Octane booster
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While octane boosters with MMT are effective - they do have a checkered reputation.
Impact Assessment of Metal-Based Octane Boosters: A Literature Review
Impact Assessment of Metal-Based Octane Boosters: A Literature Review
Time to read. Ill be back
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dont waste your money. first and foremost, youre not getting 8-10 octane, youre getting octane points. as in, from 93 to 93.8 and thats if you use it with a single gallon of gas. thats why you see that it states "up to" 10 gallons of gas. it doesnt raise 10 gallons of gas 8-10 full octane points, it doesnt even raise 10 full gallons of 93 to 93.8-94. it raises 10 full gallons of gas to anything higher than 93, so 93.1 would still beenough to say "up to".
go to a paint store and ask for 100% pure toluene. its like 114 octane, (R+M)/2. toluene makes up around 30-50% of the gas you already put in your vehicle, it will not hurt anything. i have used it before.
go to a paint store and ask for 100% pure toluene. its like 114 octane, (R+M)/2. toluene makes up around 30-50% of the gas you already put in your vehicle, it will not hurt anything. i have used it before.
Trust me I’ve been there done that and my spark plugs had turned into a bright orange red color. Now I know that shouldn’t happen at all but if my spark plugs changed color like that I wonder what happens to other components of the engine. I would say it felt like my performance was hindered due to the spark plugs and tip being covered in that orange red color. Also here is a post from another forum where a user used octane booster on his BMW and fouled the plugs, “
Octane Boost Fouling Plugs
Ok guys have you seen this, all of my spark plugs had this orange coating on them and they were causing the engine to misfire. They all had to be replaced, now I did put 104 octane racing fuel in my car once unleaded. And I have used octane boost, BMW said that it is from one or both of the 2 and that they would not replace the plugs again for free next time. They said that only BMW products can be put in the engine otherwise the plugs will foul. What do you think caused my plugs to foul, I only run 93 octane and I put in Octane boost every once in a while. Are there better plugs or is racing fuel bad. I am going to the strip tomorrow morning and was wondering if I should not use racing fuel”.
Here is another user from
that same forum leaving a comment on the dangers of octane boosters “
Its simple, unleaded race fuel is fine.
Octane booster with mmt WILL foul your plugs, its very bad....”
Octane Boost Fouling Plugs
Ok guys have you seen this, all of my spark plugs had this orange coating on them and they were causing the engine to misfire. They all had to be replaced, now I did put 104 octane racing fuel in my car once unleaded. And I have used octane boost, BMW said that it is from one or both of the 2 and that they would not replace the plugs again for free next time. They said that only BMW products can be put in the engine otherwise the plugs will foul. What do you think caused my plugs to foul, I only run 93 octane and I put in Octane boost every once in a while. Are there better plugs or is racing fuel bad. I am going to the strip tomorrow morning and was wondering if I should not use racing fuel”.
Here is another user from
that same forum leaving a comment on the dangers of octane boosters “
Its simple, unleaded race fuel is fine.
Octane booster with mmt WILL foul your plugs, its very bad....”
You serious about the toluene?
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In this case, they advertise 80 points. However, like you say it's "up to" and isn't going to raise an entire tank of gas that high. If it were free and I didn't have cats or O2 sensors, would run it.
where did you buy it from? You should still be able to return it if you tell them why you cant use it becuase it will foul the spark plugs and it contains MMT which can foul the o2 sensors and you dont wanna run the risk of damaging your car.
I was ready to post the same about octane points. E.G. getting .8 octane instead of 8 octane points. HOWEVER, there is one company out there that is the real deal....It's not cheap, but it really does boost your octane a significant amount. Obviously you dont use this with a full 20 gallons in the tank
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chock full of MMT, i wouldnt use it.I was ready to post the same about octane points. E.G. getting .8 octane instead of 8 octane points. HOWEVER, there is one company out there that is the real deal....It's not cheap, but it really does boost your octane a significant amount. Obviously you dont use this with a full 20 gallons in the tank
View attachment 109058
Oh I get it. Got to pay to play. My point was that while most "octane boosters" are snake oil, there are a few that really do boost octane.
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uh, yes. the 80s era F1 engines ran ~85% toluene with a filler to get to a specific RON requirement.
a gallon of kleen strip (blue and red metal can) should be around $25. if mixing 4 gallons of gas, a 3:1 mixture of toluene and 93 will increase to 98 octane. if you use 91, you need just a little more, 2.8:1.2. to get to 100 octane, you need 2.4:1.6 ratio for 4 gallons total.
compared to E85, its still pretty expensive. then again, a hpfp, lpfp, and injectors are pretty pricey too. if its only for track days, toluene is a good way to go. this is especially true if you can tune your car for it. when you prepare the fuel system and engine for e85, its a much better alternative honestly.
lastly, if you engine isnt knocking of youre not running more boost than can be handled already, using a higher octane fuel doesnt actually help.
I've posted about methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) on this forum several times. It's bad news for valves, plugs, O2 sensors, and cats.
What specific Kleen Strip product are you referring to since they make a lot of different ones? I'd hate to see someone put the wrong one in their gas, like acetone, dimethyl carbonate, et. al..
Toluene is probably the best and safest octane booster to use, IMHO.
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Literally Klean Strip Toluene. I understand what you're getting at so here's the pic.
While I'm at it, I was thorough enough to check the SDS to make sure its 100% toluene, and it is. 👍
How much of this magic juice do you use with a full tank - just asking for scientific purposes (😉)
It looks like a can at ACE Hardware is clocking in at @ $24 /gal.
Klean Strip Toluene Solvent 1 gal - Ace Hardware
It looks like a can at ACE Hardware is clocking in at @ $24 /gal.
Klean Strip Toluene Solvent 1 gal - Ace Hardware
Toluene is not to be trifled with. If you're planning on using it, don't allow skin contact and mix it in a well-ventilated area.
If anyone is familiar with IAM (ignition advance multiplier) in the subie world.
I had a custom tune done and my revision 7 was same as 6 only a little more ignition advance. Rev 6 IAM was pretty happy at 1, Rev 7 he tried to push timing further but my octane limits where tapped so IAM dropped and stayed below 0.7x sometimes as low as 0.5x. I decided to test out boostane. I used only 0.75oz per 1 gallon. IAM never dropped from 1 again. Retested without Boostane later to verify if it was a fluke or bad gas(which I have yet to experience) same results consistently repeated.
typically on a stock car/tune 93octane will be IAM 0.95-1, 92octane 0.85-.9, and 91 octane about 0.7-0.8, so roughly 1 octane per 0.1-0.15 IAM is pretty common.
based on that I would conclude 0.75oz per 1 gallon of gas resulted in at least a 2 octane increase. At least 2+ octane equivalent worth of added timing.
Boostane is supposedly formulated much better to mix with the gas and keep it in suspension preventing separation and settling of the additives like what happens with other products (according to them). I think this combined with how little needs to be mixed the effects on plugs and cats should be minimized.
I had a custom tune done and my revision 7 was same as 6 only a little more ignition advance. Rev 6 IAM was pretty happy at 1, Rev 7 he tried to push timing further but my octane limits where tapped so IAM dropped and stayed below 0.7x sometimes as low as 0.5x. I decided to test out boostane. I used only 0.75oz per 1 gallon. IAM never dropped from 1 again. Retested without Boostane later to verify if it was a fluke or bad gas(which I have yet to experience) same results consistently repeated.
typically on a stock car/tune 93octane will be IAM 0.95-1, 92octane 0.85-.9, and 91 octane about 0.7-0.8, so roughly 1 octane per 0.1-0.15 IAM is pretty common.
based on that I would conclude 0.75oz per 1 gallon of gas resulted in at least a 2 octane increase. At least 2+ octane equivalent worth of added timing.
Boostane is supposedly formulated much better to mix with the gas and keep it in suspension preventing separation and settling of the additives like what happens with other products (according to them). I think this combined with how little needs to be mixed the effects on plugs and cats should be minimized.
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i dont have a calc handy so doing it the hard way, using actual math, is to multiply base fuel gallons (BG) times it's octane (O), multiply toluene gallons (TG) times it's octane (O), sum the results then divide that by the total number of gallons of base fuel and toluene (G) used to get effective octane (EF). this should be accurate to one full octane point.
(BG*O)+(TG*O)/G=EF
nine gallons of 93 and one gallon of toluene:
9*93 = 837
1*114 = 114
837 + 114 = 951
951/10=95.1
the following results are for 10 gallons total, with 93 octane as the base fuel:
9:1 ratio: 95.1
8:2 ratio: 97.2
7:3 ratio: 99.3
6.5:3.5 ratio: 100.35
6:4 ratio: 101.4
5:5 ratio: 103.5
if you live in a state that hates fun, here are the ratios for 91 octane:
9:1 ratio: 93.3
8:2 ratio: 95.6
7:3 ratio: 97.9
6:4 ratio: 100.2
5:5 ratio: 102.5
ive not exceeded 100 octane as i was using it in a n/a 4 banger with 11:1 CR but i do know for sure that as you get closer to 50/50 ratio or above, the engine tends to run worse at idle. at higher concentrations, toluene doesnt like to do stuff until its warm because of its density. the F1 teams had to run their 86% toluene mix (~1:7 ratio using the formula above) through heat exchangers with engine coolant to heat it up enough to burn correctly. the reason for 86% was due to the rules at the time, limiting them to something like 102 octane, ive forgotten specifics.
additionally, as you increase the percentage of toluene, you start experiencing similar issues as ethanol with rubber hoses and seals. since gasoline can be something like 45% aromatics and still be considered gasoline, i would imagine that anything below a 50/50 mix wont be an issue. last time i checked, most gasolines are like 10-35% toluene roughly. if you used a 50/50 mix, id add in a little marvel oil, mineral oil, or even trans fluid, with the 10 gallon mix if you really wanted to be safe. again, i used toluene (and xylene) in amounts up to 100 octane with no problems at all across two different 4 bangers with no issues. i never bothered to add additional lubricant.
finally, the real comparison for toluene vs ethanol is the ron, mon, and aki. toluene is 121 RON, 107 MON, 114 AKI. AKI is the (R+M)/2 rating you see on pumps. E85 is 105 RON, 86 MON, and 95 AKI. at first glance, it looks like E85 isnt as "good" as a toluene blend but the effective AKI of ethanol is higher than 95 because of the latent heat of evaporation. its acts more like its 105 AKI. e85 will have lower EGTs and defintely lower intake temps on port injection or carbed engines. it still helps on DI engines but the effect isnt nearly as pronounced as there isnt as much time for the E85 to absorb heat. a pitfall of pump gas E85 is that its not consistently E85, especially during the winter. it can drop as low as E50(!) and still be classed as E85. now you have to lug around a stupid testing kit and stand at the pumps like a weirdo with beakers and test tubes n crap if youre tuned on the razor's edge of E85. tuning to E30-50 blends have become more popular because of this.
(BG*O)+(TG*O)/G=EF
nine gallons of 93 and one gallon of toluene:
9*93 = 837
1*114 = 114
837 + 114 = 951
951/10=95.1
the following results are for 10 gallons total, with 93 octane as the base fuel:
9:1 ratio: 95.1
8:2 ratio: 97.2
7:3 ratio: 99.3
6.5:3.5 ratio: 100.35
6:4 ratio: 101.4
5:5 ratio: 103.5
if you live in a state that hates fun, here are the ratios for 91 octane:
9:1 ratio: 93.3
8:2 ratio: 95.6
7:3 ratio: 97.9
6:4 ratio: 100.2
5:5 ratio: 102.5
ive not exceeded 100 octane as i was using it in a n/a 4 banger with 11:1 CR but i do know for sure that as you get closer to 50/50 ratio or above, the engine tends to run worse at idle. at higher concentrations, toluene doesnt like to do stuff until its warm because of its density. the F1 teams had to run their 86% toluene mix (~1:7 ratio using the formula above) through heat exchangers with engine coolant to heat it up enough to burn correctly. the reason for 86% was due to the rules at the time, limiting them to something like 102 octane, ive forgotten specifics.
additionally, as you increase the percentage of toluene, you start experiencing similar issues as ethanol with rubber hoses and seals. since gasoline can be something like 45% aromatics and still be considered gasoline, i would imagine that anything below a 50/50 mix wont be an issue. last time i checked, most gasolines are like 10-35% toluene roughly. if you used a 50/50 mix, id add in a little marvel oil, mineral oil, or even trans fluid, with the 10 gallon mix if you really wanted to be safe. again, i used toluene (and xylene) in amounts up to 100 octane with no problems at all across two different 4 bangers with no issues. i never bothered to add additional lubricant.
finally, the real comparison for toluene vs ethanol is the ron, mon, and aki. toluene is 121 RON, 107 MON, 114 AKI. AKI is the (R+M)/2 rating you see on pumps. E85 is 105 RON, 86 MON, and 95 AKI. at first glance, it looks like E85 isnt as "good" as a toluene blend but the effective AKI of ethanol is higher than 95 because of the latent heat of evaporation. its acts more like its 105 AKI. e85 will have lower EGTs and defintely lower intake temps on port injection or carbed engines. it still helps on DI engines but the effect isnt nearly as pronounced as there isnt as much time for the E85 to absorb heat. a pitfall of pump gas E85 is that its not consistently E85, especially during the winter. it can drop as low as E50(!) and still be classed as E85. now you have to lug around a stupid testing kit and stand at the pumps like a weirdo with beakers and test tubes n crap if youre tuned on the razor's edge of E85. tuning to E30-50 blends have become more popular because of this.
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