Octane Discussion

[Bordsnbikes]

Quote from FIDOSOL, "The octane booster doesn't have everything that is in regular gas."

Which I think is the point. Here's what I've learned, from wikipedia.

Octane measures the gasolines resistence to detonation. More compression needs higher octane so it doesn't combust to soon. For example, gasoline with the same knocking characteristics as a mixture of 90% iso-octane and 10% heptane would have an octane rating of 90. So it sounds like if you add something to raise the combustion rate of the gas, it would raise the octane rating.

 

[teh Nub]

The higher the octane rating, the more the fuel resists combustion to avoid detonation. Therefore, your last statement is backwards.

Most octane boosters use toluene to raise the octane level (which is only a few points 93.0 to 93.3) Toluene is already in gasoline from the pump....

Gasoline, petroleum spirit, petrol, or petrogasoline is a liquid mixture primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines. It is petroleum-derived, and consists mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons, enhanced with iso-octane or the aromatic hydrocarbons toluene and benzene to increase its octane rating.

 

[Bordsnbikes]

Ah your right, thank you for correcting me. So then you would add something to make it less likely to combust, it would seem very possible with just a little bottle of stuff. But is it the stuff they use when making the gas to raise the octane?

 

[teh Nub]

Toluene is already in gasoline from the pump and toluene is also commonly used in octane boosters. A bottle of octane booster doesn't raise the overall octane of the fuel much at all if any. It's a waste of money because it would only raise your octane a few points (from 93.0 to 93.3) That's not enough to make a difference. Even if a bottle would take the 93 to like 100 or so, you would have to add higher compression pistons, cams, etc to make any more power.

Your engine will make the most power with an octane fuel that is just enough to prevent detonation, increasing octane from that point does nothing and can cause a reduction in power due to it's resistance to combust...

 

[Bordsnbikes]

Is the amount of toluene the only thing that raises or lowers the octane? It seemed like there are an awful lot of different things in there. I see what your saying though, you would have to add say one part toluene to nine parts regular gas to change the octane 10 points. That little half ounce isn't going to make a serious difference.

 

[teh Nub]

There are a lot of things that will raise octane - Xylene, Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE), Isopropyl Alcohol, Tertiary Butyl Alcohol, Methanol, and Ethanol.

Toluene, MTBE, and occasionally Xylene are used in octane boosters along with other chemicals for cleaning agents and lubricants.

 

[teh Nub]

Steel building design, degree in mechanical engineering, and play with turbocharged cars using lots of race gas etc...

 

[Bordsnbikes]

Hmm that makes sense too. Thanks for weighing in on this. Added some real world experience instead of just what I'm learning from the internet.