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raising octane ??

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Old 07-26-2010, 06:29 PM
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Default raising octane ??

ok most of you are lucky enough to atleast get 93 octane pump gas. In maine i can only get 91 gasahol. Yeah it sucks i know. I noticed in NH (this was on my motorcycle actually) i got 93 sunoco with no ethanol. I also got colder engine temps by about 6 degrees (it has a digital temp gauge) and i got about 40 miles more per tank. In maine i don't have that option and i can't drive all the way over there just for gas. A local place sells vp110 leaded fuel. i don't have a cat so i'm not to worried about running that. I also considered mixing 3 gallons of vp110 with about 7 gallons of 91. I would like your opinions on that and also the possibily of mixing a gallon of xylene or something like that with a tank a fuel. There is also a local air port that sells 100ll avgas but i don't know of anyone ever using that. The avgas is about $5.00 The vp110 is $8.15. Not really sure what zxlene goes for. I also can not for some reason convince any of the local sunoco stations to get the sunoco 100.
Before you guys scream out SEARCH!!! I already did and there isn't much on leaded fuels and xylene
The B/S part of it all is that maine does not have an E10 law. But all gas in maine is 10% ethanol.
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Old 07-26-2010, 06:32 PM
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If you can't get high octane gas and have no e85 availability in your area look into m/i
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:04 PM
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considering that to i can always get cans if heat and jugs of washer fluid
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 18psi
If you can't get high octane gas and have no e85 availability in your area look into m/i
+1, E85 is the way to go. And, if not available, I don't know anyone who does not have access to -20 deg Peak washer fluid all year round (takes me two weeks to run through one $1 jug of washer fluid). Those are your easiest answers to increasing octane.
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:20 PM
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If E85 is readily available it's a total no-brainer. If not, you can make do on 91, most folks in CA do. We have the same E10 91 octane pisswater you guys get up there.
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:29 PM
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the nearest e85 station is in Mass and by the time i got home my tank would be empty. Water meth doesn't sound to bad, i've been considering it for a while. I'm kind of suprised no one has tried the leaded fuel.
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:32 PM
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Like they said E85 FTW! Add 1 gallon and you'll be right around 93 if I'm not mistaken. I ran 25% in an OBD 2 dodge ram with no ill effects. Smells great too!

Edit: Just read the above sorry.

Leaded fuel isn't good for your O2 sensor.

You could add a gallon of toulene but that could be expensive.
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Old 07-26-2010, 09:39 PM
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If you can find it for a decent price Toluene is a great additive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene
Once was very cheap. Just a paint thinner to most. Now that it is used for meth it has become harder to get and very pricey. :-( Is already one of the Octane boosters in Unleaded. Be aware. Eats paint and rubber in heavy concentration. Improves flame propagation. Serious power in 2 strokes. Adds notable top gear RPM. Runs cooler. Stock modern motors can run 10% no problem. Nice throttle response etc... At 30% the tune is messed up. Before the price hike I used it to clean valves/ injectors/ carbs in my vehicles.... Used it to keep bike carbs clean so I did not have to pull them.

Check out some paint stores of chemical supplies for 5 gallon cans. Be aware of how to handle it. fyi - Toluol Is Toluene based but not the same stuff.

Octane rating
For 10 gallons of calif. gas and a gallon of toluene,

(10 * 91) + (1 * 114) =
(910) + (114) = 1024

1024 ÷ 11 = 93.09 octane

Last edited by Justaturbo95; 07-26-2010 at 09:48 PM. Reason: octane rating added
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Old 07-26-2010, 10:24 PM
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moth *****
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Old 07-26-2010, 10:30 PM
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They used to run almost straight toulene in the turbo F1 cars back in the late '70s- early '80s. They would run 85% toulene and 15% n-heptane as a buffer. They would run 50-60 psi during the race and up to 70-80 psi during qualifing, IIRC. Making up to 1400 HP on a 1.5L 4 cylinder.

Last edited by lordrigamus; 07-26-2010 at 10:42 PM.
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by lordrigamus
They used to run almost straight toulene in the turbo F1 cars back in the late '70s- early '80s. They would run 85% toulene and 15% n-heptane as a buffer. They would run 50-60 psi during the race and up to 70-80 psi during qualifing, IIRC. Making up to 1400 HP on a 1.5L 4 cylinder.
that is incredible. are you sure about those numbers? i can only imagine the engineering that went into those engines.
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:14 PM
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Default avgas

I run 100LL avgas in my 1.8L up to 26psi. Runs great no problems. Here at our small airport, you can drive up and fill with a credit card. $4.50 at the pump. We burn it in our turbo 2stroke sleds also. At the shop in bulk, we pay $4.26. Avgas octane is rated differently than pump gas. It equals 110 octane for deto.
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:21 PM
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Originally Posted by ModZZilla
I run 100LL avgas in my 1.8L up to 26psi. Runs great no problems. Here at our small airport, you can drive up and fill with a credit card. $4.50 at the pump. We burn it in our turbo 2stroke sleds also. At the shop in bulk, we pay $4.26. Avgas octane is rated differently than pump gas. It equals 110 octane for deto.
Modzzilla with the red "400rwhp" car on eBay right now?
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:34 PM
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Originally Posted by KPLAFIN
Modzzilla with the red "400rwhp" car on eBay right now?
Yes
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:36 PM
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Originally Posted by ModZZilla
Yes
https://www.miataturbo.net/showpost....postcount=1591

/thread jack
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Old 07-26-2010, 11:53 PM
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Originally Posted by field
that is incredible. are you sure about those numbers? i can only imagine the engineering that went into those engines.
Yep, straight out of the Motorbooks Workshop series Turbocharging Performance Handbook among other sources. I actually think I'm a little on the low side. I'm getting old and my sometimers acts up more often.

Nelson Piquiet dominated the 1983 F1 season with a BMW based cast iron block 1.5L at almost 1400 HP!

In 2001 GM performance developed a version of the Ecotech that hit 1400HP for their drag car.

Bob Norwood built a custom dragster running a twin turbo 350 cubic inch 4 cylinder on nitromethane at somewhere around 4000 HP!

Granted they were all custom, purpose built machines on massive budgets but very cool.
Turboz is cool!

Last edited by lordrigamus; 07-27-2010 at 12:03 AM.
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Old 07-27-2010, 06:00 PM
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there is actually a lot of info online about adding acetone to fuel as well. but i can't find an actual octane for it. i'm going to try 2 gallons of vp110 to 8 gallons of 91 first. that will put me around 94.8 octane. i'm also going to save or start to make a water meth kit.
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Old 07-27-2010, 08:51 PM
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Acetone is a little risky. It will soften rubber and plastic more because it stays a liquid longer.
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