Octane Boosters

[Marauder Rick]

:help:Heres my dilemma. Im in San angelo, tx and for some reason, there is no such thing as 93 Octane fuel at these gas stations. So,.....#1. How much does a regular bottle of STP Octane Booster raise your Octane?.....#2. How much damage can i do by not using the correct Octane? I have a performance tune that requires 93 octane. Will my knock sensor auto correct the affects of low octane? I'm kinda lost:help:

[MrBluGruv]

well according to most of their labels, a full bottle of the booster to a tank of gas should raise your octane rating by 1, so like 91 would become 92 (they are really sly about how they advertise, they say it raises the octane by 10 points, which is actually only 1 rating number.)

Honestly, it's not worth it. The degree to which the octane rating can be raised I'm pretty sure is within the tolerance level for the trueness of the actual octane rating of the gas, so I'd be more concerned about getting fuel from a quality source than getting a bottle of octane booster every fillup.

[Marauderjack]

It is easy to raise 87 octane to 89 with a product I've used for 6 years to prevent detonation but to raise 91 to 93 is pretty tough and almost none of the "off the shelf" products will do anything at all with 91+ octane!!:shake:

Why not have a tuner reduce the octane requirement in the tune to 91 octane.....that's what I have in my blower tune for safety sake and I'll GUARANTEE you will not be able to tell the difference on the street!!:shake:

Ragged edge tuning for a street car is not too smart when you NEVER know what you are getting at the pump!!:eek:

My $.02...FWIW!!:beer:

[MrBluGruv]

little addendum to my previous post, couple of extra thoughts:

I think there are a few octane boosters that will actually raise the rating a fair degree, but those aren't technically street legal I don't think (like, dragster fuel additive kind of stuff).

Secondly, if you feel confident enough to make changes with your SCT handheld tuner (if you have an SCT tuner setup), you could try retarding the global spark timing by a very little bit at a time if you are having knock and ping issues, that'll cut into your power a bit but should eliminate those problems.

[Marauder Rick]

the thing is... i got my tune in dayton, oh and i think my xcal2 is locked. how would i go about getting it unlocked? is there a code or something that the guy who tuned it can give me or something or will i have to ship it to him. also, if i am getting knock, wouldn't my knock sensor pull timing out for me?

[glassman99]

Torco makes some fuel additives that actually work. They are not "octane boosters" but real fuel additives that can take unleaded up into the100+ range

[CBT]

Torco makes some fuel additives that actuall work. They are not "octane boosters" but real fuel additives that can take unleaded up into the100+ range

I thought octane couldn't go higher than 100? Cool barrel in your avatar, you collect or dig?

[Baaad GN]

Go to the Turbo Grand National sites and start asking, I know they for years were mixing standard Xyene or some products like that that you can buy at any hardware or paint store. Most of these products used to be in gas before they cleaned the fuel up for emissions. This was the ONLY way they had found that worked, the products in the car stores are a total waste of money. Another option if ya live close to a small airport use aviation gas if they will sell it to ya, issue here is most if not all is leaded.

[RF Overlord]

How much does a regular bottle of STP Octane Booster raise your Octane? Anywhere from 0.4 to 0.7...IOW it'll make 91 octane into 91.7 at most. ...and do a good job fouling your plugs, too.
How much damage can i do by not using the correct Octane? I have a performance tune that requires 93 octane. Will my knock sensor auto correct the affects of low octane? It may, but why turn the timing up with the tune, then have the knock sensor pull it all back out again? Better to just get a 91 octane tune.

[glassman99]

google "Torco Race Fuel" They supply a lot of the top cars in the NHRA inlcuding top fuel dragsters and funny cars. I have tried it and it is as advertised and no, you can't buy it at auto supply stores. They make both leaded and unleaded versions (they call it "Accelerators) and market race fuels up to 118 octanne

[in2deep]

+1 for Torco.
All the high HP Cobra guys use it.

[MrBluGruv]

I thought octane couldn't go higher than 100? Cool barrel in your avatar, you collect or dig?


Yeh as was mentioned above, octane goes way above 100. The highest I've personally been in the presence of was 130 octane, think it was sonoco race fuel. Smelled sweet and delicious. :)

[jdenning002]

I just moved to CA... Same problem, highest avaliable is 91 octane.

I am going to get a new tune for 91 octane, its is the best option.

[B.C. Bake]

I'm of course in, las Vegas, and my MM runs just fine with 91 octane.:rolleyes: That is with stock tune. I don't know, maybe it's the dry heat.:D

[FordNut]

It should be fine for short term to just use the 91 octane. Just don't go WOT.

[Embassy]

Why not have a tuner reduce the octane requirement in the tune to 91 octane.....that's what I have in my blower tune for safety sake and I'll GUARANTEE you will not be able to tell the difference on the street!!:shake:


Bingo. :burnout:

[glassman99]

IF you cannot tell the difference between a good 91 octane tune and a 93 octane tune, you have the wrong tuner. If you race it, a "safer" tune would always be HIGHER octane.

[glassman99]

Torco has fuel available on their website up to 118 octane and they sell nitromethane.

[Marauderjack]

IF you cannot tell the difference between a good 91 octane tune and a 93 octane tune, you have the wrong tuner. If you race it, a "safer" tune would always be HIGHER octane.


I said.....ON THE STREET!!:shake:

BTW, my 91 octane blower tune in cool air spins the tires all the way into 2nd gear and I'd dare say a 93 octane tune would feel the same!! Granted you might see some difference in a quarter mile.....maybe??:cool:

I'm much more concerned with detonation than a couple tenths at a drag strip!!;)

[glassman99]

I said.....ON THE STREET!!:shake:

BTW, my 91 octane blower tune in cool air spins the tires all the way into 2nd gear and I'd dare say a 93 octane tune would feel the same!! Granted you might see some difference in a quarter mile.....maybe??:cool:

I'm much more concerned with detonation than a couple tenths at a drag strip!!;)

fair 'nuff !