Homemade Octane Boosters
Originally Posted by xpndbl3
yes it's 116 for sure. 
Or else my college has some explaining to do. 
Or else my college has some explaining to do. I am also thinking about making some of this stuff up. I wonder if it would be safe for a 2 stroke engine? I have a very extremely built 250 quadracer that I have to run race gas like cam 2 or B36 or C12 in. It is not safe to run pump gas in and all the race gas is about to make me go broke. If this would be safe for a 2 stroke I would also like to make some up.
I used to run Xylene in my Turbo TA. Worked great. Only stopped using it when I went with alky injection.
I used to mix:
1 gallon of Xylene
3 gallons of 93
1 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil
This worked out to roughly 99-100 octane. Everything comes out clean. Its very hard to read plugs so keep an eye on everything. And don't get any on the paint.
I used this for years without a problem. I just used to take a race jug of Xylene and mix it there at the gas station. Just pour it in and pump the gas. I usually put in 3 gallons of Xylene and 9 gallons of pump gas. I already had the MMO mixed into the Xylene. Only took an extra minute or so to fill up the tank.
I used to mix:
1 gallon of Xylene
3 gallons of 93
1 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil
This worked out to roughly 99-100 octane. Everything comes out clean. Its very hard to read plugs so keep an eye on everything. And don't get any on the paint.
I used this for years without a problem. I just used to take a race jug of Xylene and mix it there at the gas station. Just pour it in and pump the gas. I usually put in 3 gallons of Xylene and 9 gallons of pump gas. I already had the MMO mixed into the Xylene. Only took an extra minute or so to fill up the tank.
Originally Posted by Ferocity02
Where did you find the best price for Xylene?
6600 rpm clutch dump of death Administrator
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 4,983
Likes: 13
From: Texas
Ok, this topic has been covered quite a bit. There are topics on here, and on turbobuick.com, supraforums, and just about any other site that deals with FI cars.
You can read the RocketFuel FAQ to tell you all you want to know about Toluene and Xylene. Do a search in here about octane, or do a site search on Toluene....
https://ls1tech.com/forums/advanced-engineering-tech/603400-high-octane-race-fuel-hp-increase-capability.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/advanced-engineering-tech/507011-toluene.html
You can read the RocketFuel FAQ to tell you all you want to know about Toluene and Xylene. Do a search in here about octane, or do a site search on Toluene....
https://ls1tech.com/forums/advanced-engineering-tech/603400-high-octane-race-fuel-hp-increase-capability.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/advanced-engineering-tech/507011-toluene.html
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My organic book is showing toluene at 104, typo? I see where you're going though looking up a branched/chained organic chemical with a high octane rating then ordering it through a chemical company and mixing up your own race gas. I don't see why it wouldn't work. There's alot of mol's with a higher octane rating than xylene or toluene. Don't know why you want to stick to those.
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Just watch out for the Feds more than one person has had the DEA ask why they were buying large quantities of Toluene...I may be mistaken, but I think its used in meth labs!
I have purchased 5 gal and 55 gal drums for use at the track, seems to work good with no ill effect after 3+ years, but I never went over a 50 / 50 mixture. Also be warned at higher percentages cold starts are a pain!
As other have noted lubrication could be an issue so I always added some MMO.
2001 Audi S4 Biturbo
I have purchased 5 gal and 55 gal drums for use at the track, seems to work good with no ill effect after 3+ years, but I never went over a 50 / 50 mixture. Also be warned at higher percentages cold starts are a pain!
As other have noted lubrication could be an issue so I always added some MMO.
2001 Audi S4 Biturbo
Teching In
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
None that I am aware of, Xylene and Toluene are alreay additives in most grades of gasoline...albiet smaller percentages (10%). The are not a component of leaded fuel....I think the only negative would be seal degredation and cold start issues. I never change my O2 sensors (primary or secondary) in 3 yrs.....and that car was pretty finnicky about sensors!
TECH Junkie
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 3,265
Likes: 1
From: CHITOWN
My Father is in construction, and some times when he isnt close to a gas station he has all the chemicals in the back of his truck to mix up a couple gallons of feul...Only when hes way out in bufu.
Im hes about putting it into my car because I want it to be perfect etc
Im hes about putting it into my car because I want it to be perfect etc
You guys said that the Toluene mixture could be bad for seal and rubber? Has anyone used this stuff a lot and noticed a problem, cus now i am thinking about using it on my daily driver for when i go to the track. Or is this stuff meant for hardcore engines that need race gas?
I had remembered reading about antinkocking agents somewhere in my first year chem book so I looked it up. Tetramethyl lead, common name-(TML) and tetraethyl lead (TEL) imo would be ideal for cooking up your own race fuel. It's use was phased out in the late 70's because the lead in the compound is toxic, but it's still widely used in aviation and race fuels and can be had by vendors for that purpose according to Wiki. I couldn't get any specifics but it seems it was traditionally mixed somewhere on the order of 1:1260 and "The addition of 2-4 grams of either of these compounds to a gallon of gasoline increases the octane rating by 10 or more."- Chang Chem. It should be noted that organaleaded compounds will attack the catalyst in the exhaust fouling the cats, so obviously this is only an option if you're running a catless system.
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 112
Likes: 0
From: United States
I would love to know what RIGS yall are running to need 100 octane or higher gasoline for racing. Even a turbo charged vehicle or High naturally aspirated vehicle runs fine with 98 octane fuel in it.
