Octane Booster Use (New gti onwner)

[hotcar1600]

hi guys,

im new to this forum and i have searched.

however, i was wondering if anyone could talk from experience on the use of octane boosters.

i have an account with a petrol station (work) that only sells premium unleaded. i want to chip my car and use the 98 octane map. Can i just add octane booster to the premium unleaded?

any help and info would be great.

cheers

[Tim]

Using octane booster in every tank would get expensive!

Most tuners should have a tune that will still be safe with a decent quality 95 premium unleaded fuel. You just may not get every last kw out of it.

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Octane boosters are typically a band-aid fix to a bigger problem.

I too agree with Tim above and think you should just get the 95 octane map instead.

[noone]

welcome mate.

Agree with others statements. I (think I can) notice different 98 Fuels in my tank with the APR Stage 1 V2 tune. Many opinions on Fuel, the best advice I heard was to go to a major chain with high sales (eg, frequent fuel changeover)

Not worth trying to save a few cents if you get a discount, better off travelling further to one with 98 or sticking with the 95.

Does anyone do a dedicated 95 tune? Think APR sell a 95 in their package tune...

[hotcar1600]

thanks for the replies guys.

i know i should probably change servos - but my company pays for the fuel

so i gathered i could just add the octane booster every tank (they will pay for that too if its from the servo) i know it sounds a bit tight ar$e

are there any negative in running octane booster all the rtme?

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Agree with others statements. I (think I can) notice different 98 Fuels in my tank with the APR Stage 1 V2 tune. Many opinions on Fuel, the best advice I heard was to go to a major chain with high sales (eg, frequent fuel changeover)

There are three factors you need to look at when choosing a fuel:

1. What is the Octane rating system? Sure getting 98 octane is great, but most fuel stations actually refer to '98 octane' as 'fuel with an average octane of 98'. BP is the only fuel chain (hence the higher price) that lists its fuels as 'minimum of 98 octane' when advertising '98 octane' fuel.

2. Ethanol content. Put simply, ethanol is still a hit and miss additive because of the lack of refinement in much of the added ethanol. Furthermore, 10% ethanol mixes can often be quite misleading, with an average of 10% across the batch quite common. Put simply, you may be unlucky and get a part of the batch of fuel containing upwards of 20% ethanol, and badly refined ethanol at that. Ethanol isn't a bad thing, but stations just aren't being as careful and controlled about quality ethanol as they should.

3. Additives. Many fuels contain additives that perform different roles, the worst of these being Shell V-power which contains strong cleaning additives. Sure its good for cleaning out the carbon build ups in the motor, it isn't so great for obtaining max power.

Three things to think about when you fill up next. And three things that make me only put BP Ultimate in my cars.

[xtturbo]

I've had nothing but good times with Shell V Power.

I've heard everything under the sun about different fuels etc, and honestly I think its all crap.

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I've had nothing but good times with Shell V Power.

I've heard everything under the sun about different fuels etc, and honestly I think its all crap.

One interesting thing I find with Shell V-Power in both my old MY05 WRX and my current Polo is that it seems to cause the turbo to spool quicker than BP Ultimate.

That said, my butt dyno still says BP Ultimate gives better bang.

[Servo]

I've had nothing but good times with Shell V Power.

I've been using V Power from day one and never had an issue with it.

[hotcar1600]

it still begs the question however.

Is octane booster bad for the car in any way ?

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Is octane booster bad for the car in any way ?

Off the shelf bottled stuff is fairly bad, but if you want to spend the cash on something like toluene and work out the percent mixes you need to make a tank 98+ octane average then it wouldn't be so bad.

Either way, too much effort for the gains IMO. I would instead just go for a tune that gives you switchable options for 91/95/98 octane settings so you can leave it on 95 octane for normal use, and switch to the 98 octane tune should you wish to fill up on 98 octane fuel at any point.

[noone]

it still begs the question however.

Is octane booster bad for the car in any way ?

I think you need to search in the wider world for some answers on this, not a common question, but with some countries having very poor fuel, there will be answers out there...

[mikepologti]

http://ezinearticles.com/?Octane-Boosters-and-the-Truth-Behind-Them&id=802568

third paragraph might be of use

[Stuwey]

Toluene - bad ****. Don't touch it or breathe it or look at it, or..

"Octane booster" bottles are a fad which sound great, but are such a band-aid fix its laughable. If you can't buy the fuel to match your car, then you have to reconsider your car. Seriously.

Octane boosters, as a rule, contain lead, which will block your cat converter. Also good.




Oh, and while we're at it, adulterating fuel is illegal. I'm sure your company, which you are charging the use for this, would be well impresed....

[Lomo]

Would you trust that the fuel additive would definatelly bring the octane number up to the desired level?

You can't measure the octane number yourself so you can't control it, and seeing you've got a high compression engine is it worth risking possible pre-detonation?

If you're still keen on using that free fuel + additive then maybe run an OBD2 scanner full time to see if you're getting any pre-detonation. Can someone confirm that every detonation instance is shown up as if you're relying on codes then from my understanding they only show up if the engine melfunction increases emissions.

As to getting a 95 octane tune... how would this work? lowered boost/retarded timing? So you'd get to use your free fuel with no pre-detonation occuring but with lost power?