the biggest reason is octane a waste of money. the "points" they advertise it raises is actually tenths of a rating. so if a booster is rated at "3 points" for a bottle, you have to add 3 bottles to raise a tank from 92 to 93.

the other metallic race gas concentrates destroy O2 sensors and cats.

 

aww man.... so ur sayin that it doesnt really raise the octane levels? doesnt make sense cuz when i add the octane booster i see my boost gadge build up boost way faster than if i wasnt running the octane booster? i could really feel the difference, anybody else notice?

 

Why would your boost gauge build up way faster? I think you're seeing things...

 

There's a lot of stuff that's common knowledge but wrong. How do you know this is the case? If it's because that's what a WB O2 sensor is telling you you need to know that the mere presence of lead affects the readings. The only thing you can really trust is a quality exhaust gas analyzer.

Dave

 

Ok, then the AFR readings must be wrong. Who here uses a quality exhaust gas analyzer to tune for race gas?

 

Octane booster is a joke. You are feeling a placebo effect. Octane booster raises your overall tank octane by like .1 of an octane point. You got pwnt.

 

The race gas has a higher flash point, meaning it is harder to burn.

 

whatever nevermind.....

 

isnt more octane more poweR?

 

no. octane is the measurement of a fluid's resistance to burning. the higher the octane rating, the less likely a fuel will burn prematurely. A higher octane fuel allows you to run higher cylinder pressures (either compression ratio in the case of N/A engines or boost in F/I engines) and more advanced timing to allow the engine to make more power.

Increasing the octane without adding boost or timing meerly gives you more room before pre-ignition and gains you essentially nothing.

 

 

The anwser is; it depends on the properties of the fuel.

You can't make a racing fuel that has the best of everything, but you can produce one that will give your engine the most power. This is why we produce different fuels for different applications. The key to getting the best racing gasoline is not necessarily buying the fuel with the highest octane, but getting one that is best suited for your engine.

OCTANE - The rating of fuels’ ability to resist detonation and/or preignition. Octane is rated in Research Octane Numbers (RON), Motor Octane Numbers (MON), and Pump Octane Numbers (R+M/2). Pump Octane Numbers are what you see on the yellow decal at the gas stations and represents an average of RON and MON. VP uses MON because this test method is more prevalent in racing. Most other companies use RON because it is higher, easier to come by, and sounds better in marketing messages. Don't be fooled by high RON numbers or an average -- MON is the most important for a racing application. However, the ability of the fuel to resist preignition is more that just a function of octane.


BURNING SPEED - The speed at which fuel releases its energy. In a high-speed internal combustion engine, there is very little time (real time - not crank rotation) for the fuel to release its energy. Peak cylinder pressure should occur around 20° ATDC. If the fuel is still burning after this, it is not contributing to peak cylinder pressure, which is what the rear wheels see.

ENERGY VALUE - An expression of the potential in the fuel. The energy value is measured in BTUs per pound, not per gallon. The difference is important. The air fuel ratio is in weight, not volume. Remember, this is the potential energy value of the fuel. This difference will show up at any compression ratio or engine speed.

COOLING EFFECT: The cooling effect on fuel is related to the heat of vaporization. The higher the heat of vaporization, the better its effect on cooling the intake mixture. This is of some benefit in a four- stroke engine, but can be a big gain in two-stroke engines.

 

so esentially, without a way to tune for race gas you are almost just wasting your money, right or wrong?

 

Evozakk, for the most part, yes.

However, there are many scenarios, so you can't just make a blanket statement. For instance, if you go road race, it's good to toss in a half tank of 100oct mixed with your pump gas with no change in tuning or boost levels just to provide an added margin of safety, since you'll be boosting for 20-25mins straight. That is a common practice. However, at the drag strip, you would want to take that 100oct, raise the boost, lean out the AFRs, raise the timing, and go ***** out, because it's only for 12 seconds.

 

You guys are forgetting about the combustion properties of the fuel.

Different fuels have different combustion properties IE BURNING SPEED and the rate at which the energy is transfered.

There are alot of variables at place which could give more power at any certain state of tune.