Fuel Addatives

[tony9645]

Has anyone tried these off the shelf fuel additives such as Redex etc, are they an improvement or are they likely to send my check engine light into a spin and produce lots of smoke

[lotusespritworld]

Dermot O'Hare's the man to talk to about fuel addivatives, he's a chemist at Oxford University and has done test on most of the stuff on sale.

Dermot, care to contribute?

kato
Lotus Esprit World

[redesprits4s]

Dermot now makes his own potion which I think gives him 100+ RON and whatsmore, when you follow him, if you can keep up :-) , the addative makes the exhaust fumes smell a very fruity sweet smell... weird but true.

Dan
Red S4s

[lotusguy]

Hi,

You need excercise caution when changing the composition of your fuel. Get it wrong, and you'll mess up the very sensitive ECU, and the car won't run properly. Happy Motoring! Jim'85TE

[oharedm]

Hi Guys,

I would recommend you use Shell Optimax for starters. It is a high quality fuel. Autocar ran a professional test on it against cheapo supermarket fuels and clearly showed it to be beneficial to the valves etc...

It is a common misconception that a high octane fuel will make your car go faster. Octane has nothing to do with the energy content of the fuel. In addition, the GM ECU on the 4-cyclinder car cannot react to high octane or race fuel. The basic spark tables are conservative and the engine is not normally prone to much knock even at 1.2 bar.

Increasing energy content per cc of fuel is possible. I have analysed most of the aftermarket fuel additives available in the UK. Most are complete rubbish and are a total marking rip-off. However, the Silkolene Proboost is a nice mixture and before the use of FIA approved race fuels it was used by the major rally teams.

It is a professional curosity for me, and so I would recommend this kind of "home brew" experimentation to everyone.

Dermot

[lotusguy]

Hi all,

On several of the other lists I visit, much discussion has come up recently regarding high octane and octane boosted fuels.

I have also noticed several of our fellow club members adding these when fueling their cars.

I came across an interesting article, originally printed in GS_Xtra, the publication for the Grand Sport Club of America and reprinted, under copyright, on the web site of the Vintage Triumph Registry.

As it may be of some interest and benefit to some of you, I present it here by permission of Mr. Andrew Mace, Vice President, Member Services The Vintage Triumph Register. Sorry for the length.

Hope you find it useful. Extreme care should be taken to prevent and avoid accident or fire should you elect to create some of these mixtures. But, as Dermot stated, boosting octane does not increase the BTU's in a given fuel and often lowers the energy content of the fuel/measured volume. That said, it may have some benefit to the older, non-ECU controlled cars. Happy Motoring!...Jim '85TE

Homebrew Gasoline Octane Boosters

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Editor's note: I would NOT suggest that a person use the following fuel mixtures without considering the detrimental effects on your engine, vital engine components (O2 sensor, etc), and other potential damage. That said, the information is interesting.
Original published in:

GS-Xtra
1213 Gornto Road
Valdosta, GA 31602
[phone]

Editor: Richard Lasetter, president Gran Sport Club of America (GSCA)

Formula #1 - Toluene
R+M/2.........114
Cost...........$2.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...........94.2 Octane
20%...........96.4 Octane
30%...........98.6 Octane
Notes: Common ingredient in Octane Boosters in a can. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, i.e. from 92 to 92.3. Often costs $3-5 for 12-16 ounces, when it can be purchased for less than $3/gal at chemical supply houses or paint stores.

Formula #2 - Xylene
R+M/2.........117
Cost...........$2.75/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...........94.5 Octane
20%...........97.0 Octane
30%...........99.5 Octane
Notes: Similar to Toluene. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, i.e. from 92 to 92.3. Usually mixed with Toluene and advertised as *race formula*.

Formula #3 - Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE)
R+M/2.........118
Cost...........$3.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...........94.6 Octane
20%...........97.2 Octane
30%...........99.8 Octane
Notes: Oxygenate. Very common in octane booster products. Has lower BTU content than toluene or xylene, but oxygenate effect makes the gasoline burn better and produce more energy.

Formula #4 - Methanol or Ethanol
R+M/2.........101
Cost...........$0.60 - $1.75/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...........94.3 Octane (Methanol)
10%...........94.7 Octane (Ethanol)
20%...........Not Recommended
Notes: Methanol is wood alcohol. Ethanol is grain alcohol and found in Gasohol in 10% ratios. Both alcohols are mildly corrosive and will eat gas tank linings, rubber and aluminum if used in excessive ratios. Main ingredient in "Gas Dryers", combine with water.

Formula #5 - Isopropyl Alcohol and Tertiary Butyl Alcohol
R+M/2.........101
Cost...........$0.60-$1.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...........94.5 Octane
20%...........Not Recommended
30%...........Not Recommended

Notes: Similar to Methanol/Ethanol. Isopropyl Alcohol is simply rubbing alcohol.

Sample Mixture
To make your own octane booster, it is easiest to make up a large batch, and then bottle it up in "dosage-size" uses.
Below is the basic formula of one of the popular octane booster products. To make eight 16 ounce bottles (128 oz = 1 gal):

100 oz of toluene for octane boost
25 oz of mineral spirits (cleaning agent)
3 oz of transmission fluid (lubricating agent)
This product is advertised as "octane booster with cleaning agent *and* lubricating agent!". Diesel fuel or kerosene can be substituted for mineral spirits and light turbine oil can be substituted for transmission fluid. Color can be added with petroleum dyes.


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VTR WWW Editor's Note: This article has been included on the VTR pages because this topic is frequently of interest to Triumph owners. However, VTR has no special knowledge about octane boosters. Please do not address correspondence for further information on octane boosters to VTR.

[okc-esprit]

Thought some of you might find this article from 1992 www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-additives.html
of interest. It concerns the snake oil additives available for motor oil.