Octane booster
Discussion
Hey guys.
Ok confession time. The other sunday, I went out with Gooby and the group to a hill climb. Most of the owners have the 111R. Now a few of you felt that my sport 160 was very quick indeed. Now for the truth. I always use optimax, but for this day I added a bottle of octane booster to the tank. Basically I was running racing fuel at 102ron. Thats what they use on track. Had to make the day a little interesting didnt I !
As you know I sell induction kits etc... I am about to place an order for some boxes of Millers CVL Turbo. This will boost Optimax to 102ron. and believe me, mine flys with this is, feels like NOS !!!! If your intrested in buying some, a 500ml bottle will cost you £7, £10 in the shops. Let me know soon !
Ok confession time. The other sunday, I went out with Gooby and the group to a hill climb. Most of the owners have the 111R. Now a few of you felt that my sport 160 was very quick indeed. Now for the truth. I always use optimax, but for this day I added a bottle of octane booster to the tank. Basically I was running racing fuel at 102ron. Thats what they use on track. Had to make the day a little interesting didnt I !
As you know I sell induction kits etc... I am about to place an order for some boxes of Millers CVL Turbo. This will boost Optimax to 102ron. and believe me, mine flys with this is, feels like NOS !!!! If your intrested in buying some, a 500ml bottle will cost you £7, £10 in the shops. Let me know soon !
Cheater! 
Well, I have to disagree. My car went like a missile on that stuff. I have normal unleaded in at the moment and just doesnt pull anywhere near as well. Cant wait to fill up with the good stuff again.
As gooby experienced, definetely improved my car. Try it, what you got to lose?? I wish I could put in in everyy tank. So 111R boys, you going to be trying it then???
Oh and you can run with it with a CAT or without, doesnt matter.
enjoy...
As gooby experienced, definetely improved my car. Try it, what you got to lose?? I wish I could put in in everyy tank. So 111R boys, you going to be trying it then???
Oh and you can run with it with a CAT or without, doesnt matter.
enjoy...
Have to agree with Randy - Octane booster will help stop detonation if you are running a high compression ratio, but makes very little difference to a road engine.
You can get 120 octane from Sunoco but unless the car is set up for it, it would do more harm than good.
I think Piooly's 160 is just a quick car - that Sunday was quite cool and damp which will give the car more power rather than the warm dry weather we have at the moment.
>> Edited by andrewm on Thursday 11th August 13:30
You can get 120 octane from Sunoco but unless the car is set up for it, it would do more harm than good.
I think Piooly's 160 is just a quick car - that Sunday was quite cool and damp which will give the car more power rather than the warm dry weather we have at the moment.
>> Edited by andrewm on Thursday 11th August 13:30
Piooly, I think you're imagining it (see comments about placebo above). Your compression ratio is fixed, you aren't on boost, and without a knock sensor the K is tuned by necessity for its lowest common denominator fuel - 95 octane. It simply can't tell its got higher octane fuel so the only option it would have had (more aggressive ignition etc) is closed to it.
People seem to always seem to confuse the idea of octane rating with calorific value, thinking it creates a bigger push on the piston. It doesn't work like that. High octane means higher detonation resistance which in turn allows you to run greater compression/boost/ignition advance and so make more power. Higher octane may even mean lower calorific ie marginally lowering power unless you take advantage with boost etc.
Consider this, Tetraethyl lead is a pretty good (and now banned / obsolete) knock resistance agent. Its not a fuel and doesn't 'burn' as such, but when added to fuel it can increase the octane rating. Do you expect to automatically get more power from adding something that doesn't burn?
Dave
People seem to always seem to confuse the idea of octane rating with calorific value, thinking it creates a bigger push on the piston. It doesn't work like that. High octane means higher detonation resistance which in turn allows you to run greater compression/boost/ignition advance and so make more power. Higher octane may even mean lower calorific ie marginally lowering power unless you take advantage with boost etc.
Consider this, Tetraethyl lead is a pretty good (and now banned / obsolete) knock resistance agent. Its not a fuel and doesn't 'burn' as such, but when added to fuel it can increase the octane rating. Do you expect to automatically get more power from adding something that doesn't burn?
Dave
As far as I understand it, changing the octane rating of the fuel makes no difference to the calorific value of the fuel i.e. the amount of energy it releases when you burn it. But fuel with a higher octane rating is more resistant to pinking which means you can advance the ignition further, this can potentially deliver more power. But unless you actually do advance the ignition, I wouldn't expect to see a measurable change in power output.
Yup I agree (note the words "may" and "marginal"
above. I was just trying to reinforce the point that Increased Octane <> Increased Calorific value by illustrating how higher octane could infact result in lower C.V. (ie substituting combustable fuel with non combustable antiknock materials)
A higher octane fuel might bring with it a higher C.V. (or a lower one, or unchanged) just depends on the formulation.
Main point is, Octane and C.V. are different things and improving the octane does you no good if you don't take steps to take advantage of it.
above. I was just trying to reinforce the point that Increased Octane <> Increased Calorific value by illustrating how higher octane could infact result in lower C.V. (ie substituting combustable fuel with non combustable antiknock materials) A higher octane fuel might bring with it a higher C.V. (or a lower one, or unchanged) just depends on the formulation.
Main point is, Octane and C.V. are different things and improving the octane does you no good if you don't take steps to take advantage of it.
SpeedyDave said:
Yup I agree (note the words "may" and "marginal"
A higher octane fuel might bring with it a higher C.V. (or a lower one, or unchanged) just depends on the formulation.
Main point is, Octane and C.V. are different things and improving the octane does you no good if you don't take steps to take advantage of it.
well put.
racing fuel's usually leave out all the detergents etc becuse of this, the more you add, the less the CV of the fuel.
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