I live in northwest Florida and for the past few weeks the only gas available is 87 octane unleaded after Katrina. Any down side of running this 87 gas for few gas tank fulls until 93 octane is available? Should I consider adding those octane boosters? TC

 

if 87 is the only option available, do not push your engine at all. cruise everywhere and slowly accelerate. basically, just make sure the engine doesn't ping or knock, especially since turbo cars should be run with higher octane....

the octane boosters might trigger some CEL codes and they can possibly damage the catalytic convertors, so it would probably be a good idea not to use it unless you are catless.

 

No boost for you.

 

Octane Boosters (sold in stores) are a scam.

"Raise your octane 2-3 points!"

Yeah, it raises you from 87.0 to 87.2!! If you REALLY want to raise your octane rating, get some Toluene or Xylene. Toluene is 114 octane and Xylene is 117 octane (if I remember correctly).

Do the math:

2 gallons of 114 Toluene + 8 gallons of 87 octane = 92.4

http://www.elektro.com/~audi/audi/toluene.html

Toluene
R+M/2...114
Cost...$2.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...94.2 Octane
20%...96.4 Octane
30%...98.6 Octane
Notes: Common ingredient in Octane Boosters in a can. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. Often costs $3-5 for 12-16 ounces, when it can be purchased for less than $3/gal at chemical supply houses or paint stores.

 

Just don't get the Xylene or Toluene on your cars paint as they will ruin the paint!

- KJ

 

Yes, YES it will.

 

They had an article on this in Sport Compact Car afew months ago. The NOS racing octane booster did push up the octan 3 points, but the stuff is about $7-$8 a bottle, not this crappy 99 cents stuff. They had a few others that only pushed it up about a point. Toulene & Xylene raised it up quite a bit, but anything over 30% can damage you engine.

 

The problem is that some of the $7-10 stuff contains methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT). Not good at all and typically not street legal. I wouldn't recommend using it if you have o2 sensors on your car.

 

Any experience with Torco? Several of the guys running superchargers on C5/Z06's swear by the stuff:

http://www.torcoracefuels.com/catalo...products_id=28

Though it's marketed for upping the octane of 93 -> ~104, I would suspect it would increase lower octane gas as well.

I was thinking it would be a great way to haul some extra octane to DE events (vs. $7/gal race gas).

DT