fuel cleaners & octane boost additives?

I've had good luck with Techron... which used to be called Techroline... which way back was called F-310...


(Of course that last one was when you could go into a Chevron/Standard station and buy 2-cycle gas straight from the pump, with a big, chrome lever that went from 16:1 to 50:1)

((Am I showing my age? Better not mention the Philips 66 Flite Fuel, leaded 'ethyl' that was over 100 octane!))

Is toluene safe for our fuel systems, tanks, lines etc?? I was thinking of 1 gallon toluene, then fill up with 93 (maybe a little mmo) but don't want to damage anything.

Northeast wrote:

Is toluene safe for our fuel systems, tanks, lines etc?? I was thinking of 1 gallon toluene, then fill up with 93 (maybe a little mmo) but don't want to damage anything.

If you're looking for a decent octane booster, just go buy the Lucas Octane Booster from the auto parts store. It will net you 96 octane when filling up with 93. It's the only octane booster I use, as all the others suck.

Abaddon wrote:

It will net you 96 octane when filling up with 93. It's the only octane booster I use, as all the others suck.

It raises octane 30 points? wow, thats pretty good. Ill check that out, thanks.


Ever use Torco?

Yep. The Lucas stuff is the only booster that has a 30 point raise. All others only have 10, if that. I did my research before using it.

Thanks! Going to try it out.

What mix are you using? 1 bottle per 20 gallons?

Well, that depends. When I'm just going to work and what-not, I use none, just 93 fuel. When I know (on the weekends) I'm going out to beat the piss out of it, I mix it with no more than 10-12 gallons. Now that it's getting cold out, I really don't even need it.....just in the summer months.

Northeast wrote:

Is toluene safe for our fuel systems, tanks, lines etc?? I was thinking of 1 gallon toluene, then fill up with 93 (maybe a little mmo) but don't want to damage anything.

Absolutely safe. Toluene is a part of the gasoline we buy from the pump already, and increasing it's ratio by adding a gallon won't harm a thing. I do exactly this before going to the track (throw in a can of xylene in addition for even better results!). It makes a noticable difference in KR reduction and power output (Toluene and Xylene have a higher BTU than pump gas, so increasing their ratio not only helps fight knock, but also adds more energy to your fuel)

I can vouch for lucas octane booster, it does work very well. Gave my old girl a noticable increase in horses

deekster_caddy wrote:

Absolutely safe. Toluene is a part of the gasoline we buy from the pump already, and increasing it's ratio by adding a gallon won't harm a thing. I do exactly this before going to the track (throw in a can of xylene in addition for even better results!). It makes a noticable difference in KR reduction and power output (Toluene and Xylene have a higher BTU than pump gas, so increasing their ratio not only helps fight knock, but also adds more energy to your fuel)

Thanks!

What mix do you typically use? 1 gallon toluene per fill up (20 gals pump gas)?

Northeast wrote:

deekster_caddy wrote:

Absolutely safe. Toluene is a part of the gasoline we buy from the pump already, and increasing it's ratio by adding a gallon won't harm a thing. I do exactly this before going to the track (throw in a can of xylene in addition for even better results!). It makes a noticable difference in KR reduction and power output (Toluene and Xylene have a higher BTU than pump gas, so increasing their ratio not only helps fight knock, but also adds more energy to your fuel)

Thanks!

What mix do you typically use? 1 gallon toluene per fill up (20 gals pump gas)?

that's what I usually do. But you should also be scanning, so you know if you are fighting KR, and if the toluene was enough.

Northeast wrote:

Thanks!
What mix do you typically use? 1 gallon toluene per fill up (20 gals pump gas)?

I don't see a Signature file, so I don't know what year your car is. But, for a correct ratio, I would point out that with a '95 you'd be filling up with a gallon of toluene and less than 19 gallons of gas - with a later model, more like a gallon of toluene to 16 or so gallons of gas...

1 Gallon to 5 gallons super & 1 bottle m.m.o.

Thanks all, good info. I am only planning on using these home brews if my KR increases (maybe Ill try some in the summer) but from what I am seeing, looks like a ~20% ratio (with lubrication additive) should bring me up in the 97-98 octane range.

I was calling around locally, and the cheapest I could find was 100 octane at 12/gallon. Expensive!

Trying this Lucas juice out tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up, Scott. Dont feel like luggin race fuel an hour with an open trunk anyways.

Just fill up with 100 octane in Norwalk. A $5 bottle of octane boost might give you a couple of points, but it won't be as good as the real deal.

Listen to what Aaron said.

Most off the shelf 'boosters' will add a few points. Yes, points. 93 octane is now 93.4, for example.
Waste of time and money.

Have you guys tried the leaded CAM 2 fuel? Any feedback? Trying to find the station in Norwalk now.

I dont have a cat and im using an O2 simulator until I can get a tune, but is there anything else to be aware of if I juice with leaded race fuel?

The lucas stuff is better than most. I read a review where it raised 93 to 96 when mixed 100:1, or one bottle for an 11.75 gal tank. You would need to add with the Riv's tank a little over 1/2 full to see the same result. I've read that engines can run funny when using these boosters.

There should be stations all around the track. I think the track even sells it. CAM 2 is the gas I was referring to, available at Sunoco. The 100 or 104 octane (also called 260/260+) is unleaded.

http://www.racegas.com/fuelfinder

100 octane in Norwalk? Must be nice. All we have around here is 110 Torco and Cam 2. That shit is almost $7 a gallon. That Lucas stuff is the only Octane Booster I've found that actually works. I mix it with no more than a half tank. All the other shelf stuff is garbage. None of them will give you the same effect as race gas though  

They sell 100 at the Sunoco I used to pass on my way to work each day! Instant KR killer. Here's an interesting tidbit: when I went to Nelson Ledges last year, met with charlieRobinson and went round the 2 mile track that day. Normally would have filled with 100 beforehand, but that morning I was running behind and thought, "It's tuned for 0-2º KR on 93. It'll be okay." after about 30 laps I chipped piston #1 in the back straight around 5800 RPM. That's the bad news. Good news is now I have a brand new 20k mile engine to play with every day.

Lesson learned: you can use race gas for building extra power, or as insurance against KR. For a daily driver, $20 spent on 100 octane is a great insurance policy.

Ha. I told Charlie pretty much the exact same thing. Whenever I'm going out to beat the shit out of it, I toss in a bottle to be safe(r).
I have to drive a few miles to get race fuel. There aren't any stations near me that sell it. There are really only stations on the old cruising roads...Gratiot and Woodward.

After 30 laps, that thing was heat soaked and probably had some pretty good KR you didn't know about. 2* certainly isn't going to chip a piston. Or, the piston was ready to go anyway.

would xylene or toulene hurt our modern cars? and what would benefits or cons be of using it?

joshuadalegrimes wrote:

would xylene or toulene hurt our modern cars? and what would benefits or cons be of using it?

Nope. Xylene and Toluene are already components of your pump gas. All you are doing by adding more is changing the blend ratio. Toluene and Xylene have higher BTU (Energy) than your watered down gas too, so you get more octane AND more ENERGY (that's important too). The only con is the price - unless you can buy it in bulk, gallon jugs are expensive.

You could easily pour in 1 gal of each to a full tank of gas in the Riv with only positive results.

I'm not sure at what ratios you can 'cause a problem' (if such a thing can be done on a blend like this) but I've never heard of any problems caused by adding these chemicals.

If you are borderline on your tune/KR at WOT, and at the dragstrip, pour in some of each until your KR problems go away. (scanning the entire time of course). Try dropping 0.1 on your pulley size and repeat. Repeat again. Experiment for us!

I used about 1/2 gal of each on my 3.2 pulley with some aggressive timing when I was messing around at the track, back before my cam/gen5 motor. If I had more time I could have increased timing further but it was a weeknight with limited runs. That or adding a bit of 100 octane was the only way I could make the 3.2 pulley run KR free unless I just dropped timing.

edit - just google "toluene octane" or "home brew octane booster" for more great info.