XRS-Lift

where do you get xylene?

evoturbo131

iTrader: (2)

You can get xylene at Loews in one gallon containers which costs around $9.00.

About using octane boosters, for those of you reluctant to use toulene/xylene in your cars in large amounts, do try 100 octane rating gasoline. 2 full gallons of 100 octane with the rest of 12 gallons of 91 mix will get you right at 93. For those who can't get 93 octane gas, you are definitely missing on some extra power. The first time i switched to 91 to 93, it was amazing. First couple miles i didni't feel much difference, but after that i guess the ECU picked up the new mixture, and the car pulled like crazy at the mid-rpms. Ever since then, i made sure my car is always running on 93.

Heres what i do: I mix 1 gallon of 100 octane gasoline, and .6, .7 of a gallon of xylene, toulene. This way i don't have to much of a concentrate of toulene/xylene.

For those in bay area california: you can get 5 gallon drum of toulene/xylene at the Sherwin williams on geary st. and 12th in SF, you can get 100 octane gasoline at the pump at 76 on woodside exit on 101.

jemm

iTrader: (2)

Excellent thread. Keep the info flowing dudes!

- Californians, if you think your situation is bad, come to Jamaica where we run these cars on 90 octane (95 RON) fuel. I am going to try the xylene/toluene thing soon.

XRS-Lift

ok so when you say xylene, toluene do you mean one or the other oro do u mean both or are they the same thing? I really want to try this, should i fill my tank to 11 galons and put 2 gallons of straight xylene from lowes? Is that perfectly safe?

jbrennen

iTrader: (1)

They are nearly equivalent as octane boosters. Put in toluene, put in xylene, put in a mix of both, it doesn't matter much.

Just use whatever is easy to find or cheaper to buy.

kenneth

When I had my 02 WRX, I mixed Xylene all the time. I bought it from Sherwin Williams for about $22 for a 5 gallon drum.

Bought some Marvel Mystery oil from Advance Auto parts. You are supposed to mix in about 4oz of a lubricant (i.e. Marvel) to each gallon of Xylene or Toulene because they are a very "Dry" liquid for our seals, lines.. etc....

After doing this for 2 years, it gets old, feeling like I've got a meth lab in my garage ......

I found a concentrated race fuel that really seems to work. At least it pulled some real numbers on a Supra TT on a dyno (14 HP), and it definitely advanced ignition advance on my STi. (of course this would only apply to vehicles with variable ignition timing, ones with a knock sensor etc...)

I've been using the stuff for 3,500 miles now in the new STi, no problems whatsoever.

All I do, is pour the 32oz can into the 92 octane pump gas, pretty easy. This exceeds by far any octane booster I've tried over the last couple of years.

A reputable race fuel company makes it too ....

this is where I got it ...

http://www.need4speedpower.com

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

i've heard of this stuff once or twice before, i'm going to give it a shot if i find some around. sounds interesting. it's hard not to be skeptical about the numbers, tho. sounds too good to be true.

know what you mean about feeling like a meth lab- my coworker actually had to have his ID copied to buy a 5 of toluene in modesto, i guess the only people who tend to buy it in bulk around here are meth labs. pretty funny.

personally, i think people spend WAY too much time twiddling with chemical mixes for the smallish amounts we're talking about. a gallon of this, 4 oz of that, .6 gallons of toluene with .7 gallons of xylene- sheesh. no wonder people get squeamish about all these chemicals.

i swear to anyone who hasn't tried it yet- simply dumping a gallon of straight toluene in your tank and filling up with chevurine 91 will STUN you with it's simple effectiveness, with no fancy mixing, extra complication or mess. at the ~7% mix levels we're talking about, there's no need to mix marvel or anything else into it, and no benefit. this, for me, has worked out to be the best bang/buck ratio.

at way higher concentrations, it's probably worth considering extra additives, but it seems to me that if you're looking for seriously high octane gas, that's probably when you want to consider true race gas, not octane boost. in any form.

capt_crunch, MMT is the ingredient in some octane boosters that can scum up your emissions stuff with reddish manganese deposits. it's recommended against in the evo owners manual. NOS is the one retail booster i know of that lists the stuff as it's main ingredient. read your labels and avoid the stuff. toluene, as far as i know, is a pure hydrocarbon. it burns clean, and won't foul up anything.

umiami80, see above. NOS is the one retail octane boost that i can say for certain you SHOUDN'T be using. MMT is nasty crap, bad for your engine. sounds like one more reason to be thankful i've never listened to anything i've heard come from that crap mag SCC.

xrs-lift, for the most part, xylene and toluene are pretty similar in their effect here, and as far as the math concerned. when i first started experimenting, i used xylene, since that's all they sold at home depot and yardbirds around here. once i found a paint store that sold toluene, i'm leaning toward that, partly because it's a bit cheaper, partly because, remember, that's what BP says to use. not really much difference in their effectiveness or cost at the levels i'm using, though.

jbrennen

iTrader: (1)

Yes, it's a pure hydrocarbon and it burns clean. When it burns completely.

The Evo runs rich at high RPMs, which means there's more fuel in the cylinder than can be burned completely. This results in the production of benzene within your combustion chamber, which gets ejected out your tailpipe, and makes all of the environmental people very mad... See, benzene is considered to be nasty $#!+.

I don't tell you this to dissuade you from adding the stuff to your fuel, but only to explain to you why toluene is not advertised as an octane booster, and why no reputable US corporation will recommend or sanction its use for that purpose.

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

..or any other form or brand of octane boost, for that matter. someone already mentioned their experience on that. anyone know if any of the retail boost products are sold for "off-road use only"? i know many of them are aromatic (xylene/toluene/benzene) based formulas.

lord knows, burning clean and Burning Clean (TM) are two different things. i figured toluene was being phased out in fuels because of CO2 emissions, which the watchdogs don't like, either. makes sense. until you figure out how many other nasty things they're replacing it with, at least....

umiami80

iTrader: (1)

Do you think I would benefit from adding Touline to my 94 octane? I have a MBC and SAFCII set to BR specs and a AEM intake this friday.....

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

with a stock ecu setup, i wouldn't think there'd be much to gain by it, since you're already at an octane level as high or higher than that specified. remember, we californicators have to go through all this crap just to get to your pump octane levels. i doubt the stock ecu will just give you more and more power as you increase octane up into triple digits, but i don't think anyone's actually tested that theory.

your extra bits change the whole equation, though. i doubt anyone could answer that with any authority, except for BR, if it's their setup. i'm sure they've tested it, and just as sure that nobody else has, to any great degree.

call up BR. you'll get a reliable answer within 5 minutes.

justchil

iTrader: (44)

Anyone know the part# for xylene from Lowes? I'm just trying to see if its available online.

Chamama

Anyone used Razo or Elf Octane boosters? are they any good?

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

wow. back from the dead.

no idea what the part#'s are. personally, i feel more comfortable with toluene than xylene, so i get it at sherwin-williams (they don't sell toluene at home depot).


as for any other commercial octane boosters, i don't think they're worth the money. either they contain MMT (check your owners manual), or toluene in a miniscule amount with a fancy label at a ridiculous price.

justchil

iTrader: (44)

I couldnt find toluene at lowes I found some things that had toluene in it. I did find a 1 gallon jug of xylene for 13 bucks so I got it. I also got a 5 gallon jug to put 4 gallons of gas + 1 gallon of xylene. I plan on putting this in on an almost empty tank tomorrow at the track. Hopefully nothing blows up.