the other day some guy told me how he saves on gas in his mustang cobra by using regular or unleaded gas and using a octane boos addetive. anybody know if thats true seen that stuff at orielly and autozone but dont know if it works.

 

octane boost only boost your octane level by about .7 points

 

is that stuff harmful to the engine, and if you only get a .7 boost can you add more than one can, i dont use it but i have always been curious?

 

yeah i have been curious for a while too. Is it harmful if you use premium fuel already and then add octane boost. I have seen some boost that state that they add 1-2 points.

 

I wanna say its not harmfull cause i have a friend who runs the purple once in a while to "clean out" the engine. He is a mechanic and he puts it in his car every now and then when we go to the track, its a 99 SS. SO .7 is nothing to worry about.

 

with gas being so expensive right now and me being a poor unemployed student my baby gets 87 octane for the time being.

 

does it really add the hp that it claims

 

For the cost of one can of octane boost, you could put 92 pump gas in and get better results. What's a can of this stuff cost, like 5 bucks? Vs spending 15 cents more per gallon on premium gas? I know that 87 is not good for these engines, detonation can cause more problems than it saves in filling up on 92 octane. If I'm incorrect, please share with me on this.

FWIW, the Fina stations here in Lubbock have super Tuesdays where the cost of 92 is the same as the middle clevel of gas, so I fill up on only Tuesdays and save a little money that way, I'd say research your area for simular deals and call your local filling stations for discounts for students, etc...

 

Here's some info about octane boosters...
http://europeancarweb.com/tech/0503ec_techboost/
http://www.off-road.com/rick/gas2/
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc...explained.html
http://www.sportscarforums.com/showthread.php?t=3257
http://yarchive.net/car/knock_sensors.html
http://www.boatinglifemag.com/articl...t.jsp?ID=11467
http://www.goldeagle.com/104plus/faqs_104plus.asp
http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...ctober/08.html

 

I used to notice some pinging in hot weather but after I installed a 160* t-stat and fan control switch I never heard it when using 87 octane fuel.

 

Increasing octane, will DECREASE horsepower, and fuel economy.

Your friend is probably correct because 1: those octane boosters dont effectively bring the octane level as high as 93 or 89 even if added to 87.

The only reason you should increase octane, is because youve got detonation issues. Lower octane fuels ignite better, faster, and more efficiently.

Read up, and become more educated.

When crude oil is refined, you get hydrocarbon chains as a by-product. The longer the chain, the more it can be compressed before getting too hot and combusting. Butane, methane, propane, pentane, etc.

Heptane and Octane are also by products. You know what OCT-usually means? Thats right-8. Octane has a chain of 8 carbons. It compresses better than any of the previously mentioned gasses. As the chaines get longer, the molecular weight increases. Methane is so light, that it floats like helium. But Octane is heavy making it a liquid. But its boiling/vaporization point is well below waters boiling/vaporization point. Thats why when you spill gasoline on the ground, it evaporates very quickly, unlike water.


Ok..so 87 Octane gasoline is 87% octane, and 13 percent Heptane. Octane has a MUCH higher compression point before it ignites. Heptane does not do as well under compression-its basically a little more volitile.

Anyways, it can go as high as 100 octane. That means youve got 100% octane.

"What about race fuel?" You ask. 110, 116, 125 octane fuels......Of course you cant have 110% octane, but you can have the equivelant. By using additives like Tetraethyle Lead, you increase its ability to withstand compression similar to that of 100 octane + 10% etc. They call it a performance rating.

So, i summary, the higher the Octane %, the harder is it to burn. Only go as high as you need to, otherwise your just wasting your fuel/money/horsepower.

 

I remeber going over carbon bonds in class, but damn. You need to help me study sometimes.

 

Excellent explanation, that was info I never knew. Thanks.

 

right on the money. in lamemans term the higher the octane the more compression it can handle before spontanious (sp) combustation. Most cars today are design to run of off 87 however, performance cars are designed to run higher octane. You can put lower octane in your car in a bind or once in a while not recommended though. In saying that if you're sparying or boosting you need the higher octane because of the increase pressure in the cylinders. To prevent detonation and tearing **** up.

 

damn guys thanks for that info never knew all that.

 

I know that stuff worked good when I tried it about 6yrs ago. Don't remember what brand it was, just something I picked up at autozone.

It said to mix the whole bottle with atleast 16 gallons of gas, I just dumped the whole thing into the half full tank of my 4wheeler

It did work pretty good, but it got hot as hell if you didn't keep the speed up(air cooled)

It's fun for go-karts and 4wheelers, but thats about it.

 

hey just remembered i saw a bottle of one that said it was not street legal but i think its bull

 

Check out the goldeagle.com link in my earlier post, it talks about the different formulations - there's some street-legal ones, and some that aren't

 

that Warning Label is just so the RICERS can feel Bad to the Bone with their earth hugging 1.6L I-4s

 

The only thing that will REALLY work is Tetraethyl Lead. Lead is illegal to use on a street car. NOR do you want to use it if you have cats. It would clog them up. Air plane (piston engine) fuel uses lead. Thats why you hear all the old timers talking about getting gas at the airport. Also, the performance rating of airplane fuel is rated in lean condition, so 110 performance rating aircraft fuel would have a greater rating in street motor.

Another interesting tid bit....Nitromethane's chemical formula is CH3NO2 and gasoline is usually something like C8H18

If you have a basic chemistry understanding, youll notice the Nitrogen and 2 oxygens that nitromethane has but gasoline does not.

this means that where gasoline requires about 14.6 pounds of air to burn 1lb of gasoline, nitromethane only needs 1.7lbs of air to burn 1lb of nitro. Nitromethane supplies its own oxygen, so the engine doesnt need to breathe in as much air as it would for gasoline.

Additives you can buy arent worth the money you pay for them. Its like legal supplements versus REAL steroids. There is no comparison. But of course, the good stuff is always illegal.

Thats how top fuel motors are able to run on the verge of hydrolock. Meaning. at the top of each compression stroke the combustion chamber is almost completely full of liquid, but it will still ignite and burn well, although it burns much longer-causing the flames you see coming out the headers on a top fuel car.