Do octane boosters work?

[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

[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:Me]

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

It still went slow as piss

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

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:Me]

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

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

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.