Gasoline octane additive.

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I would like to purchase regular gas and find an additive that raises the octane at least 5 points. Trying to figure out how to bump us the gas octane for cheaper that purchase price. Any ideas?

LCM
 
5 points, or 5 numbers ?

5 Numbers is pretty not doable for less than the pump price...need around 12-15% toluene to do that job.
 
good luck finding OCI octane booster (other than MMT which is known to be carcinogenic+ pollute waterways+ banned in numerous states incl. Cali, etc.) that would be economical yet able to boost 2~5pts easily.

Let me know as well.

Q.
 
A possible alternative is race fuel concentrate. I use it in between track days when I splurge and buy 100 octane at the pump. I never use a whole can at a time, so invest in some good funnels.
My rebuilt Mustang is still a bit advanced and I can't bring myself to detune it
grin.gif

http://torcoracefuel.net/pro-accelerator.html
Not cheap, so you'll have to figure out if it's worth it for your application.
 
Now,,,I'm not trying to be a jerk,,,but why do you want to raise it 5 numbers,,,do you have catalytic converters on your vehicle,,if you do,,,then my advice will not work for you.I don't have to run CATS,,,so what I use comes from "Kemco Oil & Chemical",,it is called:Octane Supreme 130,,it does raise your levels by "numbers" but,,it is pure TEH,,tetra ethyl lead,,,it does the job for me and,,it's not inexpensive.I created a formula for my own brand of race fuel and it's a combination of the Supreme 130 + 1 gallon of toluene,,mixed into 93 octane pump,,,depending on the amount I want to generate,,I can usually end up with a tank of 100 octane,,,but thats when I'm at the track and I want to tune it accordingly,,but like everyone else has said,,,other than that,,it's almost impossible unless you just go with unleaded 100 octane racing fuel.Down here in Ga,,,we have local Sunoco stations that sell 100GT but it's priced a $7.50 per gallon and sometimes,,I will go and fill up a couple of 5 gallon cans to take to the track.I hope this helps,,in this day and age,,it's hard to find quality fuel unless you can figure a way to make it yourself,,or can afford to buy a 55 gallon drum of 112 or 114,,and blend it yourself.
 
Octane boosters are mostly a waste of money. Atleast as far as the over the counter ones. Octane boosters, such as 104+, claim to raise your gas by up to 3 points. That does NOT mean your tank of gas will go from 87 to 90 octane...it means you will go from 87 to 87.3. So, to add enough octane boost to your gas to really do any good it would be very expensive and putting a lot of who knows what additives in your car's fuel system. Probably cheaper to just by 93 at the pump and if you need more for racing purposes fill a few gallons of race gas like CAM2 unleaded and be done with it. Also - if your daily driver needs more than 93, then you have other problems to deal with.
 
Hey GM,,,that was the point of my question,,,why would he need to raise the octane rating of 87,,,why not just buy the 93 or 92,,,well,,,whatever they sell up there.I know my reasoning,,,it's because I need to get into the 97 and higher range,,,but I'm not understanding why he wants to raise the 87,,,I'm kinda at a loss on this one.
 
Hey GM,,,I got a question for you,,and this has nothing to do with this post,,,this is an "old school" kind of question.I have a circle track engine in my s10,,it has double hump heads,they like to leak oil because of the guides,,and yes,,,I know I should fix it,,,just haven't gotton around to it yet and,,,I don't have the money or the enthusiasm at the moment,,that being said,,,what would you recomend as a top cyl cleaner,,now remember,,,think old school,,,some of my friends say dump tranny fluid down the carb,,another said MMO,,and yet another said water,,,now,,I'm not going to dump water down it to watch the engine lock down,,,and I know,,there are top engine cleaners available,,just wondering what you have to say about it.I know it sounds crazy,,but this part of Ga,,no longer has any Chevy dealers,,,well,,,within decent driving range>i would really like to have some of the top engine cleaner GM has,,just can't find it.Anyway,,no hurry on a answer,,just when you get the time,,,Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: LargeCarManX2
I would like to purchase regular gas and find an additive that raises the octane at least 5 points. Trying to figure out how to bump us the gas octane for cheaper that purchase price. Any ideas?

LCM


From what I've read, it isn't going to happen. Not from regular gas. http://volvospeed.com/Review/misc_performance_volvo_reviews.html reviews several octane boosters.

I've seen ones that claim a full 10 point increase. Whoopie. Your 87 becomes 87.10

Just bite the bullet and buy 91-93.

GM has it covered above.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: beaker60
Hey GM,,,I got a question for you,,and this has nothing to do with this post,,,this is an "old school" kind of question.I have a circle track engine in my s10,,it has double hump heads,they like to leak oil because of the guides,,and yes,,,I know I should fix it,,,just haven't gotton around to it yet and,,,I don't have the money or the enthusiasm at the moment,,that being said,,,what would you recomend as a top cyl cleaner,,now remember,,,think old school,,,some of my friends say dump tranny fluid down the carb,,another said MMO,,and yet another said water,,,now,,I'm not going to dump water down it to watch the engine lock down,,,and I know,,there are top engine cleaners available,,just wondering what you have to say about it.I know it sounds crazy,,but this part of Ga,,no longer has any Chevy dealers,,,well,,,within decent driving range>i would really like to have some of the top engine cleaner GM has,,just can't find it.Anyway,,no hurry on a answer,,just when you get the time,,,Thanks


My best recommendation would be to get the GM cleaner mail order if there are no dealers nearby. I've seen GM TOP END cleaner available on ebay, GMPARTSDIRECT.COM and here:

http://sdparts.com/catalog/additives-and-chemicals/oil-additives-and-lubricants/gm-additives

Be sure to get the liquid bottle, not areosol. If you want to go another route - try Seafoam, which is available from the auto parts stores near you. The old school method, to me, would be to use carb cleaner/parts cleaner in the gallon can and siphoen it up a hose into the intake. That BG44 in a gallon (or even the smaller can size) would sure be an old school metheod....but then introducing water in slow amounts would clean the carbon up BUT you have the additional problem of oil leaking in there to and the water won't clean that.

So - I recommmend running the engine and spraying carb cleaner to clean the carb then introducing a liquid via hose/vacuum line to burn the oil/carbon mix out. Start with Seafoam and/or BG44 and see what happens. If not - mail order or drive and get the strongest stuff - GM Top engine cleaner.

Sure hope that's what ya looking for! But, do not do transmission fluid! You already got oil in there!
 
There probably is'nt anything reasonably effective. However, find something that is banned in California. It would surely help some. John--Las Vegas.
 
Originally Posted By: Torino
find something that is banned in California. It would surely help some. John--Las Vegas.


You're right about that, Calibanya is missing out on so much!
 
Thanks GM,,,that is exactly what I was looking for,,,,Yea ,,the local parts stores all have the Seafoam,,,and I thinlk I know where I can get some BG44,,,so I'll give those a try as soon as it stops snowing down here in Ga,,,this is nuts,I lived through less winters in Wash State
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Originally Posted By: beaker60
Hey GM,,,I got a question for you,,and this has nothing to do with this post,,,this is an "old school" kind of question.I have a circle track engine in my s10,,it has double hump heads,they like to leak oil because of the guides,,and yes,,,I know I should fix it,,,just haven't gotton around to it yet and,,,I don't have the money or the enthusiasm at the moment,,that being said,,,what would you recomend as a top cyl cleaner,,now remember,,,think old school,,,some of my friends say dump tranny fluid down the carb,,another said MMO,,and yet another said water,,,now,,I'm not going to dump water down it to watch the engine lock down,,,and I know,,there are top engine cleaners available,,just wondering what you have to say about it.I know it sounds crazy,,but this part of Ga,,no longer has any Chevy dealers,,,well,,,within decent driving range>i would really like to have some of the top engine cleaner GM has,,just can't find it.Anyway,,no hurry on a answer,,just when you get the time,,,Thanks


My best recommendation would be to get the GM cleaner mail order if there are no dealers nearby. I've seen GM TOP END cleaner available on ebay, GMPARTSDIRECT.COM and here:

http://sdparts.com/catalog/additives-and-chemicals/oil-additives-and-lubricants/gm-additives

Be sure to get the liquid bottle, not areosol. If you want to go another route - try Seafoam, which is available from the auto parts stores near you. The old school method, to me, would be to use carb cleaner/parts cleaner in the gallon can and siphoen it up a hose into the intake. That BG44 in a gallon (or even the smaller can size) would sure be an old school metheod....but then introducing water in slow amounts would clean the carbon up BUT you have the additional problem of oil leaking in there to and the water won't clean that.

So - I recommmend running the engine and spraying carb cleaner to clean the carb then introducing a liquid via hose/vacuum line to burn the oil/carbon mix out. Start with Seafoam and/or BG44 and see what happens. If not - mail order or drive and get the strongest stuff - GM Top engine cleaner.

Sure hope that's what ya looking for! But, do not do transmission fluid! You already got oil in there!
 
Originally Posted By: **** in Falls Church
AMSOIL makes an octane booster. Some years back, I figured that it was less expensive to buy high-test than regular plus the booster. Haven't checked lately.


Amsoil is about 10 dollars to treat 15 gallons of gas. I was hoping a simple additive to bump up regular to preminum might be avaliable cheaply. The difference in grades is about 10 cents a gallon at the pump. I have some 3.8L engines that just won't run properly on regular and need to run preminum. I see bottles at some dollar stores now and then that bump up the octane. Thought there might be a easy fix. Nothing ventured nothings gained.
 
Its cheaper in the end to pony for the higher octane at the pump, the only close solutions are the toluene , xylene, acetone as stated. and I think it would still be a close call on which one is cheaper.....
 
I go to a local shell station and do an E85 mix of 2.5 gallons and the rest 91 gas with 6 oz's of MMO to help the dryness and lubricity. Works really well for me. But I'm lucky in that my own small town station has both pumps right there side by side and with the ability to swipe your debit card I can do it in just a few minutes total. Otherwise it would be too much trouble. Really comes in handy for my car as it absolutely thrives on high octane and running just 91 usually causes more knock than I'm comfortable with.
 
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