Octane Boosters

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Has anyone on here had experience of Octane Boosters (OB's)?

DO they work, are they worth in your opinion, good experiences/bad experiences.

I've got a 205 gti .19 - standard and altho I do use optimax wondered whether OB is worth it.

Thoughts?

[domster]

Hmmm, I looked into this when I had a Lotus Carlton.

I wouldn't bother. There were a few reasons, but some can damage catalysts so you had to pick and choose very carefully.

[craigw]

Saveloy, best thing I did when I had a 1.9 was to get it superchipped & fit an FSE boost valve, made mid range acceleration much better & smoother, also get it set up by someone good (see max power etc)

AS Domster says, I wouldn't reccomend Octane Booster for same reasons.

Great cars by the way.

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Thanks craigw - let me ask you - is it obvious if you've got a powerboost valve fitted? (not power-wise but opening-the-bonnet-and-spotting-it-wise)

[CraigAlsop]

I use 'em in my Chimaera and my Scooby when I go to far North of Scotland, where you are hundreds of miles from nearest Super Unleaded.
Yes they seem to work in stopping pinking, but be aware that they aren't actually upping the Octane by very much at all, but they do change the way that the flame wavefront propagates, so that pinking is reduced/eliminated.
Why does this matter? well it depends on why you are doing it...If like me, you just want to stop your engine pinking on cr*p fuel, then fine, but if you are actually trying to get more power out of your engine, then this is less likely.
I got mine from Demon Tweeks - coupla quid a bottle IIRC

>> Edited by CraigAlsop on Tuesday 10th December 16:14

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Thanks CraigAl - I was going for the latter (ie more power rather than curing crap fuel).

I think I'll just stick to Max of the Opti variety.

Unless someone's got another suggestion to up the power?

[Fatboy]

Mix up your own fuel - 90% regular 95 RON unleaed and 10% toluene, gives about 110 RON IIRC Toluene isn't the nicest stuff to be slopping around mind you...

[deltaf]

Octane booster is ok stuff to run in yer lump, but just whats the point of using it if your engine isnt making any use of it?
What i mean by that is, if youre running say 12.5:1 cr, and it detonates like hell at 3800rpm under WOT(wide open throttle), then theres a few ways usually around the problem.
One is to reduce the amount of spark lead( advance) bad news for power, or use a higher octane fuel which within reason and using the correct ratio, should allow you to use the advance settings you wanted, all without the nasty detonation effects.
You could even run it rich to try to reduce the effects of detonation, but thats not good for power either, nor your bores.
So its kinda pointless to use these compounds( silkolene proboost is the best) unless your running such high cr's. Basically no use in an unmodded roadcar.
Hope that helps ya.

[craigw]

Hard to remember if it was spottable as was about 5 years ago, from memory I don't think you can see it.

[deltaf]

If its the FSE power boost valve, yes yer can see it!
Its about 2 maybe 3 inches diameter, and if memory serves, has to be mounted off engine on the bulkhead.
OEM fuel regulator is lots smaller.

[iguana]

Oct booster is popular with the EVO & Scooby lot, esp if imports and or highly modified and esp for track use. A mate reckoned on 350bhp from a Scooby STI type R and used optimax and at least a bottle or 2 of oct booster per fill up. Bloody quick car tho!!

>> Edited by iguana on Tuesday 10th December 19:07

[MoJocvh]

I am about to start using TetraBOOST along with optimax to prevent detonation and provide valve seat lubrication.

I hope to be able to advance the ignition timing a little once using this to OPTIMISE the engine performance. It cannot be used with cats as you are making leaded petrol but in varying strengths can provide a useful octane lift.
Quote
"All cars fitted with catalytic converters are designed to run on lead free fuel only. A number of enthusiasts with highly-tuned or re-chipped cars, such as Nissan Skyline GTRs, Subaru Impreza P1s and Mitsubishi Evo Series, are removing the catalytic converters and using TetraBOOST as an octane booster and anti-knock agent."

[url] www.tetraboost.co.uk [/url]

>> Edited by MoJocvh on Tuesday 10th December 19:40

[lx993]

alternatively if you just want more power, drop a 16 valve engine into your 205. Up to 220 reliable bhp, allegedly
Should be entertaining...

[stu_allen]

Have a read of this thread about octane boosters. Have your beards handy though!!

www.gtr.co.uk/forum/upload/showthread.php?s=bec69914eb52588c1ac5f6ee5b5e7de0&threadid=2480&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

I don't think the car could handle an M16 engine in it's current guise (I'm fairly sure the rear beam needs attention) and I just don't have the money to do the job properly.
I could could just about scrape money for the engine but I wouldn't feel happy driving it until the brakes, suspension etc etc had been sorted out too. Plus I'd prefer to put a 1.6 gti gearbox in (it's shorter geared) if I was going down the M16 route.

Sadly funds just don't permit at the moment.