Octane Booster

I have heard differing opinions on the octane boosters sold in your local auto part store. Some people have told me that they work well, other have said they are a waste of money and its better to just buy higher octane gas if you want to keep your engine running better. Can anyone help shed some light on this for me?

I have heard differing opinions on the octane boosters sold in your local auto part store. Some people have told me that they work well, other have said they are a waste of money and its better to just buy higher octane gas if you want to keep your engine running better. Can anyone help shed some light on this for me?

Higher octane for the purpose of higher octane is a waist of money. Look in your owners manual, and it will tell you what octane level of gas you need. The computer in your car is programmed to work with that octane level. If you use some thing else, you may not pass an emissions test, suffer from poor fuel economy, or just a poor running engine.

He's right, but if you do need higher octane, using an octane booster is very costly. I make my own octane booster for a fraction of the price, and it boosts my octane far higher than any octane booster sold in stores.

He's right, but if you do need higher octane, using an octane booster is very costly. I make my own octane booster for a fraction of the price, and it boosts my octane far higher than any octane booster sold in stores.
Feel free to stop teasing and provide more information! ;)

Unneccesary high octane will only hurt you wallet. Too low octane can cause poor running, reduced power output and in worst case engine damage.

Most modern engines have active knock regulation and will adapt to the fuels octane number, at least to some amount.

I would recommend using a high octane fuel that can be bought at the gas station, this will be enough for most cases. If a higher octane is needed a would recommend a racefuel or a blendning between racefuel and regular fuel. Aviation fuel can also be used, but not with modern cars since it contain lead.

Many "octane boosters" sold increase octane very little or only cosmetic and are not worth their price.

Making your own "octane booster" is quite difficult since all hydrocarbons and addetives have positive as well as negative effects. By just mixing the highest octane hydrocarbons and addetives will not make a good fuel. There are several aspects, burn velocity, octane, energy content, heat of vaporisation and so on.

Sorry, I just found out that someone replied to this thread. Remember the fabled "rocket fuel" from 1980's F1?. Toluene is readily available from most paint stores, as it is used in many paints, and can be obtained very cheaply. If your interested I'll provide more info on this.

When increasing octane with toluene you need a large quantity for a serius increase, blendning octane ratings are only RON 111 and MON 94. A high content of toluene will damage the fuel system, toluene will eat into it, it can also reduce throttle response.

What about that paint store stuff?
Im doin some experiments on fuel additives.

Same goes for many octane boosters, you need a lot to increase your octane rating by a sizeable amount, a can of common octane booster only raises your octane rating by two or three points. Toluene is safe to use in cars because it is used by many oil companies in the production of gasoline, adding some to boost octane is ok, as the total aromatic content of the gasoline would still likely be within regulations. It isn't necessary to have a very high content of Toluene, 30% added to 92 octane gasoline will give a 98.6 octane fuel, as opposed to a commercial octane booster which boosts octane by two or three points giving a result of 92.2/92.3 octane. The reason Toluene may decrease throttle response (in large amounts) is because it can be difficult to ignite, a upgraded (or strong) ignition system would help a lot.