What Octane Boost Do You Use

[Bushs86SVO]

Octane....

Hey..

well, I live in California, and the only gas that they offer in this "used to be great" state is 87, 89, 91.

The only place I know of here that you can get a higher octane is at Sear's Point in which you can get like 102 or 104 or like 110 octane...

[Ken Potter]

You would think that in California you guys should have the higher octane available because of stricter emissions requirements. Government regulations... Boneheads!

[vrinner]

Some answers

First let me answer the original question, which octane boost do you use? I have used the NOS octane boost and it seems to get rid of the pings if I start with about 3/4 of a tank of gas to one can of the boost. If I have a full tank, it really doesn't seem to help at all. I have tried some of the other ones that they sell at Kragen and Pep Boys (I dont remember the brand) but none of them worked as well as the NOS stuff. Also be carefull because NOS sell a "cleanser" and a "octane boost" The cans look exactly the same, except for the lable, so be sure to get the octane boost. All of this is with the 91 octane California gas. If I'm autocrossing my daily driver, I usually fill at least half a tank full of 100 octane unleaded "race gas" from 76. There are several station in SoCal that sell it right from the pump. Unfortunatly all of this cost extra $ per tank and I usually just run strait 91 and turn off the premium switch. No as much fun but then again, I'm just driving on the street. In my track car, I usually run about a 50/50 mix of 110 and 91. I know that this is probably over kill but 110 cost the same as 100 so why not go for the big time. No detonation at all.

Now to answer the 91 vs. 92 question...One of my friends works for Arco/BP and I asked him why California quit selling 92 octane. He said that most of the gas in CA is pumped through the same "common carrier pipeline" Meaning that 76, Cheveron, Arco, Shell, ect.... are all pumped through the same pipelines from the refineries. And because one company came up with a "cleaner burning" fuel at 91 octane, everyone else had to follow suit. Let me state again that this is what HE told me and I am only going off of what he said because he works for a gas company. If anyone else finds something different, or wants more clarification, let me know and I can ask him.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Vince

That sounds correct but I believe there are other reasons involved as well.

1. Many refineries didn't want to pay the premium for the TOSCO(Union 76 until Tosco sold Unocal off) patented fuel additive rights. Unocal was the last hold out on the higher octane when all others dropped their premium to 91 octane.

2. California Air Resources Board and the South Coast AQMD. They have many requirements and have been dictating to refiners what they may blend and sell.

3. MTBE's, Oxygenated fuels. These effectively appear to be the reason that octane went down, and they were required by #2 above to be implemented in our gasoline here in California. Refineries cut the octane rating to defray the added expense of adding the MTBE to the gas, as required by our all-knowing government "smog patrol" agencies.

See if your contact at ARCO will confirm my assessment.

[Ken Potter]

Something I used to know...

Many years ago I understood the formual of RM/+2 or something like that... I've forgotten exactly how it goes or if they even post it on the pumps anymore... I guess I'm getting old? I believe it was something like on the worst day it wouldn't be less than posted but could go as high as an additional 2 octane points? Somebody refresh my memory please... That was back when gas was about $0.50/ Gal.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Re: Something I used to know...

Originally posted by Ken Potter
Many years ago I understood the formual of RM/+2 or something like that... I've forgotten exactly how it goes or if they even post it on the pumps anymore... I guess I'm getting old? I believe it was something like on the worst day it wouldn't be less than posted but could go as high as an additional 2 octane points? Somebody refresh my memory please... That was back when gas was about $0.50/ Gal.

(R+M)/2

Research octane plus motor octane divided by two. It more or less indicates the least you should expect from the fuel.

And yes, it must be posted on the pumps.

I remember speaking with the fuel supplier's chemical engineers at the race tracks and they explained how when you mix 2 different octane fuels yourself, that they never completely blend, so there's a greater likelihood of pre ignition started by the lower octane portion of the blend. Once it lights off, the higher octane gets lit off as well. The best solution is to run the correct octane fuel as the refiner had intended to manufacture it.

[vrinner]

Check out this link.

Check out this link... http://www.leesracing.com

They have some good stuff on octane and fuel.

[Darren]

I got this directly off the Chevron website:

Why do the gasolines in different states have different AKI values?

The AKIs of the gasolines offered for sale are set by gasoline refiners and marketers based on their perception of the technical and competitive needs in the market. Federal and most state regulations do not regulate AKI values, only that the postings on the dispensers accurately reflect the AKIs of the gasolines being sold. The AKI of premium gasoline in some states is higher than it is in others. This is the result of competition. The AKIs of all grades of gasoline are lower in the high altitude areas of some Rocky Mountain states. This is because the octane requirement of older engines without engine control modules decreases with altitude. At higher altitudes, these engines perform as well on the lower AKI gasolines as they would at sea level on higher AKI gasolines.

AKI stands for Anti-Knock Index which is equivalent to the (R+M)/2 number.

-Darren

[Xaranthu]

The only thing that is still unclear is why it seems to be an Eastcoast vs. Westcoast thing. If sea level had anything to do with it, why is 91o the max available octane from California to Fort St. Johns (Way north of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada approching the border of Alaska.) What's Alaska using? It just seems to me that the dividing point for the 91 - 94o ;nearly strait down the middle of the continent - seems to be in the wrong direction. Shouldn't it be North South with the exception of some higher elevation geographical locations?

I do think the simple truth is refignment method, additives and posting regulations, but I think only someone inside the industry would know the answer to this.

Z.

[Pat_in_L.A.]

Xanathu

Its a simple case of government bureaucracy.

The government agencies that I mentioned previously REQUIRED the oil companies to implement the manufacture of gas with MTBE's. The oil companies said "That'll cost a lot more and its not a proper solution. Implementation will take years.". The agencies ordered them to go ahead

A few years pass...

AQMD: "Wow! Look at these water table pollution numbers! There's too many MTBE's polluting our water table! It's coming from the tailpipes of all those cars out there! You oil companies have to get rid of those harmful MTBE's in the gas.". The oil companies said "That'll cost a lot more.".

And the consumer pays the price.

Well, tonight is cruise night out here. I think I'm gonna go out and find some tree hugger who is driving his electric/flex fuel vehicle and kick his butt.

[lonchair]

When I use Octane Boost, I use Synergin 120

[kiwi]

Body Fuel?

When I use Octane Boost, I use Synergin 120.

Isn't that the meat only diet?.......:p

[84SVOGARY]

91 OCTANE

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO GUYS.....OOPS...Thanks for all the info guys. How's thay Eric? :p

[GAboySVO]

84SVOGary,

The best octane boosters will indicate the number or points of octane boost you will get when added to the tank. If it doesn't give you a number, pass it buy. I have the same crappy gas in CA. What I found the works the best for boosting my octane is a product called Hyper-fuel. It claims to raise your octane by 7 numbers where as most others talk about points. A point is a tenth of a number. The octane boosters that work well will contain MMT. They sell it a Kragen Auto Parts only on the west coast. Check out there web site at: www.hyperlube.com to find if it is supplied in your area. I think you can order it online as well.

The other thing to do is go to the local paint store and get some Tolulene. Toulene is the a natural component of gas and won't harm your enigine if used wisely. About 1 gallon per tank will give you ~92.5 octane. Check out this site to learn more: http://www.vtr.org/maintain/gasoline-octane.html

Bush86SVO,

You can get race gas at Union 76 stations. There is a web site that gives locations of where you can get it in SoCal. Try this:http://www.schube.com/racegas.html

SVOEric,

Because California is such a big consumer of gasoline, their enviromental laws are affecting the entire west US and I guess Canada. When the Gov't first mandated the oxygenated fuels in Cali caused a price shock wave to California drivers becuase of the different formulation requirements for the different states. This had an adverse effect on supply because of delays associated with changing over the refinery from one formulation to the next. So the Pols had to fix there screw up by inacting further restrictions and regulations. This essentailly made most of the western states adopt the California formulation to reduce the cost per gallon. You gov't at work. I was talking to a guy at a Hotrod show and he said the Gray out Davis is pushing to make 89 octane to be the top grade. I'll have to leave the state to drive my car when that happens.

[vrinner]

I talked to my friend tonight regarding the decision to go from 92 to 91 octane.

Unocal had a bunch of patents on how to formulate 92 octane. Most of the oil companies share in how they develop fuels but Unocal basically had a particulary (sp?) difficult process. For the other companies to adopt their process to get the newly mandated 92 octane, would raise the price per gallon about 5 cents. All the companies decided that making 91 octane was easier and "cleaner" than bumping it up to 93 (which was easier). And again because most gas is pumped through common pipelines from the refineries to the distribution centers.

He said that the oil companies actually play fairly well together on certain issues and I guess this is one of them. He says you east coast guys better beware, lower octanes are probably on their way.

He also says that if Unocal wanted to sell 92 ("Hey we got 92 and no body else does"), they could do special distribution but he says that the general concensous (sp?) is that "most" cars that ran fine on 92 should run fine on 91 so there would not be that large of a market for it.

He also explained to me "why" gas is so expensive which was a very interesting conversation.

For what it's worth, my friend is a chemical engineer (I think thats how he put it) at Arco. When I met him tonight, he was wearing a shirt that had some silly oil refinery equimpent on it.