Higher octane...

Superchargedcrew · Post by **Superchargedcrew** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 7:03 am

Well the price is finnaly droping here it was $1.86 for regular 87 octane but now its down to $1.44 a gallon. Just a little hint that I found out higher octane increases fuel mileage. And the cheapest way to do it is buy the 4 pack of octane booster by outlaw is $10 and it will improve fuel mileag by 5-8 mpg for 4 fill ups.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 9:54 am

Superchargedcrew wrote:Well the price is finnaly droping here it was $1.86 for regular 87 octane but now its down to $1.44 a gallon. Just a little hint that I found out higher octane increases fuel mileage. And the cheapest way to do it is buy the 4 pack of octane booster by outlaw is $10 and it will improve fuel mileag by 5-8 mpg for 4 fill ups.

no way? i have never heard this. are there any down sides to this?

Superchargedcrew · Post by **Superchargedcrew** » Mon Apr 07, 2003 12:15 pm

Hello,

I haven't seen and side effects yet. I've been getting 305 miles to the tank = 16 gallons (roughly) just driving to work and back. Which is about 32 miles each way. And getting 19mpg with all the performance mods I have done to my truck I thought this was excellent. Now on the freeway I was getting around 22mpg depending on where I set cruise at. But try it see if you get some simular results.. And let me know..

Thanks Super

barch97 · Post by **barch97** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:42 am

...buy the 4 pack of octane booster by outlaw is $10 and it will improve fuel mileag by 5-8 mpg for 4 fill ups.

I'm a bit skeptical of this. Has anyone document fuel economy stats with & without this additive?

I typically run regular 89 octane and get 17-18 mpg. Last time I went to fill up, the station was out of 89 and 91. So, I ran my first tank of 93 octane and 233.2 miles out of 13.46 gallons. Which is +/- 17.33 mpg. Right in the middle of my regular mileage range.

So, how much does this "octane boost" boost the octane? And, it really sound too good to be true. Are we really to believe that this additive will yield an 87 - 140 mile increase to a tank of gas? It's a 4 pack... is each unit five gallons?

I'd love for this to be true but, it just doesn't seem possible.

AZS10Crew · Post by **AZS10Crew** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 8:20 am

From what I've heard (mostly word of mouth) octane boosters are basically worthless. When they say they raise the octane 3-5 points, it's usually 0.3-0.5 points. I would run 91 octane plus a bottle of 7 point octane booster in my 99 Z28 sometimes at the track and it made no difference in MPG or performance. The only time there was any difference was when I had 3/4 tank of 91 octane plus 1/4 tank of 104 (Ithink) octane "race gas." That made a slight performance difference.

IMHO...higher octane fuel is worthless unless you have a reprogrammed PCM, a significant power-adder (like a blower or nitrous), or a high compression engine. On a stock S-10 like most of us have, it's a waste to run anything higher than 87 octane.

Post by **HenryJ** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:47 pm

I split this topic so the other thread didn't get so far off topic and to make it easier to search for this discussion.

Here's my $.02...

You don't need any more octane than is required to perform without detonation.

Different driving habits and climate can affect this. On the older cars adding an octane booster, or using higher octane fuel was the only way to prevent or cure detonation.

Newer vehicles now have a sensor that detects the knock and adjusts the timing to correct the condition.

Best performance is achieved running as much advance as possible without detonation.

The trick is to find where you get the best performance/mileage.

It is very possible that a higher octane fuel could see an increase in both mileage and performance. If you are pinging on 87 octane and the PCM is retarding the timing to compensate, then a higher octane could improve the condition.

I ran several tanks of 87 octane fuel, then several of 89 octane fuel, the 89 yielded an increase of 2 mpg for me. With the cost being $.10 higher it was acually cheaper to run the higher octane , due to the increase in mileage.

However, I tried 91 octane fuel and saw no significant change from the 89. So my truck seems to perform the best on 89 octane fuel here.

Boosters can make some improvements too, but don't perform nearly as well as the good gas, I mean the old octane enhancer TETRAETHYL LEAD

I just priced fuel for the HenryJ from a local supplier, they didn't have the 115 octane I usually run, but the 110 octane that they stock is up to $4.90 a gallon now.

Kind of a bummer when it takes roughly 7 gal. to run to town and back

marks10cc · Post by **marks10cc** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:08 pm

I remember reading somewhere about the ingredients within the octane boosters being bad. I can't remember any details, if it was methylethyl-lethyl... anyway, it was on that old 60 degree v6 site. The moderator did a test back in '93/'94 and found that all of the octane boosters on the market contained this ingredient. This ingredient was listed as a 'corrosion agent' by Goodyear and Felpro for gas lines and gaskets. Wish I could remember more, but it was an article that made me stop using the stuff.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 12:58 am

alirght brule, so i filled up with 89 tonight. i usually get 210 per 14 to 15 gallons. so we will see this tank

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 5:02 am

marks10cc wrote:I remember reading somewhere about the ingredients within the octane boosters being bad. I can't remember any details, if it was methylethyl-lethyl... anyway, it was on that old 60 degree v6 site. The moderator did a test back in '93/'94 and found that all of the octane boosters on the market contained this ingredient. This ingredient was listed as a 'corrosion agent' by Goodyear and Felpro for gas lines and gaskets. Wish I could remember more, but it was an article that made me stop using the stuff.

Good point, You don't want to add something that will take out an O2 sensor , or plug the cat.

I haven't added any boosters to my truck, just injector cleaners.

I do use 104+ in the HenryJ when I get stuck running premium pump gas though. It tends to turn the plugs a light brown. Nothing bad , but not the usual clean ,to slight gray burn.

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 5:14 am

a2b wrote:alirght brule, so i filled up with 89 tonight. i usually get 210 per 14 to 15 gallons. so we will see this tank

That's only 14-15 mpg. I usually get 17 mpg , even on the worst driving and winter grades of fuel I will get 15 mpg.

At an extra $.10 per gallon you will need to get just over a 1 mpg gain to break even.

a2b · Post by **a2b** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 12:02 pm

HenryJ wrote:
a2b wrote:alirght brule, so i filled up with 89 tonight. i usually get 210 per 14 to 15 gallons. so we will see this tank
That's only 14-15 mpg. I usually get 17 mpg , even on the worst driving and winter grades of fuel I will get 15 mpg.

At an extra $.10 per gallon you will need to get just over a 1 mpg gain to break even.

well if you take 210 ,i figure you add 20 to 30 miles cuz of the tires

Post by **HenryJ** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 5:01 pm

Still haven't calibrated that speedo, yet!

Ok then a little less than 1 mpg to break even

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 6:15 pm

Hey Supercharged crew I am in Grove City. I would love to see your crew. Email is Hegwoodz@juno.com.

Brad

Superchargedcrew · Post by **Superchargedcrew** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 5:50 am

Well I'm back from a 4 day work trip and see I got people talking about my octane boosting.. We certain facs that I forgot and Henry has mentioned is my computer is setup 92+ and I do run a supercharger. So when I go to the gas station most of the time its no less than Super 94 for me because I found out the hard way and tried to cheat and my engine pinged all the time, but if you want performance I guess you pay for it, on every aspect you do. But I am telling the truth about octane booster and the effects I have seen with my crew. And yes one of the biggest mpg saver is don't push so hard on that gas pedal. But like anything else its your s use it how you please..One or quick thing could I have a member page? Also gas drop even lower here again now its $1.35=86 $1.39=87

$1.45=89 $1.53=92 $1.65=94 Octane

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:34 pm

Octane Explained

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:32 pm

Interesting read. I have tried premium fuel in my CC and did experience a slight mpg gain in same driving situation. However, it was not sufficient to pay for the higher price of the higher octane fuel. My interest has been tweaked however and I may yet try the toluene as an additive.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:39 pm

Be careful.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:48 pm

HenryJ wrote:Be careful.

Good advice but contrary to the reading material referenced. They claimed toluene was basically as safe as gasoline. Not sure I agree but as I said before it has tweaked my interest.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:21 pm

Remember higher octane does not mean more power. It is a resistance to burning. This is necessary when a performance engine creates an atmosphere conducive to preignition. Engines designed to develop more power may require higher octane. Engines not built this way will see no benefits beyond their own requirements.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:38 pm

Okay Brule, so what's your professional opinion on our trucks on this issue as sold stock with no compression boosting mods? When I tried premium regular I did notice an improvement in mileage but no difference in power and have never experienced any ping/detonation/preignition problems. As stated previously the improvement didn't pay for the difference in fuel price.

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:00 pm

As carbon builds up the compression increases. This may warrant higher octane.
You should never hear ping or detonation if the EGR system and knock sensors are functioning. The EGR system lowers combustion cylinder temperatures and the knock sensors alter timing.
The MPG gain is likely due to better performance and thus the lack of need for the knock sensors to adjust timing.
I was getting better mileage from running the mid grade fuel. The gain was enough to pay for a $0.10 difference in cost. I have since returned to the low grade since the cost of fuel rose so high. I probably should pencil it out and try again, but I plan to park it as much as possible once the weather warms.

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