Fuel v's / Additives for Octane increase - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

red250 · 01-22-2005, 23:06

What is a good fuel to use.
Do octane boosters work or is it better to pay for specicalised racing fuel.

EDXR8 · 01-22-2005, 23:30

The addatives do work if you require the extra octane or tune the engine for it. Simply running higher octane on most engines wont bdo much but if you have high compression or lots of advance causing pinging then the octane can help.

As for fuels, personally I like toI run Mobile Synergy 8000 which is 98 octane, or BP Ultimate, as long as you stay away from the cheep fule outlets you are normally ok.

ir33t · 01-23-2005, 01:13

I have a Street Machine mag that has an article on octane boosters, most dont do anything, some actually made the fule loose octain rating and one or two made a difference, the best was a 104+ brand .

redGhia · 01-23-2005, 01:14

I Personally like (in order of Preferance)

BP ULTIMATE - Proven Power & Economy

SYNERGY 8000 - Used this before i found out how good BP was

Caltex Vortex

Octane boosters do work - There is quite a few zoom articles on them somewhere, But the best example i have seen is when added to 98 RON fuel it stopped the running on in my bro's Mini High compression motor

red250 · 01-23-2005, 01:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by ir33t

I have a Street Machine mag that has an article on octane boosters, most dont do anything, some actually made the fule loose octain rating and one or two made a difference, the best was a 104+ brand .

I think i have read this article and it was published 9 years ago is that correct.
The latest 104 products wont state what octane increase they give and the recent tests i have seen i fact reduce the octane level.

needturbo6 · 01-23-2005, 01:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by ir33t

I have a Street Machine mag that has an article on octane boosters, most dont do anything, some actually made the fule loose octain rating and one or two made a difference, the best was a 104+ brand .

is that an old mag by any chance, i know the 104+ was one of the best but it has since had it formulation changed (for legal reasons) and isnt very good at all.

Nulon pro strength ive seen in many tests and has came consistently 1st or 2nd, one that beat it was NF super street.
NITROX's ones are also supposed to be pretty good

STROKEXD · 01-23-2005, 03:05

Many of them use Toluene - Methyl Benzene in varying %. You can buy it for $27 for a 20L drum from a fuel distributor. Best octane booster I've used.

Straight toluene (not recommended even though F1 cars used to run it) has a RON of 116.

I usually run 10-15% and it turns BP98 into BP105!

None of the off the shelf boosters are going to give you more than a few points increase in octane. When they say "increases octane by 3 numbers" this means 98 becomes 98.3 not 101 as some would read it.

svo347 · 01-23-2005, 03:32

One problem with toluene tho, If the mix strength is too rich, toluene will slowly* start to eat rubber.
Ie fuel lines, carby diaphrams,gaskets needle tips etc.

blown EF 6 · 01-23-2005, 04:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by STROKEXD

I usually run 10-15% and it turns BP98 into BP105!

When using an octane blending calculation, 15% toluene + BP98 will only come upto 100.35.

Try the XLS spreadsheet attached.

needturbo6 · 01-23-2005, 05:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by STROKEXD

Many of them use Toluene - Methyl Benzene in varying %. You can buy it for $27 for a 20L drum from a fuel distributor. Best octane booster I've used.

Straight toluene (not recommended even though F1 cars used to run it) has a RON of 116.

I usually run 10-15% and it turns BP98 into BP105!

None of the off the shelf boosters are going to give you more than a few points increase in octane. When they say "increases octane by 3 numbers" this means 98 becomes 98.3 not 101 as some would read it.

ive heard toluene isnt good for motors in some way though i do not know at what percentage..., have u been using it for long? whats your experiences