octane boost, good or bad idea???

[Sky240PWR]

OK i raced a 05 Mustang GT and beat him by 2 car lengths, i was using 93% octane pump gas with a Noss octane boost that bumped it up by 3 points so i was at 96 octane.........that same mustang got a couple things done after we raced, under pullys,cold air intake, bigger throttle. so i wanted to go with a bigger octane boost with a 7 points increase, so that would put me at 100 octane. MY question is, if i use 100% octane will i mess anything up, is it safe for my car? I personally think it would be fine but I'm just making sure.......I have the RB25 and it puts out 250 whp without the octane boost.

[Fenvy]

I Think I read somewhere that it's an unbalanced mixture, sometimes you get the low mixture and sometimes the high

[goofynick6]

OK, it's not 93%, it's just 93 octane, and 3 points don't add up to make it 96 octane, I forget what it is, but I think it takes like 7 points to maybe bump up 93 to 94 octane, and that's if you have the right amount of gas in your tank to mix with those bottles.

In other words, don't waste your time, that would only help you if you used like 4-5 bottles and were running higher boost.

Nick

[Miata Master]

I could be wrong, but I always was always told to not run higher octane than needed, it actually burns less making less power. Like running 93 in a car build/tuned for 87. The car will run stronger on 87 than on more expensive 93.Find a place to buy race gas 100+ octane and then pump your boost up. but that is just my $.02. also no need for race gace till much higher HP.

[Sky240PWR]

Well i was told to use premium in my RB25, that is true right?? and premium is 93 octane........and I'm new to the whole turbo thing so i can't up the boost unless i have a boost controller right? I mean there isn't a factory one is there?

[HybridOne]

octane booster does not upgrade your octane by 3 whole points. if you have 93 and add a 3 point booster you don't get 96...you get like 93.3. It takes a WHOLE lot more than a little bottle to even raise it by one point.

[Sil240]

Octane rating is the resistance to dentonationOctane rating is based upon a % of tons of things Try Paint Thinner- Toluene that is a chemical that will raise the octane rating

**I don't know how much to put in or what so try this on your own accord.**

Also read the bottle of those octane booster things, they are all crap.Its a waste of $$ just mix some higher octane fuel with the 93, but stay away from leaded, it will kill your O2 sensor and Cat if you have one.

But I believe in Japan they get 100 Octane for regular gas, that's why people who buy those JDM Tuned ECu's see some benefits but not really, Ive heard some people having problemsbecause there tuned for 100 octane and they adjust timing and fuel based upon that fuel

[wawazat8402]

Japan does not use the same octane rating we do. in Japan they use research octane number (RON). there is also a motor octane number (MON). in the US we use an average of these 2 numbers. Japanese 100 RON is equivalent to about 95.8 octane using our method of octane rating.

[Joe]

I could be wrong, but I always was always told to not run higher octane than needed, it actually burns less making less power. Like running 93 in a car build/tuned for 87. The car will run stronger on 87 than on more expensive 93.Find a place to buy race gas 100+ octane and then pump your boost up. but that is just my $.02. also no need for race gace till much higher HP.

correct, the "ideal" octane is just above detonation. because the higher the octane rating the harder the engine has to work to make the AF mixture combust. so running 101 race gas on your madd tyyte civic is the stupidest possible thing to do. likewise running 87 on a turbo inline 6 is also equally as unintelligent.

and octane booster is a complete waste of money, you would need 4 or 5 bottles to even make a dent.

and a higher octane does NOT EQUAL HORSEPOWER. if you ran 100 octane on your "250whp rb25" you would make LESS horsepower.

[Sky240PWR]

so what gas does everyone use (octane rating)?? What octane level do you guys think will have the best chance of alittle more hp?

[Phat_Optimo]

so what gas does everyone use (octane rating)?? What octane level do you guys think will have the best chance of alittle more hp?

Definately run premium. Only reason I would see that you would need to increase the octane would be if your boosting high (around 2 bar). Stock motor won't need it. Theres a spread sheet that has the formulas for rasing pump gass octane by mixing it with c16 racing fuel. I'll be adding a little race gass in my tank for safe measure. Also if your detonating anywhere in the rpm range might want to try it out.

[goofynick6]

Higher octane is used to prevent detonation, detonation that comes with elevated intake temperatures and/or increased ignition timing.

The increase in octane basically means the fuel is less prone to igniting early due to hot surfaces in the combustion chamber, rather than by the properly timed spark from the sparkplug.

I run 18psi on a big turbo and around 22 degrees timing when I'm running the car hard. Different turbos are more efficient at different boost levels, some make the best boost at 12psi and the air isn't overly hot, and the intercooler takes the heat out; however that same turbo at 18psi might be out of its efficiency range and making that boost level with extremely elevated intake temperatures, causing the detonation and knock.

My turbo is happy at 18psi, but if I wanted to run maybe 20psi and maybe a couple degrees more timing I would run race gas, or if I was at the track really beating on the car and heating it up I would run some just as a safeguard, because an engine can only take so much heat and abuse, some more than others obviously (2jz's can take lots).

So, don't waste money on anything over 93 octane until you're running higher boost and timing, and don't run less than 93 octane with a high performance/boosted engine.

HTH,Nick
Modified by goofynick6 at 11:56 AM 3/22/2005

[Joe]

so what gas does everyone use (octane rating)?? What octane level do you guys think will have the best chance of alittle more hp?

run the highest you can get at the pump

and octane DOSENT MAKE HORSEPOWER

[Wulfgang]

Amen.

Use higher octane only if you are pinging. Otherwise forget about it, or bump up your timing/boost until you ARE pinging and then add the booster.

If you really want to know all about octane and have some free time, go straight to the web's best source:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos....html