Octane Booster Recommendation

davecsu · #1 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 06:23 PM

I'm thinking of using Octane Booster regularly for my S/C Tundra. I was wondering what are the pros and cons of the Booster. I see so many different brands. What's a good one? Does anyone have experience with them?

falcon · #2 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 07:52 PM

Ive got a 2002 tacoma with the SC, and I have tried some of the octane boosters and can honestly say I don't seem to see a difference in performance. Most of them say it will increase your octane by 3 points but I don't know. I researched octane boosters on the internet and one thing I read it said the 3 points they say it increases is actually .3 and not 3 whole points. Take it for what it worth. .3 would not be noticable in performance.
Some one posted on the 350 Z board that they dynoed the their car with 93 octane gas and 100 octane racing gas and the HP only went up 5 I think with the 100 octane. Do you have a lot of pinging?. I run Sonoco 94 and that seems to the best Ive used so far.

bradbury · #3 (**permalink**) 03-10-2003, 11:35 PM

Over here on the left coast we can't get Sunoco quite as easily...shipping on those 55 gallon drums is spendy.

But we do have Trick Racing, which is brewed by Sunoco. They have a good 101 octane unleaded gas that is legal for road use and is fully compatible with pump gas.

Last I checked, it was going for around $4.50/gallon, and regular unleaded was going for around $1.00 at the time.

I'm not sure where it can be found up your way, Dave. I know down here it can be found at 104th and Portland, in Midland; that does nothing for you though. You can call Trick at 1-800-444-1449 for more info, or try their website (http://www.trickgas.com) for what little it offers on distributors.

davecsu · #4 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 03:57 AM

Thanks for the info, Nick! I'm wondering how much performance improvment I'll get with higher Octane gas? Since it seems hard to get and plus it's so expansive, I don't think that's an alternative for me. According to Falcon, the Octane boosters aren't all that great either. Oh, well! I guess I just have to be content with S/C, TRD headers, TRD dual exhaust, and TRD air filter.

falcon · #5 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 08:06 PM

davecsu, went and did some more reading on the internet last night about octane boosters. Most of stuff I read said that if your engine is running good you will not see a difference, the boosters will help an engine that is not firing right, which may seem to you like it really helps but it will not make it any better than what the engine was designed for. I will not be trying and more of it.

davecsu · #6 (**permalink**) 03-11-2003, 08:07 PM

Falcon, thank you for taking time to research and share the info!

acme · #7 (**permalink**) 03-14-2003, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by davecsu
I'm thinking of using Octane Booster regularly for my S/C Tundra. I was wondering what are the pros and cons of the Booster. I see so many different brands. What's a good one? Does anyone have experience with them?

We use Xylene when racing (86-87 Tubo Buicks, GN and T-Types)since it won't harm or cake up your Oxy sensor and Cat Converter.
You can get Xylene or Tolulene at Ace Hardware or any paint stores.
If you look on the back of the little bottles of Fuel Injector Cleaner
and "Octane Booster" bottles you will see: ...."contains Xylene" or "Tolulene". Gasoline and racing gas has Xylene and Tolulene in them. It's used to increase octane and clean your injectors . Put about 2 Gallons per tankful and you will have around 95 octane. Add about an ounce of Marvel Mystery oil since the Xylene is dry and doesn't contain a thin oil like gasoline has.

alan