Octane booster - any good?

k20 gtr

New Member
Is it worth putting octane booster in the R, I have some NOS branded stuff that boosts octane by 3 points.
Its just a one off for a track day. Will it do any harm, worth it etc??

My car is running 1.2 bar, std turbo, avcr, hks boost contoller, front mount, 3 inch system and blitz air filter.
 

PobodY

Moderators
Staff member
The question is probably do you need the octane booster? Are you getting DET, do you run more timing advance?

As Danny says, there's not much to them really; mainly simple benzeneoids (that'd be your toluene [methyl benzene] and/or xylene [di-methyl benzene]).
 

k20 gtr

New Member
:doh: yEAH SAFC, I allways get those two mixed up. I have no need for it as such, just wanted to chuck the bottle in to maybe get a bit of extra power on the day, but dont know if it would do any difference if its not mapped to run the higher octane??
 

bracpan

Active Member
It will protect the engine rather than give it more power, for that you would have to remap. But I would not trust that beacuse if you got your mix wrong after ....bye bye pistons..
You could go for 100 octain Shell fuel...its only about £16 a gallon...yes you did read that correctly..
 

John

New Member
A Shell garage full stop would be useful in Perth, they shut the only Shell here last year! Having to run poxy Tesco 99 these days....
 

k20 gtr

New Member
Do forecourts sell the 100 octane? not that I would buy it at that price. V power is 99octane, makes it look a bargain.
No shell in perth, I will need to fuel up in balbeggie then john, I'm sure I will need a trip down to dunfermline for a refuel though, can see it lasting the day on one tank...
 

PobodY

Moderators
Staff member
I've said it before; chances are that the 99RON fuel at Tesco has come from Shell in the first place. It's not exactly the same as V-Power, but that doesn't make a huge amount of difference on an "everyday" basis.

If it's not so hard to get hold of the ingredients, you can probably make your own octane booster and just add that with every tank of regular unleaded. - I might investigate that.
 

fast eddy

New Member
Ok, octane booster does give more power and does reduce det. I am a Millers dealer and this, along with their other products are very good. They do a +2 octane that i use on the road and a +4 octane that i use when on track. I can bring some to the sprint day if anyone wants some.

Eddy
 

Fusion Ed

Active Member
NOS branded octane booster is a joke. 3 points is 0.3 ron. Don't be fooled it makes 99ron 99.3 so a waste of money.

Millers do CVL turbo, that actually does make a difference.

BTW if your running 1.2 bar on a 3 inch system with FMIC, there is quite a good chance that you don't have the fuel system to support that for a track...
 

bracpan

Active Member
Dont forget adding any booster is illegal for speed events...
Shell V-Power can also varie from 97 to 99 oct.
You can only buy 100 form a specialist Shell supplyer and that is legal to use plus ist granteed 100ct as well.
 

pulsarmoley

Member
NOS branded octane booster is a joke. 3 points is 0.3 ron. Don't be fooled it makes 99ron 99.3 so a waste of money.

Millers do CVL turbo, that actually does make a difference.

BTW if your running 1.2 bar on a 3 inch system with FMIC, there is quite a good chance that you don't have the fuel system to support that for a track...
Is this because he doesnt have an uprated fuel pump, injectors etc?
 

Spikey

New Member
Did BP not offer high performance fuel was it not 103 Ron or similar? But in test it showed less gains that tesco and V-poweer
 

PobodY

Moderators
Staff member
Octane number alone tells you nothing; that's just resistance to knock. However, if you've got more resistance to knock you can run higher boost/compression/ignition advance and get more power from the engine. - That's why it's so important on forced induction cars.

If you compare performance fuels in something like a Mondeo you'll see no benefit because it's not generating any det on standard fuel so gets nothing from increased octane.

Similarly something like ethanol gives you a higher RON value, but it has a lower calorific value so you need to burn more of it (~30% IIRC) to achieve the same power (and by that I really mean the energy from it).
 
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