for those that datalog and have used octane boosters

[nine5raptor]

I was just wondering if anyone had any empirical data on how their knock counts dropped when using xylene or toluene in the tank.
i.e.:
ratio and octane booster used.
max boost level/on what turbo
compression ratio
a/f ratio
fuel system

I should be getting my pocketlogger before too long and will be doing some experimenting with this and water injection, but was wondering what others had found.

 

[nine5raptor]

sorry, thanks for moving...

 

[D33A]

I don't have any numbers, just some feel faster than others. Here is what I've used so far:

Exxon/Mobil 91 gas: I work at an Exxon gas station...I see Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborginis, Bentleys, Aston Martins, Shelby Cobras, etc. come pump gas. I use to use chevron cause they give a portion of their porfits to animal welfare associations. After I notice the exotics use Mobil gas, I thought, if they spend that much on a car, they'd run good gas so if a bunch of them use Mobil, it must be pretty good then. I don't really know why.... Only two of them have added octane boosters.

Nos Off-Road 7-10points- 10 bucks, one ferrari used this brand, not sure if it's the "street", "off-road", or "race" one. Stopped ticking, not much difference. I think the "OFF-ROAD" is for trucks...maybe that's why it didn't work...

Prestone 0-60 10points- One Cobra put 2 bottles of this stuff in his car...so I tried it. 5 bucks a bottle. Seems to work.

 

[stompk]

I just did this myself. by adding one gallon of toluene to a tank of 93 octane gas, I went from mild knock at 16psi to none at 22psi.
If you have the tmo logger software I can email you actual logs.
it's awesome !!

 

[2-0turbo]

I don't know if you call 100 octane fuel and "octane booster", but I ran 20 psi on a ported 14B, stock smic, stock 1G MAS on a summer evening (think 75-80 degrees) with no knock. Pulled great!

 

[nine5raptor]

I was running up to 30% xylene (or toluene, whichever the paint store had) with great results and wondered what others had found. Makes a cheap alternative to buying race fuel at the track. Next up...water injection.

 

[Keaka26]

octane boost is crap. when they say "up to 7 points" thats like going from 91 to 91.7 ....not worth any of the money that they charge for the junk.

If you had 5 gallons of 91 and added one gallon of xylene, that would yield a total octane rating of 95.3 ....and one gallon of xylene isnt expensive either, probably about the same price as that octane boost crap.


ACTUALLY, the main ingredient in octane boost is xylene =) ...

 

[STARION]

wait, so I can just go to a paint store and ask for something called xylene or toluene and just pour it in my tank and its disperses with the gas and boosts octane? what else do I need to know here? and its actually cheaper than race gas? I was at the track yesterday and 110 was 4.50/ gallon.

 

[D33A]

How safe is this xylene or toluene on our engines? Something sold in a paint store and being used in a car just sounds kinda risky...

 

[HighPSI TSi Guy]

Originally posted by D33A
How safe is this xylene or toluene on our engines? Something sold in a paint store and being used in a car just sounds kinda risky...

tolouene is already in your gas.. it's what gives your gas it's octane rating.. more tolouene content = higher octane. it is pure hydrocarbon, and therefore is totally natural to the engine.. also, it is denser than the gas mixture.. tolouene is highly knock retardent.. i would not recommend testing it's limits without an EGT guage, as you can still burn things up without knock... xylene is similar in chemical structure and is also pure hydrocarbon and therefore works the same way. tolouene is 114 octane and xylene is 117 octane.

-Dave
www.vadsm.com