Octane Booster

[guscorty]

Hi Everyone,

Ever since I have added Ovtane booster to my fuel I;ve noticed that my car is running 1 to 2 tenths slower, it's normally a consistent car. Another chap in the staging lanes said that his engine builder told him not to use the octane booster as it will dampen performance. He was having the same problem. Is this true?
Cheers

[JG33RD]

No personnel experience with it but from what I've read, yeah don't use it. You can do a homebrew mix if you really want to try, pretty sure you need toluene. Have a search of the net on it. But sounds like you have your answer anyway- .2 slower.

[burnz]

Originally Posted by guscorty

Hi Everyone,

Ever since I have added Ovtane booster to my fuel I;ve noticed that my car is running 1 to 2 tenths slower, it's normally a consistent car. Another chap in the staging lanes said that his engine builder told him not to use the octane booster as it will dampen performance. He was having the same problem. Is this true?
Cheers

actually I was watching youtube where they tested all the brands of octane booster,

every one of them lost 2% power across the board. (looks for clip)www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2KNbbdQv3E

[Giant]

I use the Nulon Pro Octane Booster, I take care to mix as per the data sheet. It takes my 98 Octane to 100 Octane, I then adjust the timing to suit.

If you run it rich as I see many people just dump in a full bottle it will foul your spark plugs.

It slows the burn rate of the fuel so if you don't adjust the timing curve to suit then you will not be making any performance advantage. It does not increase the energy rating of the fuel.

You can also use it as a safety against detonation.

Another thing to note is most of the Octane booster brands on the market provide a much lower octane boost then Nulon.

[prasac]

the Lucas Oil Octane Booster is good stuff, probs the best in Oz.

the Torco Octane booster is really good stuff also, but, you'd need to get it in from the US.

as Giant said to get the most out of it you might need to tune. but, i know guys been using it for years with no tuning, no issues.

[guscorty]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
Cheers

[dieseltrain79]

Don't put a whole bottle into 30L of fuel .

It should only be used as a knock deterent ! Not as a power adder .

I just tried some Powerplus 102 fuel last week with some good results . Yeah it's not cheap @ $103 for 20L , but pump gas is just too inconsistent nowadays for my liking :/

Pump 98 & Octane booster I ran 114.5-112.6mph :/ too much knock and timing gets pulled .

On the Powerplus 102 ( 20L mixed into 18L of 98 & OB , will run straight 102 next time ) , the car ran consistent 115.1-115.6 mph all day . 25 deg heat .

So yes octane booster can prevent detonation , it's no real power adder compared to some decent fuel . If your not racing that often , $30 for octane booster vs $100 for some good fuel , cheap cheap .

Then again , E85 Cheap cheap again !

[Giant]

Originally Posted by dieseltrain79

Don't put a whole bottle into 30L of fuel .

It should only be used as a knock deterent ! Not as a power adder .

I just tried some Powerplus 102 fuel last week with some good results . Yeah it's not cheap @ $103 for 20L , but pump gas is just too inconsistent nowadays for my liking :/

Pump 98 & Octane booster I ran 114.5-112.6mph :/ too much knock and timing gets pulled .

On the Powerplus 102 ( 20L mixed into 18L of 98 & OB , will run straight 102 next time ) , the car ran consistent 115.1-115.6 mph all day . 25 deg heat .

So yes octane booster can prevent detonation , it's no real power adder compared to some decent fuel . If your not racing that often , $30 for octane booster vs $100 for some good fuel , cheap cheap .

Then again , E85 Cheap cheap again !

Maybe you be better off using 91 as your base fuel as its closer to pure petrol then 98. Then you can add your Octane booster etc.

One home brew that I have tried with no det is 91 + Nulon Pro Strength + 10% methylated spirits. Used this on 38 degree day and was consistent.

[Giant]

Also be aware that it takes a boost of 10 points to increase 1 RON.

Its confusing as most of the Octane booster on the market only provide the amount points not the RON.

Nulon Pro-Strength Octane Booster:

Indicative RON increases
Fuel Rating Before PSO Booster Fuel Rating After PSO Ron Increase
91.6 Unleaded +PSO 97.0 (5.4 RON increase)
95 PULP +PSO 98.1 (3.1 RON increase)
98.1PULP +PSO 100.4 (2.3RON increase)
96 LRP +PSO 98.5 (2.5 RON increase)
106.7 Avgas +PSO 108.4 (1.7 RON increase)

(When used at the maximum recommended treat rate.)

Directions for Use

Do not expose PSO fluid to direct sunlight. Exposure to direct sunlight will destroy the benefits of the product in a matter of minutes.

To boost octane add one 500ml bottle to 60 litres (i.e. 8.3ml/ litre of fuel) of petrol. Add directly to the tank prior to filling. Experiment with lower doses to establish the optimum treat rate to stop detonation. Use with each tank full.

[dieseltrain79]

Might work for your na car as it probably runs too rich , by using a lower octane fuel you essentially leaned out the lambda .

For me it would cost an engine ....

The best pump gas I ever used a long time ago was the Shell 100 5% ethanol .

[Giant]

By my guess estimate the home brew was around 98 to 99 RON. Yeah your right I do run it rich......

Its home brew not the lab so there is always risk. If someone wants to try it the risk is on them.

Then again people are having issues with Pump gas and will nilly mixing methylated spirits to get rid of moisture and dumping in full bottle of octane booster etc.

You should get your car tuned on the fuel your going to be using and its good practice to fit and use a wideband 02 sensor to monitor AFR and data log etc.

91.6 RON.
+POS 97 RON.
+10% Methylated Spirits 98 /99 RON.

[CAT600]

Nulon Pro Strength is one of the best we have (widely) available in Aus

Best Octane Booster is switching to E85

Daniel

[Bez F6]

Not sure about other states but in Vic, United sells 100 octane at the pump. It craps all over the 98 octane sold by any of the brands. I'm running it in a BF Typhoon and it loves it compared to being hit and miss with the amount of variation I experienced on 98 octane. Would occasionally ping a tiny bit on a warm day or with a not so good batch of 98, but runs a treat with slightly better power and economy on 100.
As for octane booster, from my experience none of the bottled stuff leads to power gains. I've used toluene previously with noticeable gains. Can't remember the ratio but something like 2 litres in 30 litres of 98 lifted it to 103. This was in a rather high comp 250 xflow and allowed me to increase my base timing significantly - around 6-8 degrees, with very noticeable power gains. Be aware that toluene is nasty stuff and needs to be handled with respect. Do a search for more specific info.
What engine and fuel delivery system are you running?