Octane Booster - yes or no

[S8QUATTRO]

Does anybody else use any octane booster additives in their fuel?

Or do you think its a waste of time?

I added a bottle to the tank on my last fill up, in my mind it made a differance! but i'm guessing not really..

[kambites]

It's the same as using higher octane pump fuel - it depends on the car.

[VinceFox]

No. Just lose half a stone and take your spare out.

[GetCarter]

I drive an R8 which hates regular unleaded. Nearest Super pump is about 140 mile round trip, so I use octane booster. Makes a HUGE difference (no coughing or spluttering, instant power rather than a second to think about it)

[S8QUATTRO]

old 1996 s6 audi estate, petrol engined

[jagracer]

What octane booster are you using?

[Nedzilla]

Saw a test on fith gear where they tried various octane boosters and in nearly all cases they reduced power!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj_21dikYR8

[GetCarter]

Indeed... don't use them to get more performance, just use them to get the Octane your engine requires.

[Somewhatfoolish]

They don't boost things meaningfully, at least not the ones you buy over the counter.

[hairykrishna]

Even if your car is one that benefits from higher octane fuel there's not enough volume of booster in a bottle to make any difference to the octane rating of a tank full of petrol - that's my guess anyway.

[GetCarter]

hairykrishna said:

Even if your car is one that benefits from higher octane fuel there's not enough volume of booster in a bottle to make any difference to the octane rating of a tank full of petrol - that's my guess anyway.

Makes a hell of a difference in an R8 using the crap the call unleaded up here!

[calibrax]

People need to learn what the octane rating is.

Higher octane fuel just has a higher resistance to knock. The fuel is not any more more powerful in itself, but it is safer when running lean. Which means some cars can safely extract more power from higher octane fuel by advancing the timing. Effectively it can enable your car to run more efficiently (again, conditional on whether or not your car's ECU can adjust the timing to take advantage).

[S8QUATTRO]

jagracer said:

What octane booster are you using?

fortron stuff

[jagracer]

I use Castrol Valvemaster with octane booster in my race engine to help prevent detonation, it doesn't increase power. You also have to be careful what you use as some are not suitable with Cats.