Race gas? octane boost? good for car? bad??
 

I have been using octane boost the last couple tanks and i must say there is quite a difference....quieter, smoother, quicker. i mean it could be the car breaking in, i know they get faster upon breaking in and i did add ram air recently but the second i started the car after octane boost it got reallllll smooth. and i just found a local gas station with race gace for almost the same price as 93 octane. but it says its leaded gas and the guy said dont run a whole tank of it and to cut it with 93. also he said it will burn hot and will leave the engine cleaned out. what do you guys think about race gas.????

DO NOT USE LEADED GASOLINE. PERIOD. i suggest reading your owners manual.

Ditto! :eek:

ok very good to know...i didnt use the race gas.....i just have used the octane booster bottles which a mechanic even said would be a good choice to use regularly with the quality of gas being what it is.

what octane booster are you running? almost all of the ones you can easily find at parts stores will only boost the octane raiting of gas by a max of about .3 points, so that means you spend 4 bucks on a bottle of this stuff and it turns your 93 octane into 93.3, some will boost it a little more, but i have not seen any, ever, that will do more than 1 point, meaning 93 becomes 94. That stuff was expensive too, 12 bucks I think, and it only treated maby 15 gals.

Some say on the bottle that they will boost it 3 points or something, but if you read the bottle, their scale is 1 point = 1/10 point octane (RON).

So its such a little change, i dont think its worth it, just use good gas, the highest grade of UN-LEADED that you can get, from a name brand (Chevron and Shell are the best IMO) also it doesnt hurt to run a good fuel system cleaner every once in a while.

I like the Lucas stuff, there are some other good ones too, such as RedLine. I buy the lucas stuff 1 gal at a time, and use double the ammount it calls for (i think it says 3oz for ever 15 gals, I would use 6oz) I run it ever time I fill up with gas, although some might call that a little over kill. The 1 gal jug is 20 bucks around here, and the way I use it, it lasts about 22 fill ups. So thats only 1 dollar extra per tank. Not bad for a little added insurance.

If you dont want to be so gung-ho about it, you can just run it ever time you change your oil (the sell it in 1 treatment bottles for about 4 bucks).

About the race gas thing :

One of the easy (cheaper) ways to boost the octane raiting (knock resitance) to gasoline is to add lead. The problem is that newer cars have very complex emission systems. The lead in the gas will clog the catalytic converter and the oxygen sensors. So its a no-no, the fact that it is leaded is part of the reason it is close in price to unleaded 93. The newer chemicals they add to unleaded gas are more expensive, and also better than lead so it makes the price go up a little.

I can get 98, 110 and 112 unleaded at some gas stations around town, for around 4, 5 and 6 bucks a gal. So its not cheap.

Bottom line, i dont think the effects you feel are from the octane booster, I also wouldnt spend the money on it, these cars run great on a good quality 93 octane gas, and running the fuel system cleaner will keep it in tip top shape IMO.

hmmm ok thanks...ill look for unleaded race gas......and the other stuff u mentioned too. thanks for the info.

Very nice response, KY. Much more useful than my "ditto" comment, that's for sure! :cool:

ugh.. where do i even get 93 in california?? all i see is 91 in south bay..

115 Octane....
 

I have limited access to 115 Octane unleaded fuel -

....and my "buttdyno" feels ZERO difference to 89 octane cheapest pump gas. :o

I used Premium for the first two years of ownership, but having done the experiments, I am now back in the Regular zone. I run a tank full of premium every 5 or 6 fills, just to get the benefits of the extra cleaning additives, but I still don't feel a diference.

Most of the octane boosters work, but it's a marginal effect - three bottles full may get you half an octane "point". :(

S

Unless you have a turbo, you will not notice much, if any difference in power between 91 & up octane gas.

I use the NOS "off road" formula octane booster. SCC did a test recently on octane boosters & it was the best one. Raised the octane about 3 points.