It's IN gasoline, not similar to gasoline. My chemistry is just fine - the specified aromatic content of gasoline would still be within range if you added a gallon or two of the big T, so basically if you feel that what the industry specifies as gasoline will hurt your engine, then Toulene will too.

However, you are correct, it would behoove you to test Toulene first in small quantities before using it on a daily basis. Some of the old Weber carbed 911's did have problems with float needles (rubber) if the fuel wasn't just perfect, so someone should verify that Porsche doesn't use any brittle rubber parts in their fuel system.

I don't see, however, why a P-car would have problems with T when an Audi did not...

Here is a quote from Shell too: "A lot of toluene is also converted into either benzene or xylenes, as these aromatics are in greater demand. In addition, toluene's high octane and low vapour pressure make it a very desirable blending component, and substantial volumes are used in motor gasoline."

Chevron aviation 100 octane also is comprised of 14% Toluene...

Here is a defintion of aromatics from the 76 performance products site:

"Aromatics: This is a type of chemical compound referred to as a cyclic organic due to it's circular structure. They are found in nearly all gasolines, normally as toluene. Xylene is less common, and benzene is restricted to very low levels due to toxicity."

Anyway, I apologize for the blanket statement, but I really wouldn't worry about using it, unless you are worried about using race gas.

 

GoWide:

How much is your timing retarding at WOT. How low do you see it?

 

Well, my engine is for some reason a bit knock-happy - normally see timing around 30 degrees just driving around town, but at WOT I see around 8 .

I'll log tonight with 1 gallon of Toluene in there and see. I'm using VAG-COM, which doesn't appear to be available for you guys. I can log tons of things - timing, knock sensor voltage, knock correction, boost, O2 voltages. Is there anything like that for Porsches?

When I tune, I basically set my MBC to safe boost level (1.2 bar for 91 octane), then tweak timing and primary fueling with a program called Lemmiwinks from Revo (also GIAC has a product that can do this, I just had Lemmiwinks already and it works fine). I go back and forth on a street near my house in 3rd gear at WOT, logging and tweaking .

 

GoWide. Wow, that's a low timing for WOT. You figure out what is causing the knocking and be able to crank that timing up and you'll gain some serious power.

I cruise at about 35 -36 degrees and might see as low as 21 degrees in real hot weather.

 

So I added a gallon of toluene to a full tank of Shell 91 (I know I know, Shell sucks) and went for some logging runs tonight, and the timing was only mariginally better (maybe 2 degrees). However, I did not reset my ecu before logging, so it's possible the timing was not advancing as much as it could. Ambient was exactly the same as two nights ago, when I did logging without the toluene.

The car does feel a bit smoother though. I also had a hell of a time actually finding the stuff - Kelly Moore employees all looked at me with a strange look and said "we don't carry pure toluene," as if I was planning on making cocaine with it or something. Another paint store wanted $16/gallon for it. I finally found a place in Menlo Park (CA) that sold a gallon to me for $5 flat, because they said they never sold any and would rather sell it for cheap than have it sit on the shelf .

All in all, and even with the discounted price, Toluene doesn't make sense if you have access to race gas. A gallon if VP racing 100 from the pump at a local 76 is $4.20 I think, so $5.40 worth (Toluene price after tax) probably yields the same overall octane as the 1 gallon of toluene. Plus, I spilled the toluene all over my hand when pouring it in the funnel, and will probably die next week.

 

if you must use that stuff, check with sherwin williams. it should tell you something that it is primarily available at paint stores!

 

Fair enough...
I guess us East Coasters who suffer through the Winters are lucky to start out with 93...

 

Being a paint solvent, where else would you expect to find it?

 

The reason they probably looked at you funny is b/c I've heard of people get'n high on that stuff, lol. BTW, Sherwin Williams is also where I got Touline for my ex Supra Turbo... never got around to using it, and in fact, just tossed it out recently. Just becareful, when you use it, don't get any on your paint... it'll hurt way worse than your hands!

 

Good point, I purschased an extra long funnel to keep it away from the car. I think I'll buy out that paint store I went to, and then when that runs out just stick to adding some 100 octane.