I've read in a few posts here about homemade octane boost by using say 2 gallons of to-to-lene (spelling) with 10-12 gallons of gas and that it comes to about 106-108 octane.. correct me if i'm wrong... but how safe is this for the engine and seals etc ? how often would you / should you run it ? every other tank ful? just for the track? once every so often for the hell of it ? I dont know anything about this stuff. I'm just real curious to hear from people who do/have use it.

 

Toluene and Xlyene are major components of unleaded gas. Adding more will increase the octane rating because they are octanes themselves. I have run various pump fuels through a gas chromotagraph I use at work and have seen the peaks first hand. In fact, "octane boosters" are just toluene, xylene, or a mix of both. Because of the small amount in these bottles it will not raise the octane rating by any signifigant amount. Maybe a few tenths. Never by a full point though. Waste of money.

Jeff D.

 

Two of my friend has used this. One has a Audi S4 and the other a supercharged 97Z28. They both ran Extremely well with it.
They also dropped about 2 gallons and added 8-10 gallons of gas in thier tanks and it increased octane like ~100octane. This stuff is not like the gas additives you buy in the parts store that raises octane by "points". It actually does increase octane by full numbers. You can do a search in the Forced Induction Section of this board, many guys have use this product to increase octane and it worked extremely well for them too.

Hope that help,
Claude

 

Hi i am Claude’s friend who used this. It was bought from “Sherwin Williams” (I think that’s spelled correctly) ... it was more like 5 gallons for about 8-9 gallons of gas ( I was a little aggressive with the mix) And I must say it made a huge difference. I don't use a inter -cooler for my 6 psi set up so my car is very sensitive when it comes to types of fuel and outside temperature and by far this was the best i used to combat spark knock (I have run other types of race gas etc) . I was able to hammer the car with back to back runs with no problem (also it smell just like race gas when burnt through the engine)

 

It may or may not be safe for your engine. I don't know. What I do know is that fooling with fueling can be unsafe for YOU.

 

Toluene and Xlyene where would you buy 2 gallons of it and is it expensive?

 

Hi, it came in 5-gallon containers. (I think it was about $15-$25 bucks) trust me money well spent…… (They also might have had smaller containers but I did not see any at the time) They told me that this stuff sells like hot cakes and they have a hard time keeping on the shelves because people like use it all the time

 

But where do they sell it?

 

Sherwin Williams is a paint store, they carry paints and paint supplies...

 

You can buy both Xylene and Toluene at stores like Home Depot, Lowes, maybe even K-Mart in their paint Department. They are commonly used as paint thinners and reducers. Just make sure that you read the labels first. You don't want to buy just any paint thinner/reducer.

 

What kind of havoc will this stuff play with the O2 senseors, and related components?

 

I only use it when racing for $. It is 1000x better than any typical octane booster.

The fumes can cause brain damage, so fill it up in a ventilated area, and make sure to close the can (or better yet, use the whole can and then dispose of it).

Depending on your area, actual racing fuel from the pump may be cheaper.

 

I have a Masters in Biochemistry. Try not to let 100% octanes touch your skin. They soak right through. They are pretty nasty and a hood only chemical. Really sweat smell that you think cann't be all that bad. I do not think paint store octanes are 100%. I do not know. I need a license to order 100% HPLC grade octanes from the chemical supply house. So, I would think their must be some difference. You may just have to add a touch more, if that was so. The paint store stuff is alot cheaper, that's for sure.

Jeff D.

 

Very Very Interesting

 

the stuff works great ive used it alot and i hasnt done anything to my car. and yes my buddy did get some on his hands and it made him bad sick.

i put 10 gallons of 93 with 2 gallons of toululene and thats 96.5 octane.