Let's talk about octane boosters and fuel additives

CarreraMonkey · 1 Dec 2016

I know this is a hotly debated subject - whether they work or add any improvement to performance, but I'm interested to hear from those that have tried them and have had a good, bad or indifferent experience with them.

I'm talking about proper additives such as Torco Acellerator, NF octane booster, FuelX 110 etc.

Did you find any improvement in power, responsiveness, engine smoothness, or mpg for instance?

Would like to hear from people that have used it in their watercooled porka, rather than have read about it on the interweb.

Fanks!

Monkey

cheshire911 · 1 Dec 2016

Interesting enquiry. I have used the occasional RedEx in the Mercedes and never noticed any difference. The dealership advises aganst any additives arguing that all fuels have to meet minimum detergent and other additives anyway.

I suspect randomised controlled double-blind trials are non-existent and the placebo effect is high.

CarreraMonkey · 1 Dec 2016

cheshire911 said:
Interesting enquiry. I have used the occasional RedEx in the Mercedes and never noticed any difference. .

Yeah, not talking about redex, wynns, stp etc. from Halfrauds or the local motorspares (which are just snake oil), but the stronger stuff that (allegedly) improves the fuel to race fuel octane.

Phil 997 · 1 Dec 2016

Monkey, You know I will have tried them :grin: :grin:
I have tried all the better know boosters and I didnt see any MPG gains they do make the engine feel like its running more smoothly . I have also tried things like injector cleaners etc. They do make the car feel better and more perky but it needs to be done quite regularly as the effect wears off quickly.

I would say they were good if you were going on a long run, eg I will probably use some when we run to Dinslaken in April or on a track day or WHEN YOUR GETTING YOUR CAR MAPPED :grin: :grin: :grin:

CarreraMonkey · 1 Dec 2016

Phil 997 said:
Monkey, You know I will have tried them :grin: :grin:
...I would say they were good if you were going on a long run, eg I will probably use some when we run to Dinslaken in April or on a track day or WHEN YOUR GETTING YOUR CAR MAPPED :grin: :grin: :grin:

I did think that if anyone one on here would have...

It was a thought, that perhaps it may be worth a shot for the power runs. :?:

However, I have a sneaky suspicion that they have 102 on pump at the filling station by the pits at silverstone circuit, which I may investigate tomorrow. It will probably be about £2.50 a litre though lol!

KJD · 1 Dec 2016

I've used octane booster in a number of turbo cars as a guard against lean running after having them mapped on v power.
It's a little safety net if giving it some high boost beans.

Take into account though if you have your car mapped on say 102 ron which may make a little more power you will always need to use it or run the risk of detonation!

Some guys used to run switchable maps so you had one map for pump fuel and another for a cocktail mix :grin:

Phil 997 · 1 Dec 2016

Kev has a very good point about using it for your dyno runs if the car was mapped with it, best just do Vmax as super is what you will use most of the time and Vmax IMO is the best of the supers , looking forward to seeing the results :thumb:

Windy101 · 1 Dec 2016

Could possibly help if you are using low octane fuel, but there is no point in boosting octane beyond what your engine is designed to use.

CarreraMonkey · 1 Dec 2016

Phil 997 said:
Kev has a very good point about using it for your dyno runs if the car was mapped with it, best just do Vmax as super is what you will use most of the time and Vmax IMO is the best of the supers , looking forward to seeing the results :thumb:

I think that would only matter on a custom map though rather than an off the shelf map.

CarreraMonkey · 1 Dec 2016

Windy101 said:
Could possibly help if you are using low octane fuel, but there is no point in boosting octane beyond what your engine is designed to use.

Out of interest why? Because it wouldn't make any difference or because it could do damage?

CarreraMonkey · 4 Dec 2016

So in the interest of science, i ordered a couple of bottles of NF octane boost, which I know isnt a snake oil product and does actually improve octane ratings.

Yesterday, i slung half a bottle in with a full tank of 97 from my local BP. Bp's super is considered average at best, although they charge enough for it.. However, its mainly what i use as its convenient.

After filling up i reset the ecu to factory settings using the ignition procedure, so i knew that the ecu didnt need to adapt at all. I did about 20 miles yesterday, so was happy the modified fuel was now being used.

This morning James's Rugby team were playing away, so the car got a decent run. For sure the air is nice and cold, which would have helped, but i'm also certain that the fuel at around 100 octane made a difference too. Whilst it didnt feel more powerful, it definitely felt smoother and pulled stronger. Any hesitation or flat spots seem to have neen elimated. In reality, the higher octane isnt being fully utilised as the car is optimised for 98, so i guess that boosting the octane guaranteed optimal ignition.

Whilst non scientific, i'm pretty certain its not the placebo effect. However, at £15 a bottle it's a pricey way to go.

Having read a bit more about it, shell opti/vmax seems to be the best fuel as it is a genuine 98. Tescos 99 is essentially a lower quality base fuel boosted to 99 with the maximum amout of ethanol that is allowed and therefore doesnt have quite as much calorific value (as far as i can ascertain).
I will use my jungle juice mix for the dyno on friday though. No reason not to.

cheshire911 · 4 Dec 2016

I use both Tesco Momentum and Shell V-Power and I've never ever noticed any difference between either of these products.

I know Shell has a more expensive marketing campaign, but no randomised double-blind trials means claims are exactly that - claims.

If anyone has links to double blind xo trolled studies of either product vs each other, grateful if you can post and I'll be pleased to review it for myself.

CarreraMonkey · 4 Dec 2016

cheshire911 said:
I use both Tesco Momentum and Shell V-Power and I've never ever noticed any difference between either of these products.

I know Shell has a more expensive marketing campaign, but no randomised double-blind trials means claims are exactly that - claims.

If anyone has links to double blind xo trolled studies of either product vs each other, grateful if you can post and I'll be pleased to review it for myself.

I'm pretty sure if you do a google search you will find some independent research and results regarding fuel tests. But look, for most people running standard spec cars the effect wouldn't be that noticeable. But running a turbo, you would notice the difference between a low quality 'super' at 96 Ron and vmax for instance. The law of thermo dynamics doesn't 'bull shoot' even if the Internet does.

infrasilver · 4 Dec 2016

I have used good octane boosters over the years for when I was running Nitrous Oxide to stop the detonation you may get from pure Oxygen and crap fuel and I have just put some in my 996 this week, I bought some BG44K which is reputed to work well at cleaning the fuel system, my reason this time is that last year my MOT tester said my car only just passed the emission test and suggested I get some to run through the system as he thought one of my Lambda probes was probably on its way out.

Obviously I have left it until the last minute as my MOT is due this week so I thought I'd run this in the fuel to clean any deposits/injectors and the lambdas and it's also supposed to clean the lambda to some extent.

I drove the 996 today for the first time in a couple of weeks and it did feel more responsive but I'm unsure if this is due to the additive or because I'd not driven it for two weeks?

Phil 997 · 4 Dec 2016

Monkey, good to see you feel its doing the same as I thought , it does smooth it doesn't it did you get any MPG gains I didnt see much if any :grin: looking forward to what the remap does on fri. :thumb:

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