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octane booster.... fact or fiction...

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Posted by: devilchild

i was curious if octane booster actually works or not....

if it does ..is it even worth it ??

plus.. most say use on full tank.. can you use half bottle on half tank??

or is it more harmful than helpful ??

gas stations around here used to sell 97 octane ..but i cant find one anymore.. so i was looking for the next best option

any and all help/opinions are appreciated

Posted by: kustomizingkid

What do you need a higher octane gas for?

Posted by: unity

A higher octane is not better if the car is not tuned for it. IN theory it equals a horse power gain, not much and not worth it though.

Posted by: devilchild

well,.. since premium is recommended... i figured it wouldnt hurt to put in 97 if i could find it... or the 93 with booster... i was always told it just burns cleaner the higher the octane

and sometimes the dimwits pumping gas(not me.. i live in jersey) accidentally start to put in regular before i notice and get out to choke them.. so i figured if that ever happens again i could just get a bottle of booster to equal it out

Posted by: unity

OK, well in that case it may help then. Really a tank or so of low octane wont hurt, its just the computer may adjust timing - later on it has to adjust again. So its not optimal but should do no damage. I know there are a few here that put low octane in even the the compression ratio of these engines says to use high octane!

I was thinking you wanted to add it all the time. For the cost of booster for a year you could get some mechanical add-ons or a chip that would work a LOT better - but I think ya know that

Posted by: MediumD

Octane boosters that you find at Autozone in the ~3 ounce containers are fiction. Look at it this way... to bump 18 gallons (2304 oz) of 93 octane gas up to 94 octane, a 3 oz booster would need to be almost 900 octane... And even if it worked, 94 octane isn't going to do a thing for a stock car over 93 octane. What does work to boost octane is mixing in up to 25% or so of xylene or toluene (which off the top of my head are around 119 and 117 octane or so, respectively,) but again it will do nothing in a stock car, and gets expensive pretty quick.

Posted by: turborich

93 octane? You should be happy. All we have here is 91 octane or 100 octane race fuel for $7.00 a gallon! My mark runs great on the premium 91 octane though. You don't need 97 octane. I understand your idea of wanting to use the best though.

What's up? you guys can't pump your own gas???

Posted by: Roadboss

I use 94 Octane from Sunoco exclusively.

Posted by: Frat-man-du

I use CAM2 Purple as I need 99+ Octane for the T-birds but they are carb'ed. My Mark gets 93/94 from Sunoco... the 94 seems to be going away that sux.

If the owner's book says 87 run 87 if, it says 91 run 91. and unless you have a chip or comupter mod anythng else is a waste and may, over time, cause damage.

Posted by: brentalan

I once heard that the CHEAP octane boosts you find at Wal-Mart will leave deposits if you use them frequently enough. The "good" ones work, but I don't think you'll get any benefit from these products anyway in our cars. If what I heard is true...its not worth the risk. Anyone confirm this?

Sunoco is dumping 94 because they have the ability to sell 91 and 93 instead of 93 and 94. With gas prices the way they are it makes no sense from a marketing perspective to sell 93 and 94. Most cars call for 91, but in NJ all that can be found is 93. If you have a car that calls for 91, you can now go to Sunoco and save a few pennies. Smart move on their part from the bean counters but sad day for the guy that wants to squeeze out that 1 point

Posted by: glanga

I pump my own gas here sometimes because I've had too many problems with certain stations. It is a law in NJ but I don't see them stopping motorcyclers for filling their own tank or someone filling up a cherry can.

Posted by: ONEBADMK8

I pump my Wifes gas as well as mine I dont trust them doing it. I use Sunoco 93 across the board.

Posted by: slickemhoundd

Citgo 93 all the way the indians love me wash my windows and always look in my lap lookin for something thinking im going to shoot them. No idea why. Ive tried various octane boosters in stock cars once in my mark ive never notice a god damn thing but worse gas mileage

Posted by: devilchild

i remember not too lond ago Sunoco used to sell 97 at certain stations.. but not anymore.. and i havent even seen 94 lately....

and people around here know about super Wawa's.. their premium is 92 which is why they are always a cent or two cheaper than anyone else..

i do have a chip.. so if that changes what octane im supposed to use let me know...

as for right now.. since i barely remove the car from the driveway.. i just figured it wont dent my wallet too much to put higher octane fuel in..

and im guessing that putting better fuel in would help since the car sits a few days at a time between starts

Posted by: brentalan

Speaking very generally the chips are tuned to take advantage of 93. Geno probably knows better assuming its his chip you are using?

Posted by: unity

The person who tuned the chip for you should have asked the octane of gas you use and tuned accordingly. But being off by 2 octane or so is not a big deal.

Posted by: MediumD

Quote:

Originally Posted by devilchild

and im guessing that putting better fuel in would help since the car sits a few days at a time between starts

See this is the thing. Higher octane fuel is not necessarily better fuel at all. Within the same brand of gasoline, the additive packages are the same, the only actual difference is that the higher octane fuel will not knock as much in high compression engines with a lot of timing (97 octane would probably be appropriate for a 12:1 4v mod motor with pretty heavily advanced timing.)

Posted by: unity

MediumD. For the most part you are very right. But there is one difference for sure. Most gas stations, at least around here, do not mix ethanol in the premium, just in the mid and low grade. So many, like me, thats a big deal the reason why I always stick with premium.

Some stations, the cheap ones, mix ethanol in all of them!

Posted by: kustomizingkid

Quote:

Originally Posted by glanga

I pump my own gas here sometimes because I've had too many problems with certain stations. It is a law in NJ but I don't see them stopping motorcyclers for filling their own tank or someone filling up a cherry can.

I'm confused, doesn't everyone pump there own gas, or is there some weird NJ thing about pumping gas?

Posted by: Moes8

Quote:

Originally Posted by kustomizingkid

I'm confused, doesn't everyone pump there own gas, or is there some weird NJ thing about pumping gas?

Nj law says you cant pump your own gas....???

Posted by: MYTURN

Everyone here needs to go back to basics and first try to understand what octane is. It is simply an ADDITIVE, whether put in by the manufactuers like Sunoco or you buy it. This additive resists the ability for the engine to pre ignite and or possibly detonate. What it does is slows the rate of burn down, you maybe can say it supresses the combustion. The only benefit from raising the octane points in your gas for your motor would come from not preigniting(which means your spark and flame front has already reached its peak power BEFORE the pistons meets the top of the compression stroke.Detonation is the next thing that happens in a more extreme case of preignition. The flame front starts and burns quicker and at the point of explosion the pistons is going up and the explosion is pushing down, than bam, it pushes a head gasket cause the pressure needs to go somewhere. By raising compression(which can be done naturally or with a supercharger) or by adding a chip(start your spark earlier in the stroke which makes more power because you want that flame front explosion to be right on the impact when the piston goes down for max power) this will require more octane rating to slow down the flame. THAN power can be had. As for the additives, people used to put moth balls in there gas. If you have turbos or superchargers on your car than you know that methanol injection has an octane rating of 120. I am sure the cheap bottles do there job, it only has to slow the burn. It is NOT A MAGICAL POWER IN A BOTTLE. Run only what is recommended or you are waisting your money. Long term use of lower than recommended octane is not good, and will cause pitting on your pistons or destroy your spark plugs that may lead to more troubles. My ride has preignition on 87 octane(sounds like marbles in a glass jar).

Hope i helped - Class dismissed

Posted by: papa bear

What i did for a cleaner burning fuel was to add two bottles of rubbing alcohal and a bottle of heet to the tank ,this was for cars that would not pass emisions and this got them to pass, as for octane booster your better off saying your money

Posted by: devilchild

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moes8

Nj law says you cant pump your own gas....???

yup.. its state law... most stations will let you if you chose to.. but some are testy about it.....

i believe NJ and Oregon.. are the only states where gas stations are full service ( meaning you dont have to get your lazy a$$ out to pump)

Posted by: Jayce 1971

Wow

Full service and 93 octane! I have to search here just to find 91. Most stations you find in this area either have 87 or 89 (10% ethanol). I have to buy from BP because they're the only store that sells 91. Cam2 is available, but other than racers, who can afford it? I use that bottled octane booster because I don't always have 91 available. Keep 2 bottles in the trunk, in case I have to buy 89. I was guessing the reason that Lincoln wants you to use the higher octane is the 10.5:1 CR of the engine. Detonation really sucks, and a $1.50 is cheeep insurance.

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