “104+”? Is it because it boosts the octane to 104?
Answer:
That’s how we got started. In the “good old days” when gas was gas, it was possible to add 104+ to regular pump gas and get a 104 octane. Of course, that’s when you could find regular pump gas with a 96 or 98 octane rating. Not anymore."
Well, i guess that answers some of that… but using that logic, it should still make the fuel act 6 points higher than it is. Does it make 91 octane fuel act like 97? Id guess no, but Id like to know why.
btw, it does say that one bottle treats up to 75 litres of fuel.
Keeping that in mind, and speaking strictly in mathematical terms, if you want 4 points you need 10 bottles (0.4 *10=4.0) seems logical enough, but for some reason it doesn’t make sense.
There has to be some sort of benefit to these boosters otherwise it wouldn’t be selling, wether it’s simple piece of mind or an actual improvement in engine responce who knows? It all looks like bull to me.
"Turbo 108 Octane Boost (16 oz.)
Turbo 108 Octane Boost increases motor octane for added performance. Increases motor octane, research octane, and anti-knock effectiveness. This racing fuel concentrate will not harm catalytic converters"
anti-knock effectiveness?!?! You gotaa love that one.
"With regards to using octane boosters, sure, if you use enough of the right one, it will raise the octane, however, we advise never using octane booster unless your only other choice is to walk. This is because it leaves a pink to purple residue on most thigns it touches, such as your spark plugs & O2 sensors, shortening their service life & causing idle detriment in a short period of time. Don’t use it even just once is how I feel. It’s not that octane booster will actually harm anything, but it leaves that residue & shortens service life of those kinds of parts. It’s also going to be very expensive to pour in enough octane boost to raise 87 octane to at least 91, let alone trying to get 85 or 86 octane up that high.
just use that trick they were talking about on FA… you can buy it real cheap from paint stores and you just mix it in with your fuel, it raises octane to about 100~ i cant remember the chemical name, im sure someone knows it.
Either that or use water injection, since water has infinite octane, you only need to add a little bit to raise the octane signifcantly. DO NOT POUR WATER IN YOUR GAS TANK!!! it has to be very lightly sprayed into the intake manifold WITH THE GASOLINE… lol… i’ve heard of people just pouring it in and expecting it to mix… ya… NO.
also good thing about water injection is it can come on at high RPM / Load only…
i think that might be too much, i know you can buy kits. Its very popular on the MR2 boards. Those thigns run very hot, and since we dont have very efficent I/C the water injection also cools down the cylinder and intake temps a LOT.
