A local gas station has "Trick" racing fuel for sale. It is rated at 101 octane. He says most people add a gallon or two to premium 91 octane to give it a little boost.

1. What do you guys recommend as far as mixture ratios. Is it really advantageous to add 1 gallon or should the mix be, say, 25%or 50%. Does anyone know a formula to calculate the resultant octane for a given mix.

2. What type of noticable differences have you experienced with higher octane fuel?

3. Are there any bad side effects of running higher octane?

4. What is the airspeed velocity of a swallow carrying a coconut across the pacific ocean with a 10 knot tailwind. (assume it's an african swallow)

 

Loved question #4

So you're also relegated to 91 octane in New Mexico? It's an average. Here's the formula for you but done with nice easy numbers. (1 gallon * 101 octane) + (9 gallons * 91 octane) / 10 gallon tank capacity = Tank's average octane of 92

As you can see it'll take quite a bit to increase it to say 95 octane. It will help prevent pinging and from what I've read around the forums these engines can take advantage of increased octane, possibly up to 95. The ECU will advance the timing, giving more power.

Just a FYI, too much octane would not be a bad thing necessarily for the engine but it would be for your pocketbook as the excess would be a waste, no extra power.

A note... This info I provide after digging many hours on the web for the info, no first hand experience with this engine yet... until my car is delivered!

EDIT: additional info below:

If you're looking for increased octane, there's another way as well that has the potential to be cheaper than race gas. Race gas is what, $6/gallon? Toluene and Xylene are components of blended gasolines. They are aromatic hydrocarbons and used as solvents, sold at hardware stores, paint stores, boat shops, as well as laboratory supply. Toluene I've read has an octane from 113-114 and Xylene 117-118.

Some have said not long ago (forum posts around the net) that either of these could be bought for as little as $2.50 a gallon. This is how these two options get interesting, cheap octane boost! Unfortunately I've only recently been able to find the stuff for $5-6/gallon. You can blend up to 20% into your tank without having to worry about anything else.

Toulene is also known as Toluol and Xylene, Xylol. My brother has a Celical GTS (11.5:1 compression) and has gotten 5 gallons of Xylene to see if it'll improve anything. I'm pretty sure it will since this stuff is the real deal. Read around the net for more info if you'd like. There's a lot to learn. One more thing of note. I've read that Toluene is used in the production of the illegal drug speed. Maybe it's for that reason that we're unable to find Toluene/Xylene locally as cheap as others have posted they have.

 

I think you're digging in the wrong places. With a stock Z, you're pretty much wasting you time/money with race gas.

 

what size coconut?

 

in Phoenix, the 101 purple gas is about $4.00 a gallon, or translating this to octane boostability- means that a tank of what would be 95 octane would cost about $40-$45 bucks.... by blending it with the 91/92 stuff.
You can get octane booster for 7 bucks which will do about the same thing.
Although, on the street you will probably never tell the difference (IMO).
Any gain might be realized at high rpm and open throttle- but the computer enriches the F/A mixture anyway to keep the engine from detonating, and forgets about the emissions temporarily until the revs and throttle position indicate that the driver has calmed down....

 

I read a 7 page post on octane a while back and I can sum it up in two lines....

Octane is a fuel additive that prevents pre-detonation. If you are not experiencing pre-detonation, more octane prolly won't do much.

 

Why would an african swallow carry it across the Pacific Ocean? African swallows are not migratory.

A swallow could not carry a coconut. It's a simple question of weight ratio. A 5 ounce bird could not carry a 1 pound coconut

The answer to your next question: NO, two swallows could not carry it on a line under the dorsal guiding feather.

 

HOw can a milligram ant carry a 1 gram crumb?

 

Careful putting this stuff in your car, though. You are correct that this is the stuff often used to increase octane in fuel. However, the problem is that, when buying toluene and such from stores where it is not meant for an engine (such as paint stores), you are not guaranteed of its purity. Even though the stuff is listed as 100% toluene, it could still have impurities in it such as grit. The stuff sold at paint stores if for removing paint, so the manufacturers don't exactly have any tests to make sure it is okay for a car engine.

That being said, I used to add toluene to my gas back when I had my upgraded turbo on my Audi and was running 20 psi of boost. On really hot days (90+ degrees) the power loss in my car was dramatic when running 91 octane pump gas as the timing was being seriously retarded. Once I started experimenting with toluene as an additive, I had a *very* noticable increase in power. No question about it. But!... only on hot days. On cold days in the winter, the power was always there whether I used toluene or not. When the weather was cold enough, timing retardation wasn't an issue.

 

So I ran about 3 gallons of 101 octane in a tank of 91 octane premium fuel. It cost 15.00 for the 3+ gallons.

My impression = not impressed.

I did not notice any difference in idle or acceleration. I know a lot of you told me this but had to try it myself. Thought I would post the results for others.

I also heard that higher octane can help keep the injectors clean. Any truth to that?

 

My friend lost 10 wrhp w VP racing fuel... I would'nt put it in a N/A Z... and damage the spark plugs!

 

Yeah, racing gas isn't all that it is cracked up to be when you're still stock or even with mild mods. I used it twice and both times I had lower times than when I didn't use the gas. I treat my engine to boosters every now and again, but you're better off putting the money in a jar and investing it when you get enough saved.