Do octane boosters work?

[Edbear]

Had to chuckle today. I was watching 5th Gear and they had a test of most of the fuel additives available like Wynns, Nulon etc. They used a dyno to establish the benchmark for the test engine and tested each additive. There were about five additives, all popular and all sold in automotive stores here as well.

Result? Each additive, reduced the available horsepower by the same 2%! With one specifically marketed to boost peak power, actually reducing it by 6%! :bye:

So before you go and buy a fuel additive and tell everyone how good it is... :shifty:

[SMOKEU]

I sometimes put some homebrew spirit in the fuel tank of my car and bike. It's a good enough octane booster!

[JATZ]

AvGas FTW :Punk:

[DEATH_INC.]

AvGas FTW :Punk:
It's been said time and time again, you make most power with the LOWEST octane your engine will run properly on. :done:

[JATZ]

It's been said time and time again, you make most power with the LOWEST octane your engine will run properly on. :done:

Yebut.... AvGas has a kown octane rating and burns cleaner, engine runs cooler too which is a bonus for an aircooled single

[Slyer]

When looking at a long line of identical looking bottles that each claim to solve different common auto problems, comparisons are easily drawn between them and homeopathic "remedies"...

[Slyer]

Yebut.... AvGas has a kown octane rating and burns cleaner, engine runs cooler too which is a bonus for an aircooled single
Are you saying it burns cleaner because it's high octane?

[JATZ]

Are you saying it burns cleaner because it's high octane?

Nope.... It's a cleaner fuel, not full of the aditives that gets put into the tanks at your local servo...ergo, it burns a bit cleaner.It must be top quality to go into planes, surely. So i'm told. However, if you have other info, I would be more than happy to hear it,I have an open mind :yes:

[Flip]

Avgas goes back to the second world war when a bunch of nutters were putting 2000 hp 16 liter turbocharged V12 engines in planes with 8 machine guns and went looking for a fight, and they needed very high quality, leaded, high octane fuel to run on. The specification and regulations on piston engine air craft fuel goes back to WW2.

It amazes me how many people think octane and calorific value is the same thing. Octane is the fuels ability not to ignite under compression, however as the octane goes up the flame front speed of the fuel drops. Taken to the extreme if you run race gas in a low compression vintage motor the fuel burns too slow and is still burning as it leaves the cylinder and heats up the exhaust because of the radiant energy from the still burning fuel.

Avgas is a narrow cut fuel. It has bugger all small volatile molecules, remember it burns slowly. These small molecules in pump fuel are ignited by the spark first and greatly increase ability of the fuel to be ignited cleanly and burnt by a spark. Most motors with a average ignition system just won't run well on Avgas, they spit, backfire and just run badly.

To all those folk who say their std motors run better on avgas or with some expensive dope, well sorry but "bollox". If I am wrong about this well so is Mr Honda, Mr Suzuki and Mr Yamaha who only spends about the GDP of a small country making sure their motors run as well as they possibly can on pump gas. I guess you know more than they do.

There may be some advante in adding a little tetraethyllead to pump gas because the lead might promote a little better (more complete) combustion, but only in a very few motors.

[Motu]

Did they expect a power increase? You won't get a power increase going from 91 to 95 or 98,what makes them think they will get more power with an octane booster? I think 5th Gear wear as sucked in as the consumer.

However,if you have a high compression ratio that knocks on available fuel,an octane booster can help.When lead was dropped from our fuel I used to use an octane booster in my old 250 Falcon engine to stop the rattle.When 98 came out it ran sweet on that.But no power increase on any fuels.

[Slyer]

Avgas goes back to the second world war when a bunch of nutters....
Good writeup. Confirms what I thought.
In summary, you only need high octane if you are running a high compression engine and it may actually be worse for engines that don't need it.
The disadvantages of high octane pale in comparison to pre-ignition...

[Woodman]

Correct there Flip.

I was running my klr on 95 until I read somewhere that 91 was the correct fuel, so I tried it and the performance was so much better .

[JATZ]

Interesting stuff typed by flip.......

Thanks for that Flip, I guess you do learn some interesting stuff on the www. :niceone: BUT.... why is it the local bike shop sells it to joe average who's fanging around the forest on the weekend, and to mxers racing at events 'round the district ?

[SMOKEU]

Did they expect a power increase? You won't get a power increase going from 91 to 95 or 98,what makes them think they will get more power with an octane booster? I think 5th Gear wear as sucked in as the consumer.

.

In relatively modern, high performance engines the knock sensors may reduce engine power output if the engine is starting to detonate when a fuel of too low an octane is being used.

[Flip]

Thanks for that Flip, I guess you do learn some interesting stuff on the www. :niceone: BUT.... why is it the local bike shop sells it to joe average who's fanging around the forest on the weekend, and to mxers racing at events 'round the district ?

The local bike shop sell it because there is a buck in it for them.

It's snake oil.

[Gremlin]

my carbed ZX7r certainly benefited from some sort of octane booster when I ran some in a tank. Cleared up bogging and smelt pretty good :shifty:

[DrunkenMistake]

Adding mothballs to the fuel tank of a car will increase its horsepower.
plausible

The engine still started, but it soon started spluttering. When Jamie pressed the accelerator, the engine sounded more powerful.


What could go wrong?
http://mythbustersresults.com/episode15

[DMNTD]

my carbed ZX7r certainly benefited from some sort of octane booster when I ran some in a tank. Cleared up bogging and smelt pretty good :shifty:

It still went slow as piss :scooter:

Anyone aware of a good injector cleaner (pour in tank jobbie) that actually works?

[NZsarge]

Anyone aware of a good injector cleaner (pour in tank jobbie) that actually works?


I'm pretty sure that Wurth injector cleaner works well enough, could be a little difficult to find though, I get mine though Palmerston North's Kawasaki dealer AFC.

[Laava]

I run my bike on Jim Beam cos it's cheaper than petrol. The butt dyno tells me I have a significant increase in horsepower. My question is; Should I add a proper mixture like Coke to smoothen things out?

[fi5hy]

The cocks on the show did not advance the timing when they did these test so no they would be no HP gain. th octane booster does increase the RON numbers by about 3-5 points but you need to do more than that to get the real advantages. I for one run the Wynn's Race Formula in my bikes and yes they do make a difference. If your exhaust pipe does not run a different cover after running a booster thens it's not doing jack.

[fi5hy]

It still went slow as piss :scooter:

Anyone aware of a good injector cleaner (pour in tank jobbie) that actually works?


Go to a good car repair garage and ask for the Wynn's Inject-A-Clean Black it's the best you can buy but it's not for retail sale

[civil]

I use an octane boost in my sons KTM65SX. Since I have been doing this I have not had problems with plugs fouling like I have with ALL the other 2-strokes I have had.

[DMNTD]

Go to a good car repair garage and ask for the Wynn's Inject-A-Clean Black it's the best you can buy but it's not for retail sale

Thanking thee...

[vifferman]

I use an octane boost in my sons KTM65SX. Since I have been doing this I have not had problems with plugs fouling like I have with ALL the other 2-strokes I have had.
Sometimes you get the exact opposite effect. I added octane booster to the tank of the 1990 VFR750 I used to own, and it sooted up the very tiny electrodes on the spark plugs.
The trouble with most/many octane boosters (and fuel system cleaners!) is that they are usually slower-burning hydrocarbons like toluene, xylene, sometimes even kerosene. While they may dissolve deposits in the engine, they can also cause sooting. In fact, to save money, the Marsden Point refinery does exactly this to bost octane: adds more toluene etc. to the 91 octane to boost it to 95 or 96. The stuff they're adding has a smaller market than the fuel they're selling, and it's one way of getting rid of it. (The toluene and xylene in the fuel are the reason car exhaust stinks more than it did when tetraethyl lead was the octane booster, and are also the reason some cars fuel pipes, carb seals etc. leaked when it was introduced: it's what's in paintbrush cleaner, and it eats some rubber compounds. Irinically, it could also potentially be more harmful than lead; while it doesn't accumulate like lead does, it's very toxic and carcinogenic. But then so is any type of petrol....)

[avgas]

Rule of thumb:
Try what works and use it.

I mean I know some people who think that Diesels are just as good as petrol's........I have found not so much. But that is my style I guess.
Preference and Perspective is a motherfucker.

[SMOKEU]

It still went slow as piss :scooter:

Anyone aware of a good injector cleaner (pour in tank jobbie) that actually works?


STP injector cleaner increased the fuel tank range slightly in my GTIR.


My question is; Should I add a proper mixture like Coke to smoothen things out?

A few lines of charlie can't hurt.

[DEATH_INC.]

Correct there Flip.

I was running my klr on 95 until I read somewhere that 91 was the correct fuel, so I tried it and the performance was so much better .
Exactly. Many others before you have also discovered this amazing performance by using the CORRECT fuel.

[Edbear]

The cocks on the show did not advance the timing when they did these test so no they would be no HP gain. th octane booster does increase the RON numbers by about 3-5 points but you need to do more than that to get the real advantages. I for one run the Wynn's Race Formula in my bikes and yes they do make a difference. If your exhaust pipe does not run a different cover after running a booster thens it's not doing jack.

The point was that these products are marketed as a simple "pour it in the tank and get real gains". Not true, obviously.

Just like all these magical fuel-saving devices, funny how they never work in independent testing...

[Edbear]

It still went slow as piss :scooter:

Anyone aware of a good injector cleaner (pour in tank jobbie) that actually works?


You're unlikely to notice any difference these days as for a few years now, fuel companies have been allowed to add products to the fuel, and I don't think any brand now does not have an injector cleaner in the fuel itself.

[slofox]

If you really wanna increase octane - for whatever reason - then ethanol will do the job. RON of 129 (IIRC). But lower calorific value than petroleum stuff...

[Tunahunter]

I was told to run my bike on the highest octane at the pump but one day when at a Mobile station ( a rarity for me) I in inadvertantly put 91 in the tank. It ran as least as well as it ad on the higher octane. I've reverted to the higher octane but you do wonder.

[dipshit]

Had to chuckle today. I was watching 5th Gear and they had a test of most of the fuel additives available like Wynns, Nulon etc.

The octane boosters additive packages you can buy are totally different to higher octane pump gas.

5th Gear also did a test on different pump gas... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQghB4asSnI

[Laava]

What about one of those in-line canisters of tin pellets that goes on your fuel line? Apparently they are really amazing at...........well.........something, I just can't remember now!
Oh yeah, they increase the cash flow thru your wallet!

[Pixie]

Avgas goes back to the second world war when a bunch of nutters were putting 2000 hp 16 liter turbocharged V12 engines in planes with 8 machine guns and went looking for a fight, and they needed very high quality, leaded, high octane fuel to run on. The specification and regulations on piston engine air craft fuel goes back to WW2.

It amazes me how many people think octane and calorific value is the same thing. Octane is the fuels ability not to ignite under compression, however as the octane goes up the flame front speed of the fuel drops. Taken to the extreme if you run race gas in a low compression vintage motor the fuel burns too slow and is still burning as it leaves the cylinder and heats up the exhaust because of the radiant energy from the still burning fuel.

Avgas is a narrow cut fuel. It has bugger all small volatile molecules, remember it burns slowly. These small molecules in pump fuel are ignited by the spark first and greatly increase ability of the fuel to be ignited cleanly and burnt by a spark. Most motors with a average ignition system just won't run well on Avgas, they spit, backfire and just run badly.

To all those folk who say their std motors run better on avgas or with some expensive dope, well sorry but "bollox". If I am wrong about this well so is Mr Honda, Mr Suzuki and Mr Yamaha who only spends about the GDP of a small country making sure their motors run as well as they possibly can on pump gas. I guess you know more than they do.

There may be some advante in adding a little tetraethyllead to pump gas because the lead might promote a little better (more complete) combustion, but only in a very few motors.

Yeah.But...but....It's high octane


(PT)

It's an idiot phrase used by people who don't understand the concepts.Like "Quantum Leap" -Originally "Quantum Jump" a phrase used to describe a change of an electron from one quantum state to another within an atom.
In real physical systems a quantum leap is not necessarily a large change, and can in fact be very insignificant.
In the popular sense, the term is usually applied to mean a large or significant change, which is thus not strictly correct.

[Pixie]

In relatively modern, high performance engines the knock sensors may reduce engine power output if the engine is starting to detonate when a fuel of too low an octane is being used.

In old high performance engines the same effect was initiated by the introduction of holes to the piston crowns while the engine was running.