lovevettes

I was in the Advance Auto. store the other day ,looking at all the stuff for sale, was wondering what the advantage of a octane booster would be to me.
I was talking to a guy at a cruise nite that has a 440 ,1970 Dodge and he said his car just loves the octane booster.
He and I both do not run our cars on a drag-strip , just ordinary Joes,I have a '64,L76,365 Horse. 11to1 comp. That does not have pre-ignition, does not ping on acceleration, runs real good on premium fuel.

wmf62

the consensus of past discussions of octane boosters is that they are snake oil, however there are some people that will disagree...

Bill

BarryK

than what would you hope to gain?? if it runs good leave it alone!

those parts store octane boosters are a waste of money. If you find a need for higher octane than the premium available at the pumps go get some racing fuel

gscott

Thats what I do.

Frankie the Fink

No advantage to you; cost advantage to Advance Auto.

david srour

agree the boosters are worthless including the ones available ar shows containing lead. Many times preignition is due to a mistuned engine. too much advance, wrong advance curve, lean mixture etc.
If all of these are optimized and still get ping, I would add a few gallons of racing gas like cam 2.

Brumbach

Not to change the subject but how noticable is performance using racing fuel? My car runs really good on premium so I've never had the need but always wondered. I wouldn't get hooked or anything would I?

wmf62

the advantage of using 'racing' fuel is that you can run more compression and more timing; therefore more power...

if your engine doesn't need it, don't use it. kind of like running 93 octane in a vehicle set up for 87; a waste of money...
Bill

david srour

Agree Bill,, all octane rating is the resistance of fuel to detonation. If you're not having a problem w/ this than no need for higher rating. It won't make your engine run better.
Nice looking cans the stuff comes in though. I saw NoS drink the other day which claims to increase human horsepower. wonder if anyone has put the stuff in the tank or vice versa (the octane booster can looks similar). It is sugar free though

BarryK

none that i've noticed. i've put in 100 octane, 103, and 106 octane before and don't see the slightest difference in performance in any of them. My '65 L76 runs fine with no pinging or knocking with 93 or 94 octane pump gas so no benefit to using racing fuel. But it sure smells nice when it burns

Now, I'd imagine that if you ran the higher octane racing fuel all the time you could bump your timing up a few degrees more and THAT would gain you a little performance.

The only reason I tried the high octane stuff myself was just to experiment. I was at the dragstrip anyway where they sell it so tried it and each time saw zero difference so won't waste the money doing it anymore.

62Jeff

I'll post this with my flame suit on, and then I'm going back outside to clean up more of my tree debris...

If I fill up my my 62, with the 340 horse, solid lifter, 11.25 compression engine, with 93 octane fuel - it will ping on acceleration, and then refuses to stop running when I shut off the key. If I add 1 bottle of 104 Octane booster, it does not have either problem.

At this point, I don't even care why, nor will I engage in a pissing contest over whether or not it's snake oil.

MikeM

[QUOTE=62JeffIf I fill up my my 62, with the 340 horse, solid lifter, 11.25 compression engine, with 93 octane fuel - it will ping on acceleration, and then refuses to stop running when I shut off the key. If I add 1 bottle of 104 Octane booster, it does not have either problem.



If you have an engine like this, that performs like this, keep in mind that it would be a whole lot easier on your engine and your pocket book to just go ahead and fix it. These engines AREN'T supposed to run like this and if they do, there's something wrong with them.

These same owners will let an engine run out of tune like this, possibly causing severe mechanical damge yet, they change oil once a year (500 miles) with expensive synthetic oil whether it needs it or not 'cause they think they're taking care of "baby". I just don't understand some people's thinking.

wmf62

Bill

1snake

If it runs good on available fuel, why mess with it? If you want more performance, run high octane race fuel and tune your engine to take advantage of it. Without re-tuning for a higher octane, it's a waste of money.

Jim

BADBIRDCAGE

We sell about five different kinds of octane booster where I work. The majority of people that purchase and use it are motorcycle owners; specifically Harley Davidson owners. They LOVE the stuff. They say the bikes run better with it.

I no longer own a motorcycle (sold my last one in March of 1984) and can't make any personal statement about the octane booster being good or not.

Like they said on Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas; who wants to oil a snake anyway.

Rich

62Jeff

Do you care to offer an opinion on what is wrong with my car, other than what your post already tries to make obvious - that some dumb *** owner can't pull his head out of his rear and tune his car properly, and thus relies on snake oil to fix real problems?

Mike Ward

That sounds like the snobby restaurants that sell multiple brands of fancy overpriced bottled water. The patrons swear up and down that they can tell the difference- without knowing that the wait staff has swapped the bottles or served them local tap water.

Never underestimate the power of marketing.

Tintin

You live in Houston which has high temperatures and humidity both of which require more octane so the cylinder temps will be lower. If the Octane stuff works and the car runs better, why ask why? You could do what I do in the Phoenix area, buy a barrel of 110 and mix some into the tank. The booster is cheaper though and it already works. Don't let someone tune your car over the web.. Lighten up MikeM

Mike Ward

Not quite true Barry. Timing can only be advanced so far before further adjustment becomes counter productive. Typical max advance is 36-38 degrees, irrespective of whether there is pre-ignition or not.

You wouldn't want the engine to start running backwards would you?

MikeM

Well, I see there's two of you now. Unfortunately, there's more of you out there. Probably a cast of thousands that have a similar thought process. If I had a stock engine that ran like that, I'd be too embarrassed to drive it in public.

It ain't no hotter or anymore humid in Houston than it is in the Ohio River Valley. Maybe more of it but not any worse. You're both wasting a lot money for nothing.

Tune a car over the internet? I see it all the time here. That's what you're doing, isn't it? Recommending he stick with that snake oil instead of fixing his car? Use race gas? That's ludicrous. No need for me to lighten anything. I'm just telling it the way I see it. And I do it the way I say it.