Hey guys, I sort of thought of a way to possibly save some money on gas and I need your opinions.

Im sure you all know the answer to this and have deffinetly thought of it before but im new to this lol

Ive been pumping Premium gasoline into this car and we all know gas is not cheap and this is not a fuel efficent machine. So i was wondering instead of paying top dollar for 91% octance fuel if I could put regular 87% plus add octane boost?

 

Note * Even with premium gas I still get a low octane reading...

 

Please expand on "low octane reading"?

 

My engine light was on and my dad did a reading and the code was octance level not high enough

 

I've never heard of a code like that...What was the code number?

 

gunna go out on a limb here and say that his engine was probably knocking and they assumed it was low octane ....

i would start investigating the fuel pump..

 

If you read the fine print on octane booster additives, the "points" that they raise the octane is tenths of a point. As in .1, .2, etc...So, if it claims to increase the octane of 10 gallons by 3 points, then you would need approximately 33 bottles to increase the octane of a 16 gallon tank (our size) from 87 to 93.


It's cheaper to just fill up with 93.


I would suspect that there is something else going on here, and not a knocking problem, and especially no CEL that says "octane too low" (there isn't a CEL in our ECU for that)

Paimon is likely right in that they are making an assumption, and I would say an incorrect assumption at that.

How about you actually provide us with the full details of what it is that you are experiencing...

 

Any octane booster that's good enough to get from 87 (Regular) to 91 is going to cost more than the fuel price difference.

If you are getting knock on good premium fuel, then there is something else wrong.

 

One can of octane boost raises the overall octane by 2 or 3 'points of an octane' - so it would make your 87 into 87.3

Most of these snake oils have just changed their names to 'system cleaner' or 'performance booster', because they mostly work by removing deposits in the chamber, which can cause detonation.

A mis-fire code can be caused by old plugs - how old are yours?

 

It's not knocking and I'm not making an assumption.. I'll get the code reader out tomorrow and tell you guys what i'm talking about...

 

i only put 93-94 octane in my 8. this is not a car you want to cheap out on

 

dont doubt you are having trouble dude. But a lot of us are very familar with every trouble code that the pcm and or the can bus uses. There is not one that reads "octane too low"
Actually no engine or no system can make that determination. I wish there was one!

But, to answer your basic question, (you are thinking about things and exploring ideas and I like that), no, octane boosters that you can get at a store, will not be enough. There are "real" octane boosters out there--like torco/tolulene etc, but the cost of them is far higher than the cost difference between 87--93 octane.
You can tune your car to run on 87 octane if you want.

 

Here is the thread with the list of CELs: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/rx-8-technical-info-cel-codes-pcm-pin-list-collision-guide-26291/

No octane reference.

 

Octane is not always related to gasoline. for example, if you add ethanol to gasoline, it boosts octane, but ethanol produces less energy compare to gasoline. so even the octane is higher, doesnt mean it contains the same energy compare to high octane pure gasoline.
less energy in the fuel means worse fuel consumption so you are better off with filling up with premium instead of using lower octane and add octane booster.
Octane only means how stable the mixture is under high compression.

 

Thanks for the advice guys!, I kinda figured it couldnt be that easy :P

 

Cleanup on Aisle 5

 

Has anyone tried the "Royal Purple 11757 Max-Boost Octane Booster and Stabilizer" with a lower than recommended octane fuel? It seems to have good reviews and is a number one seller on amazon. It boasts to be capable of improving octane by 3 whole numbers and not points so for instance 91 to 94.

 

Snake oil. Quit bumping threads to get your post count up.

 

Was not a matter of getting my post count up, it was a matter of getting my question out there to receive as much feedback as possible.

 

Wrong method. Please read the rules that you agreed to when you signed up for the account.

RX8Club.com - FAQ: RX8Club.com Forum Rules