anyone ever heard of this? better mpg this easily? (acetone dreams)

[alika86]

yup, luvmygst is right. I've used the Lucas brand octane booster in the past 3 cars I've had and felt a noticable difference in all of them. Got it from Carquest n Napa. Of course, this is just from the butt dyno, so it COULD be a placebo effect, but i doubt it. i don't back anything if i even doubt it slightly. so yup, there's my $.02

 

[romeen]

I use NOS off road formula with Nitro methane.....one bottle per tank of Sunoco 94. Works well enough to run as much as 27 psi with timing at 16* by redline.

I am not doubting the numbers that you are quoting us. It sounds like you have your setup tuned very well. But as everyone knows there are many variables which are involved in allowing you to run that kind of boost safely. To imply that the octane booster alone plays a significant role or is largely responsible for that is misleading.

s3v3n has a good point. So I followed his suggestion and brought out the calculator and did some math. I used the NOS Racing Formula which claims to increase octane by UP TO 6 full octane numbers as the reference. Assuming 12 oz. of the additive was added to 10 gallons of 92 octane gas, in order to increase the octane of the fuel mix to 98, the NOS formula right out of the bottle would have to have an octane value of approximately 700!

If anyone wants to check the math (somebody probably should ) I used the following formula:

(# gallons gas x octane of gas) + (# gallons of additive x octane of additive)
total gallons of fuel mix

128 fluid ounces per gallon so 12 ounces=a little more than 1/10 gallon (I rounded some numbers off)

Again, if starting with 10 gallons of 92 octane with a target of 98 octane

920 + .1X = 98
10.1

so X (octane of additive) ends up being about 700

Like I said, if someone is feeling motivated they should double check my math. But thinking about it intuitively I just don't see how 12 ounces of additive could make a significant difference in octane when added to a tank of gas.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

I don't see how it works so well either, but it does. Adding a bottle of NOS "racing" formula to a 1/2 tank of gas makes a huge difference. Worked better for me than 5 gallons of 100 octane. Try it for yourself.

 

[romeen]

It's hard to argue with success so maybe there is some other component to it that I am missing. I actually did try it several times and didn't notice any difference. However, at the time I was still on the stock turbo, running less boost with a less aggressive tune. I suppose if you are not having any knock to begin with then it won't be of benefit.

I'm curious, do you have any logs or other objective data to support that? Of course, even if you do have something that clearly shows less knock, more timing advance, etc. it would be impossible to remove all of the other variables and conclusively say that the results are due solely to the octane booster.

Although I remain skeptical I am always open minded and welcome any other input you might have.

 

[DJYoshaBYD]

I ran it in my honda and I had a 12:1 compression and I just ran it on 91(5 gallons) and NOS... It works... at about 6200-8000 I kept getting knock I couldnt get rid of with regular 91... Even changing the timing maps still didnt help too much because the VTEC wanted to go and it was getting, i think, 10-13 counts of knock... 1 can and a SLIGHTLY less aggressive timing map for VTECs secondary cam lobe fixed the knock problem all the way to 8200 RPM... It DOES work... It would be really interesting if someone did a bunch of datalogs and posted the results with a couple of different methods of octane boosting...

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

On straight 91, before I had methanol, I could only run 18 psi and 16* of timing without knock. Poured some NOS octane booster in, and I could run 21 psi and 18* of timing with no knock, and could run a leaner A/F. I have DSMlink so it's quite easy to take advantage of the extra octane. This octane booster has been discussed many times before and it really does work. AFAIK, the NOS racing formula and the Torco booster (hard to find) are the only ones that really do anything.

 

[Talesin]

I'm actually considering giving acetone a shot... not a direct octane booster, but a vaporization enhancer (lowers the surface tension of the fuel, ensuring a more complete burn). Haven't used it yet, but I may drop some in the next time I'm getting set to fill up. Requires more work to figure out how much to put in, apparently, but supposedly helps a lot with power gains, especially when used with octane boosters.

Here's a page I was looking at a month or two ago, has a nice little blurb, but as with anything on the 'net, YMMV.
http://www.pureenergysystems.com/news/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

B12 Chemtool available at Walmart for about $3.29, or any autoparts store.

It kicks! Your timing WILL ADVANCE, I guarantee this stuff will make a VERY noticeable power increase!

I also run acetone (not both at the same time, as B12 Chemtool already contains some acetone). Straight acetone is cheaper, but the B12 delivers more kick.

But as far as the B12, I absolutely swear to the DSM gods, this stuff rocks! Try it and post back..

 

[Defiant]

Moth balls and Marvel Mystery Oil.

Oh, and some hydrazine.

 

[matthewdesigns]

Just read the toluene article, picked some up, and added to my tank. I'll log a few runs and report on whether I'm gaining any timing from it or not.

FYI, the article is a quick, interesting read. Says that in the mid 80's when tiny (1.5L) turbo engines were used in F1 racing, that the teams would run a mix of 84% toluene/16% n-heptane. They could run up to 73psi boost, making 1500+HP from a 1.5L engine!

 

[s3v3n]

Interesting that so many people report gains from using octane boosters. Stock ecu shouldn't be affected by increased octane... it won't increase timing by itself unless you were having timing pulled from knock beforehand. I have to wonder if these reported gains are a placebo effect; my buddy tossed a couple bottles of booster into his 3rd gen prelude and swore it felt faster/smoother too... but... even if it DID increase his octane by xx points, it wouldnt have made his car any faster. If anything, it would have had LESS power.

 

[blcknspo0ln]

Who says we're dealing with stock ECUs?

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

I, like some other people on here, are reporting gains because we can take advantage of the increased octane. DSMlink allows you to increase timing and lean the AFR to take advantage of the increased octane. Also, anyone with a MBC can take advantage of higher octane.

 

[s3v3n]

I completely agree that if you re-tune with higher octane gas, you can see an increase in power (don't think anyone has a problem with this concept ). However, many people with basically stock vehicles feel that they are benefitting from higher octane fuels. An essentially stock car will not do anything by itself to take advantage of increased octane.

Either way, getting back on topic, I'm still interested in further discussion about octane boosters. There doesn't seem to be any way that such a small volume of additive could possibly increase octane by 60pts.

What would be interesting, would be to test a map on 87oct + booster vs 94 or 92oct.

 

[Talesin]

In California, with 91 craptane you regularly will get knock even at stock boost, with a stock tune. So yes, if the best you can get at the pump is still causing timing to be pulled, you will notice a power difference. Namely, the nice hard shove once everything is spooled will last a lot longer, and punch a lot harder.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Interesting that so many people report gains from using octane boosters. Stock ecu shouldn't be affected by increased octane... it won't increase timing by itself unless you were having timing pulled from knock beforehand. I have to wonder if these reported gains are a placebo effect; my buddy tossed a couple bottles of booster into his 3rd gen prelude and swore it felt faster/smoother too... but... even if it DID increase his octane by xx points, it wouldnt have made his car any faster. If anything, it would have had LESS power.

Actually I was reffering to B-12 Chemtool, the carb/fuel system cleaner (not the octane booster, which they also sell)..

Here it is:
http://www.amazon.com/Berryman-Chemtool-Carburetor-Cleaner-pour/dp/B0002KKICS

I do have a stock ecu. Currently running basically stock everything except a EVO3 16G turbo (14b crapped out a while back), MBC, and aftermarket boost gauge.

Simply put: I will bet you $5 cash that if you put one can of B-12 Chemtool in your car, you WILL notice a difference. Mine was a substantial difference. In my situation, running the EVO 16G with STOCK EXHAUST and stock everything else, too, it spools slower then the 14b did. Well with the B-12 chemtool, it spools as fast as the 14B did! So it's really noticeable in this cicumstance.

As far as the timing, I was just guessing based on the faster sppol that it is timing that is being advanced further then it would be with the straight 92 or 93 we have here..I don't really know why the stuff works, but it does.

Frankly, it only takes a few bucks to find out yourself.

I have paypal, and I dare anyone (that is skeptical in any way) here to bet me $5 and try the B-12 Chemtool. If it isn't quite a noticeable difference, I will send you $5 paypal. And save your receipt..

This is for TUBO CARS only, not sure how much of a differnence it will make with an NA car..so I am only betting with turbo cars.

Who's up for it , and who's full of hot air?

 

[funguy]

i have tried both NOS race formula, and lucas octance boosters. On the same tune, different days @ the track. the NOS race formula definately gave me a better edge. i gained .4 and a few mph on the track. no changes what so ever.

lucas octaine boost thumbs down, no real gains.

this year is a different story, i should gain 2 full seconds @ the track, heading into 11's.

 

[s3v3n]

Very interesting!
Its snowing non-stop here, but once it gets nice I'll test out a number of different additives and gases and post up results if people are interested. I will certainly find some B12 and test it too!
Some things I'll be trying:
89 oct
89 + booster
94
94 + booster
94 + alky
94 + B12
94 + toulene
StreetBlaze 103 or c16 (yeah its leaded)

Would like to test all of them with a base 89 oct map and see how much I'm able to increase timing at x, y, and z boost level. I'll be monitoring intake temps etc too in an attempt to control other factors as much as possible. I'd love to do these test on a dyno... but after buying all this crap I'm gonna be poor!

I'm sure that I'm not the first person to think of testing this stuff though... somewhere out there somebody must have done this already... and somewhere its gotta be posted on the net!

 

[romeen]

Very interesting!
Its snowing non-stop here, but once it gets nice I'll test out a number of different additives and gases and post up results if people are interested. I will certainly find some B12 and test it too!
Some things I'll be trying:
89 oct
89 + booster
94
94 + booster
94 + alky
94 + B12
94 + toulene
StreetBlaze 103 or c16 (yeah its leaded)

Would like to test all of them with a base 89 oct map and see how much I'm able to increase timing at x, y, and z boost level. I'll be monitoring intake temps etc too in an attempt to control other factors as much as possible. I'd love to do these test on a dyno... but after buying all this crap I'm gonna be poor!

I'm sure that I'm not the first person to think of testing this stuff though... somewhere out there somebody must have done this already... and somewhere its gotta be posted on the net!

That sounds like a great idea and really the only way to provide convincing results.

Anecdotal "proof" is notoriously unreliable. Plus, it seems that for every positive anecdotal result there is also a negative one out there. In fact I'm confident that some searching of independent sites will result in just as many if not more testimonials that suggest that these additives made no difference. That is until you start qualifying some of the conditions under which the additives are used. For example if you re-tune the engine to operate with more timing advance.

But even the additives themselves (most of them) claim to increase octane by at the most 10 points (1 full octane number). It doesn't add up that increasing your octane by less than 1 full octane value is going to make the kind of difference that many of you guys claim but can't back up with objective data. If guys are indeed getting such good results from this then we would never need race gas again. Or by the same token I should be able to safely run well over 30psi of boost with my EVO 3 and SMIC just by adding a gallon of toluene to the tank. But I'm sure as hell not going to try it.

Spoolin4Ever, I'm not doubting that you felt an improvement in performance after using the B-12 cleaner. But that suggests to me that you had some dirt or obstruction in the fuel system hindering performance. If the fuel system is functioning properly to begin with then it really shouldn't make a difference.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

It's a great substitute to race gas. The problem is that it coats the plugs with brown buildup, which doestn seem to affect them but they may foul quicker, hasn't happened to me after using it a few times though. And, if you read the NOS bottle, explains in detail how octane boosters are rated (6 points is really only .6 octane) and then goes to explain that the NOS race formula can increase octane "60 points, or 6 full octane numbers" if mixed with 8 gallons of gas. I wouldn't doubt it either. I know it's hard to fathom how a pint of liquid could do so much of a difference, but on the same token, spraying a superfine mist of methanol into the intake tract can drastically increase the total octane of the fuel entering the chamber, so why couldn't a bottle of this stuff?

 

[romeen]

but on the same token, spraying a superfine mist of methanol into the intake tract can drastically increase the total octane of the fuel entering the chamber, so why couldn't a bottle of this stuff?

You do have an interesting point but the methanol works in two different ways: it directly increases the octane of the charge and it also cools it. So, fortunately for the gas additives, it's really not fair to compare the two. I don't think anyone would claim that 12 ounces of gas additive is going to be as effective as meth injection. Nonetheless, I wonder how much methanol via injection would need to be used per 8 gallons of gasoline to achieve similar results to 12 oz. of the NOS Racing Formula added to the tank?

 

[Savage Talon]

This is the stuff you want as long as you do not have a cat on.
http://www.kemcooil.com/product_info.php?pId=61

 

[romeen]

Just read the toluene article, picked some up, and added to my tank. I'll log a few runs and report on whether I'm gaining any timing from it or not.

How's the toluene working out for you so far? Notice anything different?

 

[speedy_talon28]

I top up my tank with 95 octane gas and add super 104 octane booster. I like it but, do any of you use it and do you like it?

 

[unlmtdndeavor]

wow....we only have 91 octane here in cali. lucky you and your 95

i don't see a problem with what you're running. as long as you can afford it.