Octane booster.
Discussion
I went in to Halfords yesterday, thing is I'm running a BGT, and it runs better on super unleaded, fairly obviously considering they were designed to run on 4 or ideally 5 star when new. The only trouble is I do 2k a month in this GT, so super gets expensive, now I will state that this is the ONLY mg I have ever had that is fuel fussy, so people should not take this thread as an admission that my run everything on the cheapest 95 you can find theory is flawed, it is only this car.
So I looked at options.
1) Let it pink and blow a hole in piston.......Er no.
2) Retard ignition and use 95. Works perfectly, Emma can't notice a difference, I'm still a boy racer at heart though and it feels slow. At a guess it loses 20% of power when totally safe.
3) Use super. Works but expensive.
4) Use octane booster. I shall elaborate.
You can buy all manner of snake oils, and I was sceptical of octane booster to say the least. However I gave it a look.
Halfords sell approx 8 different types and brands. These fall in to 2 categories. 500ml bottle approx £5 add entire bottle to tank = 7 bottles. 250ml bottle approx £12 add 50ml to tank.
The 250ml bottle is castrol, the others are nos, wynns and other well known companies.
Now I am pretty scathing over most of these types of products, not least oil treatments that do more harm than good, injector cleaners that are just kerosene/white spirit, fuel system cleaners that are kero/ws, carb cleaners that are kero/ws (spot a trend here), redex that is light hydraulic oil etc. etc.
Looking at most of the "octane boosters" one thing becomes clear.
NONE I repeat NONE of them contain Octane, not even a bit, they are all kerosene. without exception. Most state some brilliant lines on the back, my favourite was : "regular use can increase octane rating of fuel". This was among other bold statements along with making my engine more powerful, run better, cleaner, reduce emissions etc.
Lets just think about that line though.
Regular use CAN (not will, can) increase octane rating of fuel.
How does that work? Surely one use of octane booster will boost octane rating of fuel? why will using it regularly make any difference, the fuel I want treating is in the tank, surely adding octane booster will boost the octane? I think your starting to realise as did I what a con these things are.
Don't get me wrong, it will stop pinking. Probably. You see all octane does is reduce the explosive nature of petrol, seems strange but 95 is more "bangy" than 99, technically 95 is better for power, BUT 95 will pre detonate if going in to a hot high compression engine (this is how diesels work) before the spark does it's job, and therefore detonates at the wrong time, causing damage to the engine (simplified) this is pinking. Now adding Kerosene to your fuel will reduce the "banginess" of it too, but come on it's a bodge of the highest order, and if your going to do it just add kero instead of one of these overpriced snake oils.
That leaves the one.
Castrol something or other, on the face of it it looked ok, I don't know what the active ingredients are, but it won't be kero as the amount added is too small to have an effect, it could be octane. However I estimate you will get circa 4-5 treatments from a bottle, and the cost will be 2-3 quid a tank for an MGB, that is on top of fuel of course.
Super is about 10p a litre more than standard at max, 10p x 50L = £5.
However it is £2.50 difference if it is only 5p different at the pump. And thinking about it isn't it easier to use 99 octane fuel from a pump, you know it is properly mixed, it is octane not kero, your not carrying bottles of potions, and you don't have to look like a berk at the pump adding this junk to your tank.
However if I came to one conclusion it is if you feel you must use this stuff then don't use the full bottle in tank stuff, use the one that adds 50ml or so, as that is the best chance of getting some octane (and even then I'm sceptical) it is also far cheaper long term.
As a side note I have noticed a trend that the cars I have bought with head gasket issues, burnt valves, holed pistons have all had one of 2 things in common, either a weber carb, or a bottle of fuel treatment in the boot, the weber is simple to explain, people fit them they feel quicker (in reality they are slower at this point and use vastly more fuel, but make more noise and do "feel" quicker) so don't bother getting them set up, so there are rich patches that wash the bores, and weak patches that burn valves and pistons and cause engine heat.
Is it fair to deduce that fuel treatments alter the mixture too? They do on 2 stroke bikes, adding too much oil to the fuel causes the bike to run lean, causing too hot a combustion and the problems associated with that, could the same occur with a 4 stroke? I don't know but I don't use these products and have reliable cars so I'm happy.
So I looked at options.
1) Let it pink and blow a hole in piston.......Er no.
2) Retard ignition and use 95. Works perfectly, Emma can't notice a difference, I'm still a boy racer at heart though and it feels slow. At a guess it loses 20% of power when totally safe.
3) Use super. Works but expensive.
4) Use octane booster. I shall elaborate.
You can buy all manner of snake oils, and I was sceptical of octane booster to say the least. However I gave it a look.
Halfords sell approx 8 different types and brands. These fall in to 2 categories. 500ml bottle approx £5 add entire bottle to tank = 7 bottles. 250ml bottle approx £12 add 50ml to tank.
The 250ml bottle is castrol, the others are nos, wynns and other well known companies.
Now I am pretty scathing over most of these types of products, not least oil treatments that do more harm than good, injector cleaners that are just kerosene/white spirit, fuel system cleaners that are kero/ws, carb cleaners that are kero/ws (spot a trend here), redex that is light hydraulic oil etc. etc.
Looking at most of the "octane boosters" one thing becomes clear.
NONE I repeat NONE of them contain Octane, not even a bit, they are all kerosene. without exception. Most state some brilliant lines on the back, my favourite was : "regular use can increase octane rating of fuel". This was among other bold statements along with making my engine more powerful, run better, cleaner, reduce emissions etc.
Lets just think about that line though.
Regular use CAN (not will, can) increase octane rating of fuel.
How does that work? Surely one use of octane booster will boost octane rating of fuel? why will using it regularly make any difference, the fuel I want treating is in the tank, surely adding octane booster will boost the octane? I think your starting to realise as did I what a con these things are.
Don't get me wrong, it will stop pinking. Probably. You see all octane does is reduce the explosive nature of petrol, seems strange but 95 is more "bangy" than 99, technically 95 is better for power, BUT 95 will pre detonate if going in to a hot high compression engine (this is how diesels work) before the spark does it's job, and therefore detonates at the wrong time, causing damage to the engine (simplified) this is pinking. Now adding Kerosene to your fuel will reduce the "banginess" of it too, but come on it's a bodge of the highest order, and if your going to do it just add kero instead of one of these overpriced snake oils.
That leaves the one.
Castrol something or other, on the face of it it looked ok, I don't know what the active ingredients are, but it won't be kero as the amount added is too small to have an effect, it could be octane. However I estimate you will get circa 4-5 treatments from a bottle, and the cost will be 2-3 quid a tank for an MGB, that is on top of fuel of course.
Super is about 10p a litre more than standard at max, 10p x 50L = £5.
However it is £2.50 difference if it is only 5p different at the pump. And thinking about it isn't it easier to use 99 octane fuel from a pump, you know it is properly mixed, it is octane not kero, your not carrying bottles of potions, and you don't have to look like a berk at the pump adding this junk to your tank.
However if I came to one conclusion it is if you feel you must use this stuff then don't use the full bottle in tank stuff, use the one that adds 50ml or so, as that is the best chance of getting some octane (and even then I'm sceptical) it is also far cheaper long term.
As a side note I have noticed a trend that the cars I have bought with head gasket issues, burnt valves, holed pistons have all had one of 2 things in common, either a weber carb, or a bottle of fuel treatment in the boot, the weber is simple to explain, people fit them they feel quicker (in reality they are slower at this point and use vastly more fuel, but make more noise and do "feel" quicker) so don't bother getting them set up, so there are rich patches that wash the bores, and weak patches that burn valves and pistons and cause engine heat.
Is it fair to deduce that fuel treatments alter the mixture too? They do on 2 stroke bikes, adding too much oil to the fuel causes the bike to run lean, causing too hot a combustion and the problems associated with that, could the same occur with a 4 stroke? I don't know but I don't use these products and have reliable cars so I'm happy.
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