TurboLuigi

In South Florida I have not found anywhere that I can get higher octane fuel with going through hoops and hurdles so I have been making my own by putting 1 gallon of Xylene and 1 gallon of Toulene with about 4 ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil and adding it to 10 gallons of 93 Octane (premium) which should yield about 97 Octane fuel. It runs great and it seems to avoid detonation.

I got this formula from http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octanebooster.html and a nifty spreadsheet to calculate resulting octane from http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octaneblend.xls

BTW, I've been doing this on my Buick GNX for some time and it seems to love it as well. I was just wondering what you guys out there are doing and any comments on this, pro or con?

Thanks,

Luigi


[Modified by TurboLuigi, 9:17 PM 12/17/2001]

4cefed

Be careful with the Toulene. I think it is hazardous stuff. What does Xylene do? BYW, #500 post! :D

TurboLuigi

I believe they are both paint strippers. I buy them at Ace HW stores. They are gasoline addatives as well. They Marvel Mystery Oil to puts back some of the lubricants the Xylene and Toulene take away. So I read somewhere.

Luigi

TurboLuigi

I believe they are both paint strippers. I buy them at Ace HW stores. They are gasoline addatives as well. They Marvel Mystery Oil to put back some of the lubricants the Xylene and Toulene take away. So I read.

Luigi

Stan A

Hi Luigi,

Be careful with that octane booster if itis going into a C4. This car has a bladder liner in the gas tank and it comes a part real easy with repeated use of octane enhancements. I speak from personal experience here. The cost of a new tank and labor is not cheap.

Stan A :chevy

FU

Just go out get some V/P 100 or 104 unleaded. Can't find any ? Then get it by the drum.
Luigi some of us turbo Buick guy's are starting to show up on this board. Allway's crankin up the boost. :D :D

RatRacer

Here is some info on tolulene.


Here is an article on "Rocket fuel" for our cars.

Toluene
R+M/2...114
Cost...$2.50/gal
Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium
10%...94.2 Octane
20%...96.4 Octane
30%...98.6 Octane
Notes: Common ingredient in Octane Boosters in a can. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. Often costs $3-5 for 12-16 ounces, when it can be purchased for less than $3/gal at chemical supply houses or paint stores.


Rocket fuel FAQ
Copyright ã 1999,2000 by Eliot Lim This paper may be freely distributed, provided it is distributed in its entirety
Last revised: February 8, 2000



Q: Will my car benefit from octane boosting?

A: Consumer organizations have effectively emphasized the larger markups that oil companies charge for high octane gasoline, implying that for most vehicles higher octane fuel is a complete waste of money. It has been quite a long time since the consumer alert was issued. Since then engine technology has evolved greatly, while people's perceptions generally have not.

Modern vehicles now use computerized engine management systems that can react to engine knock and retard ignition timing if low octane fuel is being used. Consequently cars are now being manufactured with very high compression ratios that appear to give good fuel economy and at the same time good performance. This combination does assume that fuel of adequate octane is being used.


Q: Why bother to boost octane at all since my engine can run just fine on lower octane fuel?

A: For a high compression engine to run on low octane fuel, the engine management system will need to retard the ignition timing to prevent preignition or pinging. Retarding the ignition timing means that the firing of the spark plug is delayed until a later moment in the compression stroke. It does not take much to see that a later onset of combustion means that the combustion is less complete, which in turn mean less power and poorer fuel economy. It is possible that the casual driver will still come out ahead in terms of saving money by using low octane fuel, but the retarded ignition advance also means a rougher running engine and a much duller throttle response. Thus octane boosting is not necessarily of interest to all motorists but rather the enthusiasts.

For turbocharged or supercharged engines, insufficient octane will also lead the engine management system to curtail the amount of boost which in turn defeats the purpose of these engines.


Q: How did you discover using toluene?

A: Someone came across a web page that described various DIY home brew octane booster formulas. One of which used toluene as its main ingredient. As a Formula 1 racing fan of many years, I recalled that toluene was used extensively in the turbo era in the 1980s by all the Formula 1 teams. The 1.5 liter turbocharged engines ran as much as 5 bars of boost (73 psi) in qualifying and 4 bars (59 psi) in the actual race. Power output exceeded 1500bhp, which translates into 1000bhp/liter, an astronomical figure.

A motorsports journalist, Ian Bamsey, was able to obtain Honda's cooperation for his book "McLaren Honda Turbo, a Technical Appraisal". The book documents the key role that the toluene fuel played in allowing these tiny engines to run so much turbo boost without detonation. The term "rocket fuel" originated from the Formula 1 fraternity as an affectionate nickname to describe its devastating potency. Thus I concluded that I should focus my research on using toluene for my octane boosting project.

Individuals with good long term memory will recall that when unleaded gasoline was first introduced, only low octane grades were available. While it is not entirely clear that high octane super unleaded gas came about as a result of the advances in fuel technology in Formula 1, there is every reason to suspect that this is indeed the case, since many of the major oil companies were involved in the escalating race to develop increasingly potent racing fuel during this era.


Q: Why do you think toluene is better than other types of octane boosters?

A: Several reasons:

Mindful of the evil reputation of octane boosters in general, toluene is a very safe choice because it is one of the main octane boosters used by oil companies in producing ordinary gasoline of all grades. Thus if toluene is indeed harmful to your engine as feared, your engine would have disintegrated long, long ago since ordinary pump gasoline can contain as much as 50% aromatic hydrocarbons.

Toluene is a pure hydrocarbon (C7H8). i.e. it contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms. It belongs to a particular category of hydrocarbons called aromatic hydrocarbons. Complete combustion of toluene yields CO2 and H2O. This fact ensures that the entire emission control system such as the catalyst and oxygen sensor of your car is unaffected. There are no metallic compounds (lead, magnesium etc), no nitro compounds and no oxygen atoms in toluene. It is made up of exactly the same ingredients as ordinary gasoline. In fact it is one of the main ingredients of gasoline.

Toluene has a RON octane rating of 121 and a MON rating of 107, leading to a (R+M)/2 rating of 114. (R+M)/2 is how ordinary fuels are rated in the US. Note that toluene has a sensitivity rating of 121-107=14. This compares favorably with alcohols which have sensitivities in the 20-30 range. The more sensitive a fuel is the more its performance degrades under load. Toluene's low sensitivity means that it is an excellent fuel for a heavily loaded engine.

Toluene is denser than ordinary gasoline (0.87 g/mL vs. 0.72-0.74) and contains more energy per unit volume. Thus combustion of toluene leads to more energy being liberated and thus more power generated. This is in contrast to oxygenated octane boosters like ethanol or MTBE which contain less energy per unit volume compared to gasoline. The higher heating value of toluene also means that the exhaust gases contain more kinetic energy, which in turn means that there is more energy to drive turbocharger vanes. In practical terms this is experienced as a faster onset of turbo boost.

Chevron's published composition of 100 octane aviation fuel shows that toluene comprises up to 14% alone and is the predominant aromatic hydrocarbon. Unfortunately composition specifications for automotive gasoline is harder to pin down due to constantly changing requirements.

Chevron's web site also describes the problems of ethanol being used in gasoline.

MTBE was heavily touted as a clean additive several years ago, and became a key ingredient in reformulated gasoline that is sold in California. But recently new studies arose that showed that MTBE was far more toxic than previously imagined. Organizations such as oxybusters have formed around the country to eliminate the use of MTBE in gasoline and several states, including California have passed new laws to eventually outlaw MTBE.


Q: How much toluene should I use per tank of gas?

A: Octane ratings can be very easily calculated by simple averaging. For example, the tank of an Audi A4 1.8TQ is 15.6 gallons. Filling it with 14.6 gallons of 92 octane and 1 gallon of toluene (114 octane) will yield a fuel mix of:

(14.6 * 92) + (1 * 114) / 15.6 = 93.4

The Audi A4 1.8T is a good example of a car that has very high octane needs if it has been modified to produce more turbo boost. The base compression ratio of this car is a very high 9.5:1 and when an additional 1 bar (14.7 psi) of turbo boost is applied on top of it, the resulting effective compression ratio is way beyond what 92 or 93 octane fuel can ever hope to cope with. Most modified 1.8Ts running without octane enhancement are running with severely retarded ignition timing and boost.


Q: Will toluene damage my engine or other parts of my car?

A: A 5 or 10% increase in the aromatic content of gas will most likely be well within the refining specifications of gasoline defined by ASTM D4814, which specify an aromatic content of between 20% and 45%. What this means is that if the 92 octane gas that you started off with had an aromatic content of say 30% and you increased it by 10% to 40% you would still be left with a mix that meets the industry definition of gasoline. So the above question would amount to: "Will gasoline damage my engine or other parts of my car?"

Even in the unlikely event that the 92 octane gas has a aromatic content of 45% the resulting mix would still be within the bounds of gasoline sold in other countries.


Q: Isn't toluene an extremely toxic substance?

A: The common perception of toluene's toxicity far exceeds reality. Fortunately there is an ample body of information available that specifically addresses this question. Toluene is more toxic than gasoline but it is certainly not agent orange or cyanide.

US Environmental Protection Agency Chemical Summary

US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

National priority list of toxic substances
Note that the ATSDR also rates gasoline as a hazardous substance.

Mobil's spec sheet for toluene even goes as far as saying that "Based on available toxicological information, it has been determined that this product poses no significant health risk when used and handled properly."




[Modified by Cam Potter, 5:11 PM 12/19/2001]

8388

of course it's leaded fuel, but AV gas has a 100 octane rating, might work its not intended for high rpm, but then again the L98 is not a high rpm engine.
And any small private air port should have plenty.

TurboLuigi

Frank,

No there are no regular gas stations in S. Fla selling greater than 93 octane fuel.

There is one that sells AVgas for Airboats and will sell you fuel for the car but only if the car is being trailered (I heard local Law Enforcement had to do with this). I used to add 1/4 tank to my '87 Grand National (back then) and it worked well but I had concerns with the Lead content.

Anyways I've been using the Toulene/Xylene/MM Oil mix for some time in both my Vette and GNX for a while without any adverse reaction and I was wondering what everyone else was doing.

Thanks,

Luigi
:cool:
:chevy

LmtdLC2

Cam Potter, the detailed info on the toulene was great... thanks. I've been using about 5 gallons of 100 octane unleaded to 10 gallons of 93(shell or amoco) in my '87 turbo Regal. I can run about 20 lbs of boost with a 100 octane chip with that ratio. For a street trim setup, it packs quite a punch.

I have heard that 100 octane racing unleaded is about 30% toulene. If it's true, it's great for me as it comes out to about the same price, per given concentration, as it goes for per gallon at the paint stores. The benefit of the of the toulene in the gasoline at the pump, with whatever additives may be part of that, leaves me with some peace of mind. Plus I don't have to mix it myself. If I could find toulene at around $2.50 a gallon, I'd have to think about going that route. The effectiveness of Amsoil octane booster also tested close to using toulene. It looks like it's about $8 a bottle, so toulene still has way better potential value.

I've also read that in the turbo days of F1, they were running mostly toulene as a fuel. But i also read, from several sources, the fuels they were running were about $200 to $300 per gallon :eek: Whatever was used in small concentrations was some very important and special stuff.

thunderbolt47

Hey, you Cam did a great job in researching things there, what a post. But I have a few minor bones to pick with you and some general advice.
I really want to see where you got the info on gas being up to 50% aromatic hyrocarbons? Is that high ocatane racing stuff?
Toluene and xylene are both aromatic hydorcarbons. Toluene is benzene with an extra CH3 (methyl group) attached to it. Xylene is benzene with 2 CH3's attached to it, or a single CH2CH3 (ethyl group) attached. Hazard wize they are about like benzene, but not liquid death by any means.
For anyone running this, I wouldn't use it at emmissions testing time. Toluene packs more energy, but is harder to burn effectively, and your hydrocarbon emmission readings will go up when using it. Expect more carbon build up in the exhaust too. In some places this may be a problem.
And for trivia sake, the reason agent orange is toxic, not because of any of the ingrediants that are supposed to be there, but becuase of an aromatic by-product in the production of one of the ingrediants. Of course not all aromatics are equally toxic, and the agent orange one is particularly nasty.

RatRacer

Thunderbolt, this article was not written by me. The original author is stated at the top. In his article he said US pump gas has as much as 30% tolulene. He also said that in other countries fuels have as much as 45% tolulene and that you could add tolulene to get up to 45% total and the mixture would still be considered gasolene. This is defined by ASTM D4814.

I am not a chemical engineer so I cannot substantiate any of the article.





[Modified by Cam Potter, 1:12 PM 12/21/2001]

TurboLuigi

There is also a very comprehensive article on Fuels at http://www.mr2.com/TEXT/gasoline_faq.txt

I tried to paste the article text in here but I kept getting errors, I guess its too much to post at one time. Just click the link above.

Luigi
:cool:

thunderbolt47

Fair enough. got to read that next link sometime, looks good too.