Are Octane Booster additives harmful?

Z

ZACHARY

New member
Am I asking for trouble using octane booster stuff nearly every fillup? The 91 fuel I get most places is just not enough for even everyday driving here in the 2500 to 6000 high country of the southwest. Makes me wonder if the pump label is even true.
Help before I ruin my great road car. Thanks for any insights.
 
LANDY said:
They are a waste of money!
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This is not exactly true. If you have a car that's tuned for an octane higher than what you can normally purchase at the pump, octane boosters can be useful. The good ones do raise the octane by a few points.
 
Stay away from that stuff as most are lead based which will kill o2 sensors ,cats, and other sensors, this stuff was never designed for todays computer controlled cars.
 
You can use Xylene or Toluene to REALLY boost octane.....do a search and you will find the amounts added and octane results!! I think someone posted the charts here several years ago!!:beer:

The stuff you buy at FLAPS may boost it up to an advertized "5 points" but keep in mind these "points" are 1/10 of an octane number so it will take a LOT to reach your goal if ever!!:mad2:

BTW....none of the products you mention will harm your engine but as stated before they will do very little GOOD!!
 
ZACHARY said:
Help before I ruin my great road car. Thanks for any insights.
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Our motors are tuned for 93 octane N/A, however the knock sensors will adjust for lower octane fuel, thus your seat of the pants feeling of low power.

Your ECU also adjusts itself for altitude/ air density. Higher altitudes = thinner air this will also reduce power.
Just take it easy and enjoy your car
 
Billy said:
This is not exactly true. If you have a car that's tuned for an octane higher than what you can normally purchase at the pump, octane boosters can be useful. The good ones do raise the octane by a few points.
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Really? Why would you tune your car for 1 octane higher than whats available for you?
 
I'd never use the octane boosters. They will only raise the octane by .1 of a point so to get from 91 to 92 octane you'd have to add about 10 bottles of the stuff..... does that sounds like something you want to do?

Most octane boosters are made for today's engines and won't hurt anything. Why put more money in your tank?

I'd get a tune optimized for the octane you normally get.
 
fastblackmerc said:
I'd never use the octane boosters. They will only raise the octane by .1 of a point so to get from 91 to 92 octane you'd have to add about 10 bottles of the stuff..... does that sounds like something you want to do?

Most octane boosters are made for today's engines and won't hurt anything. Why put more money in your tank?

I'd get a tune optimized for the octane you normally get.
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^^^ What Jim said. ^^^ Cheaper in the long run to get the proper tune. Gas is expensive enough nowadays!
 
Recently I got stuck with a tank of bad gas that caused my engine to ping. I added octane boost to prevent pinging and pulled timing in my tune. The octane boost didn't hurt anything or set any codes. Even my engine builder suggested it to prevent ping.
 
LANDY said:
I have high CR. And my timing is set for pump gas.
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How high? I'm talking about CR of 12:1 or higher. There comes a point where using pump gas is either not possible (or not safe), or it is only doable if you detune the car.
 
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I'm sure the OP is not running that high of CR. Ofcourse 12.1 needs race gas but not octane booster. Again that's money down the drain!
 
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