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Old 08-05-2003, 09:15 AM #1
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Understanding Octane

All about octane
by Jim Kerr

An interesting product hit the market recently and I put it to use immediately. Pennzoil makes it, and it is called the "Month of Power Maximum Performance Octane Booster". Four small aluminum cylinders of chemical in one box are enough to treat 300 litres of gasoline and carries a suggested price of $14.99. Why did I find this product so interesting? Because I have an antique Thunderbird car that prefers to run on nothing but gasoline with a high octane rating. There are many other classic performance cars and quite a few modern ones too that can take advantage of boosts in gasoline octane.

So what is octane? It is a rating that tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. Look at the gas pumps and you will find the octane rating for each grade of gasoline. Typically, regular gasoline is around 87 octane while mid-grades are 89 octane. Premium fuel is often 91 octane although some filling stations such as Sunoco and Mohawk have higher octane fuel available.

Gas pumps may show two octane numbers: RON and MON. The Research Octane Number, or RON, is measured under fairly easy test conditions. The Motor Octane Number, or MON, is a tougher test measured at higher engine speed and temperature. The average of these two values: Road Octane Number = (RON + MON)/2 and that is the number we commonly see at the pumps.

How do they measure octane rating of a fuel? Start with a $250,000 (U.S.) ASTM-CFR test engine from Waukesha Motors. This single cylinder engine has a moveable cylinder head enabling scientists to vary the compression ratio between 4:1 to 18:1 while the engine is running. The engine is run on the fuel to be tested while varying the compression ratio until the fuel begins to knock. Then the engine is run on different percentages of heptane and iso-octane under identical conditions until the same knock occurs. The percentage of iso-octane in the mixture is the "octane rating" of the gasoline.

If the fuel you use in your car doesn't have a high enough octane rating, you may experience pre-ignition or detonation. Pre-ignition occurs when the fuel/air mixture in a cylinder ignites before the spark plug fires. It can be caused by hot spots in the cylinder, red hot carbon deposits or extreme overheating. Detonation occurs when the flame-front in a cylinder does not proceed smoothly across the combustion chamber. The fuel may ignite spontaneously due to high compression or other sources of ignition. Pinging and knock are symptoms of pre-ignition or detonation and either of these can break piston rings and pistons.

Many drivers still believe that the higher the octane rating of the gasoline, the greater the power and the better the performance their vehicle will have. This isn't true. If your engine runs without knocking or pinging on regular fuel, then you will have exactly the same power on premium fuel. The fuel required by your vehicle is shown in the owner's manual. Most vehicles need only regular gasoline but there are times when higher octane fuel is needed.

Cars built in the 60's and 70's had higher compression ratios. High compression causes fuel to self-ignite so higher octane fuel is required. Older engines may have carbon deposits that increase compression even more. Cooling systems are often corroded so engines tend to run hotter and ignition control was pretty basic. My old Thunderbird is typical of older cars. It would ping and knock even when premium gasoline was used. Adding the Pennzoil Octane Booster (it contains MMT, the additive already used in gasoline to boost octane) eliminated the pinging and knocking enabling me to reset the ignition timing back to specifications for better performance and economy.

Newer performance cars may benefit too. Knock sensors on computerized engine controls retard ignition timing when engine knock occurs. We don't even hear the knock but performance and economy drop. Drivers that want the best in performance from their high performance engines need fuel that will not ping under heavy load.

Adding the Month of Power Maximum Performance Octane Booster was simple. Pour in one of the small cylinders of chemical to a nearly empty tank and fill with fuel. If you hear pinging from your engine, a higher grade fuel may help. For ultimate performance engines, a little help with additives may give that extra edge.
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Old 05-14-2007, 03:57 AM #2
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Penzoil Octane Booster for 99 SR5

Do you recommend an octane booster for my 99 SR5 5VZ.. T4R? Will it improve performance, or most important that all, will this damage my engine?

Thanks,

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Old 05-14-2007, 11:19 AM #3
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If you aren't getting knock don't use any additives and just move up to a higher octane. Most of those octane boosters are crap.

They don't improve performance that is already there,it's just correcting the octane level from your cheap gas.
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Old 05-14-2007, 06:52 PM #4
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Quote:
Originally posted by RonMAIDEN
If you aren't getting knock don't use any additives and just move up to a higher octane. Most of those octane boosters are crap.

They don't improve performance that is already there,it's just correcting the octane level from your cheap gas.
Go to a Sherwin William's paint supply and buy a gallon of Toluene and dump it into your gas trank! It will increase your octane from 93 to around 95+ and clean the fuel line's and injector's at the same time.

A little "insider info for you:
Toluene can be used as an octane booster in gasoline fuels used in internal combustion engines. Toluene at 84% by volume, fueled all the turbo Formula 1 teams in the 1980s. Small 1.5L turbo engines were known to operate at 5 bar (73 psi) boost in qualifying and 4 bars (59 psi) while racing. More than 1500bhp from 1.5L engines was possible.

It IS and it's NOT rocket science but in laymen's term's boost need's ++++++ octane.


Last edited by Texas4Runner; 05-14-2007 at 06:59 PM.
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Old 05-14-2007, 08:17 PM #5
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Good explanation of things, folks. Bravo zulu!

I would add that the newer engines with "knock sensors" do indeed retard the ignition timing when preignition is detected. Most of the time this is not audible, but other times you can still hear your engine ping a bit.

If the only time your engine pings is under heavy throttle or pulling a load, then it is probably running normally. However, if it still wants to go around the block when you shut if off ("dieseling"), then you could have a problem. Anyone who has driving a pre-1990 car with a carburetor will have experienced this when using cheap gasoline!


While octane ratings are used to measure the anti-knock capacity of gasoline, diesel engines use cetane ratings.......which is virtually the opposite situation because you want it to "knock" all the time. That is how a diesel engine operates, and part of the reason for the noisy clatter. They work on compression ignition - rather than with a spark. (The compressed air & fuel mixture ignites itself when the pressure is great enough.)

Of course, that is why diesel blocks, pistons and rods must be so darn heavy. The compression ratio of most street cars is probably between 8:1 and 10.5:1, while diesels have a compression ratio of 17:1 on up to about 22:1. Yikes!

Cetane ratings for diesel fuel in our area runs between a low of 40 and a high of 47, although my large International diesel truck seems to run the same no matter where I get fuel. With the recent tightening on the quality of diesel fuel by the government, it is all pretty good quality nowadays and must mee the ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel) requirements of 15ppm sulfur content.

My V6 4Runner seems to run very well, no matter what fuel brand or grade I use. I think I have only heard it knock once or twice when climbing a steep hill at a very high rate of speed. The owner's guide and the stealership both say to use "87" unleaded, so that is pretty much what I do. For kicks and giggles, I'll dump some premium in once in a blue moon....but have not noticed a difference.



P.S. I once owned a 1964 Cadillac with a 429 V8. That car would knock on almost any pump gas, except for Sunoco leaded 93 octane....which probably has not been available for at least twenty years. It actually used to have a greenish tint to it!
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Last edited by Jeff Kleb; 05-14-2007 at 08:19 PM.
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Old 05-14-2007, 10:49 PM #6
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Toluene, damn, let me dust off my organic chem textbook! Seems to be a pretty inexpensive way (versus traditional octane boosters) to increase the octane rating. Given its higher octane rating, there has to be a trade off like slow throttle response or possibly unburned fuel. This certainly warrants a closer look.
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Old 05-15-2007, 04:34 PM #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by rook
Toluene, damn, let me dust off my organic chem textbook! Seems to be a pretty inexpensive way (versus traditional octane boosters) to increase the octane rating. Given its higher octane rating, there has to be a trade off like slow throttle response or possibly unburned fuel. This certainly warrants a closer look.
From my personel experience I got nothing but positive result's in both dept's. I found out about Toluene from a friend of mine who own's a performance shop. He build's 3sgte race engine's for racing team's, has past Touring car and F1 experience. This guy is a WALKING TEXTBOOK of information and he can describe it in lamen's term's or in engineering term's.

Anyway at only $12/gal it put's to SHAME the "over the counter" octane booster's sold to the unknowing public. One gallon added to my 12gal tank of 93 octane, '92 MR2T with fully built race engine and T66 turbo, boosted the octane rating to somewhere between 95-97oct and at time's I would add 2 gallon's for a 100+ octane rating. The car ran like a scalded cat and never had the slightest ping or hesitation at 15-20psi.

It's a HECK of alot cheaper than the $5-$7/gallon price of race gas, basically you will have a FULL tank of race gas for the minimum investment of $24!!
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Old 05-15-2007, 04:50 PM #8
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I don't regard Toulene as an additive as it's pretty much a fuel base and is great and I used it in my Eclipse at a mix of about 101 octane.
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Old 05-15-2007, 07:20 PM #9
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Quote:
Originally posted by RonMAIDEN
I don't regard Toulene as an additive as it's pretty much a fuel base and is great and I used it in my Eclipse at a mix of about 101 octane.
Very good insight so I know you can interpret my first terminology as in a "lamen's term" description. I personelly like to keep topic's like that so we can all have a basic understanding of the ongoing subject. A topic is mute if alot of degree/PHD mumbo jumbo is interjected imho and I possess neither of them just alot of personel experience.

So back OT I say to those who have performance issue's while running "regular octane gas" invest $12 and let us know of your personel opinion's and experience.

Gregg
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Old 05-16-2007, 02:24 PM #10
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Quote:
Originally posted by RonMAIDEN
I don't regard Toulene as an additive as it's pretty much a fuel base and is great and I used it in my Eclipse at a mix of about 101 octane.
Toluene isn't good for you. Be careful. I'm sure its fine for using with gas, but I for one won't use it as its very toxic and I can't have things like that around my home. Just my $0.02. There are safer ways to clean your fuel system without using toxic solvents like Toluene.
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Old 05-16-2007, 02:54 PM #11
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Quote:
Originally posted by TheBlueWave
Toluene isn't good for you. Be careful. I'm sure its fine for using with gas, but I for one won't use it as its very toxic and I can't have things like that around my home. Just my $0.02. There are safer ways to clean your fuel system without using toxic solvents like Toluene.
I wasn't cleaning my fuel system,I was ramping up the octane of our local 91 premium and I mixed it controlled conditions and stored in a proper fuel container.

I think alot of household products are as if not more dangerous than Toulene like bleach,rubbing alcohol,drano........
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Old 05-16-2007, 05:06 PM #12
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I agree Toluene is not the safest material to handle. But it is already a component of gasoline, given that one need not contact it directly to dispense it into the tank, the risk is minimal. Benzene and Xylene are much more harmful.

Before this discussion began, I saw some Sherwin Williams Toluene solvent at a friends commercial spray shop, and the sub-label read Toluol (the alcohol form of Toluene). I did not have time to look further, but I wonder how blended the two compounds are and how much of an effect the oxygenated product has on the octane rating.
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Old 05-16-2007, 05:35 PM #13
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Quote:
Originally posted by TheBlueWave
Toluene isn't good for you. Be careful. I'm sure its fine for using with gas, but I for one won't use it as its very toxic and I can't have things like that around my home. Just my $0.02. There are safer ways to clean your fuel system without using toxic solvents like Toluene.
Have you ever gotten gas spilled or splashed on you finger's or hand's? Survey say's that YES is a 99% chance so your body has actually injested, in too small of an amount to matter, Toluene!

Caution is a wise thing but cleaning a fuel system was not the topic or intent, sorry if we got confusing. This would be like saying "I'm not leaving the house because the street's are too dangerous"!! We all know this is true to a certain extent but we all hope common sense is actually more widespread than it actually is!


Instead of rambling on I will make a few suggestion:
1. Dont lick your finger's after pouring a gallon of Toluene into your fuel tank because it smell's like it taste good! WASH THEM!

2.Stop being so anal about the small thing's.

3. ENJOY THE INCREASED PERFORMANCE AND BOOST POTENTIAL!!!!
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Old 05-16-2007, 06:33 PM #14
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I would strongly advise not to add any solvents to your gasoline.

First, the elastomers used in the fuel system are designed for commercially regulated gasoline blends. For instance E85 capability [85% ethanol] requires different materials; even the copper commutator on the fuel pump can't be used. Other organic solvents such as toluene, acetone are very strong and can adversely affect rubbers and plastics compounds that aren't intended.

Second, there may be coatings, materials, contaminants, gel-like substances, and other crud that quietly reside in the fuel tank that could be dissolved with an different solvent and sent through the remainder of the fuel delivery system with adverse effect. You may also help plug the fuel filters with this crud.

A bottle of dry gas (alcohol) is OK to absorb water but solvent concentrations beyond the normal gasoline blend may cause problems down the road.
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Old 05-17-2007, 10:36 PM #15
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Quote:
Originally posted by jeober
I would strongly advise not to add any solvents to your gasoline.

First, the elastomers used in the fuel system are designed for commercially regulated gasoline blends. For instance E85 capability [85% ethanol] requires different materials; even the copper commutator on the fuel pump can't be used. Other organic solvents such as toluene, acetone are very strong and can adversely affect rubbers and plastics compounds that aren't intended.

Second, there may be coatings, materials, contaminants, gel-like substances, and other crud that quietly reside in the fuel tank that could be dissolved with an different solvent and sent through the remainder of the fuel delivery system with adverse effect. You may also help plug the fuel filters with this crud.

A bottle of dry gas (alcohol) is OK to absorb water but solvent concentrations beyond the normal gasoline blend may cause problems down the road.

Toluene is already a component of gasoline. The threshold of aromatic content by adding even a gallon of Toluene would not be exceeded. Adding one gallon to a 23 gallon tank, the percentage is increased by less than 5%
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