Raising 87 octane to 91?

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opposite_locker

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Been searching for a while, but haven't found a definitive answer. Is there any practical way to raise 87 octane gas with OTC additives to 91 octane?

I work on a ranch, and have 87 octane gas available to me for my work truck. Been thinking of getting a new, more fun work truck before long (used '06 Ram SRT10 or more likely a new Tacoma XRunner with TRD roots blower), both of which would require premium gas. I drive ALOT for work, and it would not be practical to have to pay for my own gas (~$1k/mo). But I wouldn't mind paying a little extra for octane boost (equivalent of price difference between regular and premium - about 20-25 cents per gallon). Are there any such products available?
 
Toluene has an R.O.N of 120, and a M.O.N. of 109.

1 gal of tolly to every 7 of farm gas...laughing
 
Do not use avgas in any vehicle that has a catalytic converter and O2 sensors. Avgas has tetraethyl lead in it which will destroy a catalytic converter in a short time. Beside that, it costs around 6 bucks per gallon if someone at an airport will sell it to you. Racing gas is even more expensive than avgas at around 7 per gallon, in at least this area.
 
I like the tone of this question. In a world with "free" gas, how can I have a blast?

A little tera ethyl lead will go a LONG way but is blatantly illegal and destructive of equipment. 100LL AVgas despite its "Low lead" marketing has tons of it. Your question is going to be is it worth the risk, filling your tank 90% with free gas and topping it with this vs just buying 91 unleaded. I was reading somewhere if you blended 91 unleaded with 89 leaded you get something in the 95 range.
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It's (sometimes) better to have a couple different octane boosters mixed together, in other words, than to rely on just one.

You could add ethanol or E85, but there's a chance the 87 you get is already 85 bumped up to 87 with 10% ETOH.

If you read carefully the OTC adds that claim to raise "2 points" mean 2/10s of an octane level, bringing you up to 87.2.
 
eljefino raised E85, what is the pump octane of E85?

Many modern vehicles can handle E85, perhaps adding some E85 to your ranch gasoline would raise the octane enough for your purposes.

I wouldn't count on those expensive bottles of additives at the parts stores doing any good for this purpose.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
A little tera ethyl lead will go a LONG way but is blatantly illegal and destructive of equipment. 100LL AVgas despite its "Low lead" marketing has tons of it. Your question is going to be is it worth the risk, filling your tank 90% with free gas and topping it with this vs just buying 91 unleaded. I was reading somewhere if you blended 91 unleaded with 89 leaded you get something in the 95 range.
crazy.gif



I used to use that trick "back in the day", mixing 97R.O.N. leaded "super" with 95 R.O.N. premium unleaded to knock on 99-100.

But leaded was rapidly neutered, such that it was nearly useless a few years after.

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Toluene might not be legal because you didn't pay road tax on it. I don't expect you'd be busted for it because it's "naturally occurring" in street gas. You run the slight risk of there being taggant (?) chemicals added for antiterrorism or revenue reasons: they add taggants to untaxed "red diesel" and home heating oil as well as dye. If dyed diesel is discovered it's sent to the lab looking for taggants, the dye alone is not enough to incriminate. Your odds of having your gasoline tank dipped are quite small.

Ballpark mid-teens a gallon for toluene just based on my snooping in home depot. You may as well pay cash when you buy it to save on a paper trail.
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However, if you want to waddle in the gray area of law, 12 oz of techron fuel additive like you'd buy at the store is also not taxed. You could call your toluene an "additive."
 
Wow, at the aforementioned 1 gallon of toluene to 7 gallons of gas (is this the correct ratio?), that works out to about $2 addlitional per gallon, which far exceeds a reasonable cost to turn 87 into 91.

Never mind...
 
We used to sell it at the service station I worked at in the 70s.

10% gave you 3 R.O.N., turning 97RON "super" to about 100RON.
 
Originally Posted By: opposite_locker
Wow, at the aforementioned 1 gallon of toluene to 7 gallons of gas (is this the correct ratio?), that works out to about $2 addlitional per gallon, which far exceeds a reasonable cost to turn 87 into 91.

Never mind...


You are trying to increase your free fuel by 4 whole octane number, and that just isn't going to be cheap.
 
This is not "free fuel" by any means...we still have to pay for it (family business). But the fuel is run through the business because it is only used in work vehicles, and we only have 3 storage tanks (red diesel for tractors, clear diesel for the service truck & haulers, and 87 octane for the rest), and I cannot justify purchasing a separate tank just to store a bit of premium gas for only my truck.

Current vehicle is a 2008 Ram 1500 v8 with 6-spd manual and it's been a phenomenal truck, but is approaching 200k miles. Unfortunately, nobody makes a 1/2 ton 6-speed truck anymore so I've been exploring replacement options.

Smaller trucks like the Tacoma & Frontier don't have enough power & payload, while larger 3/4 and 1-ton Cummins diesels are just a bit too big & bumpy to use as a DD and around the orchards. Also have an older 12v Cummins flatbed for the really heavy stuff, but that thing drives like a tractor.

Basically, it looks like I'll be driving the 2008 for a while longer, or at least until someone releases a proper 1/2 ton or more comfy 3/4 ton with a manual trans. But with the way the automotive market is moving, not gonna hold my breath.

Three pedals appear to be a thing of the past
 
I doubt you'll see a standard transmission being installed in light duty trucks because truck buyers don't want them. I have a 2010 Silverado with the 6 speed auto in it and after driving that for a couple of years, I wouldn't go back to a stick.
 
Check racegas.com to find a Sunoco retailer that sells 260 GT Plus. It's 104 octane that'll boost your regular gas octane, just calculate the octane of the blend by the proportion that you mix. Of course it won't be cheap - a couple months ago, I checked the price of 260 GT (100 octane) at a local Sunoco station and it was $7.99/gal.

A very good octane booster concentrate is Torco Accelerator @ $21/qt. The Torco website has charts that show the blend ratio and resulting octane.

Any way you do it, boosting 87 octane regular to 91 octane isn't going to be cheap.
 
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