hagakure

iTrader: (2)

Does anyone here use them, and if so, what are the seat of the pants observations? Also, can they be harmful tot he engine, turbo, etc?

Percy

Sunder

I don't use them in the Evo, because I'm currently tuned so rich there isn't much chance of detonation anyway.

FYI, Octane boosters generally do not increase power UNLESS you also advance timing..

The other way to get power out of them is use it every single tank, and have an active knock sensor. (One that will advance timing for you, if it senses no problems)

bishiboy

iTrader: (10)

Here's the thread
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...hlight=toluene

Pete_S4

All I can say is be darn careful with those "104" octane booster products in a little bottle. When they say they raise your octane a few points, they usually mean TENTHs of an octane. You really should buy something like 100 octane or adding a couple gallons of toluene as bishiboy suggested. The one thing I don't like about toluene is that it's actually paint thinner, I'm a little nervious abot getting it on my paint. The other advantage of 100 octane from the pump is that it really is a street fuel (with a full additive package) as opposed to other race gases or home brews.

ChillinEvolved

yea at MIR they have the unleaded street fuel 100 + octane.... i wish i could get that on a daily basis!

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

i've been using toluene and xylene for the last couple of months, and all i can say is be prepared to be shocked when you finally get your car filled with the correct octane. it's a pretty big difference for a totally stock car.

don't waste your time with the bottled octane boosters, that little puny bottle is laughably small, expensive, and possibly dangerous to your car: check out the warning about MMT additives in your owners manual. i was just checking out contents on bottles a couple weekends ago and noticed that at least one of them was MMT. i *think* it was the 104 stuff, but i don't remember for sure.

in any case, i'm finding the best results by adding at least a gallon to a tank- that's 1 gallon tol/xylene to ~12 gallons of good ol' cal91. that's about a 7% mix, for about 92.5 octane.

i'm taking a trip this weekend, and i'm gonna try my strongest mix yet- 2 gallons tol to 11 gals of 91, for a ~15% mix, and ~94.5 octane, and resetting my ecu properly on the mix, which i haven't done yet. i'll report back on my results.

by way of other experience- my coworker was using the little bottles of boost (not sure which one) in his bike, a Victory that knocks badly when the central valley gets hot in the summer, and i turned him on to toluene. for a 2 gallon tank, the bottles worked fine ( at least some brands did) since the ratio of boost to gas was much higher for him. but at 3 bux a pop, it was just a waste of money. he didn't quite trust me at first, but once i showed him that even gas companies tell you to use toluene, at least in other countries:

http://www.bp.com.au/products/fuelnews/faq.asp#2

he went for it, and is a total convert. he saved his last few little bottles and fills them for 1/5th of the cost now.

WildRice

I contacted Mitsu on this isuue and they do not recomend any additives. I got the number from my dealers service department when I asked whats up on the 98 octane mentioned in the owners manual. Subsequen to this, I looked around and found 76 union 98 octane for $3 a gallon at my wholesale distributor. You very likely have one near you check it out.

I definately agree with the rest of you who have changed fuel. Spooling in 1st is much crisper and you can put the car in 5th under 40mph without it snatching or balking. It only took a few runs for the ecu to adjust to 98 octane fuel. You are not going to jepordize your warranty, you will get less washing effect from the excess fuel dump so your rings will love you, mpg will improve by about 2, and the car runs MUCH smoother.

Toluene is a strong solvent, I don't know what it might do to rubber hoses, if anyone knows I would like to hear about it.

Pete_S4

You poor CA people....can get 93 octane at just about any pump in Chicago.


Hence my concern about using it all the time. I can find 100 octane for $3.25 not far from work. I do pay a bit more for it compared to Toluene, but there is a convience factor and I know the stuff is properly mixed.

100 octane is pretty addicting.....I have a specific 100 octane program for it on my S4. The program is good for about 40 more HP and you CAN feel it.

AREITU

I remember reading one member stating that if you're running a relatively high mixture of toulene/xylene, then adding Marvel Mystery Oil would help "wet" the mixture so it won't damage rubber hoses and seals as easily..

jbrennen

iTrader: (1)

They are referring to a Research Octane Number of 98. I believe this is how octane is displayed and advertised in many other countries.

Pump gas in the USA is rated by the (R+M)/2 method (the average of the Research Octane Number and the Motor Octane NUmber). A Research Octane Number of 98 corresponds roughly to an (R+M)/2 rating of 93.


As geminix3 pointed out, toluene (and its cousin xylene) are already used by gasoline manufacturers. Some higher octane blends already contain as much as 30% toluene/xylene. I've added xylene to my tank with no ill effects and would have absolutely no qualms about using it. Just don't go hog-wild and fill your tank with toluene, because you do want the additives which are present in pump gas and which are not in toluene. But mixing a gallon or two into your tank when filling up will not cause any problems at all.

geminix3

iTrader: (5)

honestly, you have to expect that there's no way in hell mitsu or any other car manufacturer is going to sign off on you doing anything of the sort, at least not in this country. i think it's really funny that BP has no problem suggesting you use toluene to boost your octane- but NOT on their US site. companies can't trust our ignorant, litigious, american asses to do anything without screwing it up, and blaming them for it afterward. give one dumbass a cool trick, and just wait for the billion dollar class-action suit when his milk carton full of xylene melts and blows his house up cuz it was on the shelf above his water heater...

what i'd really like to know, actually, is whether the person who "did not recommend any additives", DID have any other recommendations. what i've found, when i've done this same dance with anyone at mitsu, is that i ask them about our crappy 91 octane and the manual's assertion that 98RON is required (which works out to around 94 RON+MON/2), i get a lot a feet shuffling, a little hemming and hawing, and a eventually a "you dont really need to worry about it". right. i think the simple answer is that we've got a car that requires top-quality gas, we only get **** gas here, and mitsu doesn't have an answer for it that won't get them in legal trouble. except, of course for "just stick with the **** gas". ugh.

the plain fact is that nasty-*** chemicals like xylene, benzene and toluene are already in your gas and always have been, in varying amounts. that's what gas is. they didn't start using stuff like MTBE, MMT (the only additive specifically warned against in your manual) and all the other crap because your good ol' petrochemicals didn't work or were bad for your motor or melt your hoses, they've been replaced because of ever-more-stringent emissions requirements. mostly by a long line of compounds at least as nastly as the admittedly nasty chemicals they replaced, and generally not as effective, possibly even damaging- see MMT above.

ANYway, all that said, i'm only doing what i am because it's more cost effective than the 76 race gas i've seen around at upwards of $5 a gallon. if it's possible to get 98 for $3 here in norcal, i'd be interested.

where's the wholesaler you're talking about?

Capt_Crunch

I tried STP's Octane boost, because of the gas shortage in Phoenix in the last week. Premium (91/92) is essentially non-existent, so I have been running the STP Octane boost in the last two tanks of 87. Doesn't seem to make a difference. These freakin idiots made a rush on the pumps cause they heard gas might be out in some areas, the end result everyone in the Phoenix valley filled their tanks up at once, which caused the gas crisis here. Anyway, hopefully our prices go down soon and premium will start showing up at the pumps soon.

umiami80

iTrader: (1)

Believe it or not, that NOS brand Octane booster works WELL against detonation. They (Sport Compact Car) put it in their project Galant VR4 and it worked well.

Use that, it is completely different then the other **** out there.

BLKEVO8

iTrader: (4)

I am a big advicate for higher octane I have the Works flash for 93 octane, but even before the flash I was using a mix and the diference is amazing. the person saying that in stock mode it makes no difference obviously has not tried it. With timing and A/F changed its even bigger. I have gone the route of mixing Xylene which is 117 octane rating with 92 octane which is what we have here. There is no worry about the fuel lines as long as the over all mix does not exceed 40% of the mix. For those that dont know this already gasoline is made up of Tuelene and Xylene as well as some other additives so fuel lines are tolorant to these chemicals as long as they are kept with in 40-45% of the over all mix. I put in 2 gallons Xylene and 12 gallons of Shell 92 over all octane comes in at 95.57 octane these levels are perfectly safe and well within the tolerance of the fuel pump and lines. Here is a great link http://www.collectracecars.com/octcalc.htm you can mix fuels here and get your octane. Just be smart about it get good gasoline rated cans wear chemical gloves when transfering and avoid sparks, and heaters. Common Sense is all needed. I found this to be the cheapest bet at about $5 a gallon for Xylene you get 117 octane. Do run it pure or to much it has no detergents or lubricants in it and pure it will eat out your lines. I like Shell because they great lubricants in the gas. Avoid ethenal gas raises the temp and you loose power.

Capt_Crunch

Has anyone heard of the Octane boosters trashing the Cat Converters?