Gyrocon

so here in eastern canada, we can only get 91 octane pump gas. I've decided to try out an octane booster to see if it changes the way the car behaves under hard acceleration! there is a definate difference!! it pulls harder all the way to redline! HOWEVER.... there is a spot in the manual that says any fuels that contain the additive MMT should not be used! something about causing degredation of the spark plugs and varioius other internals!
the booster I used contains MMT as the main ingrediant to increase the Anti knock index of your fuel. does anyone know if there is anything to this warning, or is it just smoke and mirrors?? anyway, any input would be appreciated!

Stihl

I have been using it for a whiler now and I don't have any noticable issues with it causing any problems

kling1022

i have been using octane booster for over a thousand miles in my ss/tc. I put one in every time i fill up. I don't know if it makes that much of a difference but as far as hurting the car that sounds like just smoke and mirrors. The one i use ups your octane 60 point which is 6 points of octane and i run 92-93 octane so its about 98 octane. Mine also uses MMT. I always make sure to use the expensive kind and not the one you get at the dollar store. lol

BowTieTillIdie

Dude They add detergents in shell V-power etc. So I cant see why running that every once in a while would hurt.. I live in high elevation and cars are robbed for power it sucks ass.. So I was going to try the octane booster also to make up for that.. Spark plugs are not too expensive so.. What other internals is it going to hurt?.. Colorado Gas is a bunch of **** ... They have low octane and it's the same price as high here NO ethanol mixed for us... 89 Plus octane is cheaper too.. don't know why colorado doesn't have plus e85 mix

Skittle SS

kling what brand octane boost do you use? 6 points is pretty good gain

kling1022

NOS brand. I know the brand is gay but it says 6 full octane numbers. It's like $10 bucks at Auto Zone and works for 16 gallons.

rocketpunch1221

Not sure about the LNF.

Most stock ECU have an octane threshold (usually up to 94 [R+M]/2, but also depends on car) which will adapt themselve to utilize the increased octane.

Unless you have a tuned or after market ECU that can adapt themselve to utilize the extra octane, you are simply wasting money.

blackbird

The only effective "octane boosters" on the market are the high-MMT content (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl, with some basic info from the EPA here) additives that usually cost around $10 per bottle. When I'm going to the track I'll use the NOS brand "Racing" formula in my SRT-4 to hold the high-octane mode on the Mopar Stage 2 computer, which runs about 6° more timing advance at WOT and requires a 100-octane race gas. It along with some of the Torco Accelerator which both have a lot of MMT work very well.

Unfortunately a lot of octane boosters on the market use MMT but in much smaller quantities and have latched onto labeling their products in big letters on the front of the bottle as "contains MMT". They then advertise it raises the equivalent octane level a certain number of "points" but if you read the fine print a point equals one-tenth of one octane number so these products at best might raise a 91-octane premium unleaded pump gas to 92-octane. In other words they do essentially nothing.

If you buy the good products it will raise the knock threshold, but that doesn't mean you're going to get more power if you aren't trying to do something like raise the boost or run more ignition timing (which may or may not increase power depending on if you're then over MBT, or minimum timing for best torque). If you're driving a stock car and not getting knock right now the computer should already be running the maximum amount of timing it wants to run for your conditions. Running an octane booster, using toluene, or running race gas won't gain you anything and in the case of high-octane race gas, it burns slower you might slightly hurt performance.

If you've modified the car and/or altered the engine calibration to utilize a higher octane fuel then MMT can work pretty well. It does have some down sides to be aware of. When used in higher concentrations for extended periods of time it can degrade the emission system performance and more specifically the catalytic converter. It also tends to build up an orange-ish/red colored deposits on the spark plugs. Fuel injector cleaner and the detergents in pump gas will not be enough to remove these deposits and if they build up and get bad enough they can cause ignition issues with misfires.

Since the stock AC Delco 41-108 spark plug used in the SS Turbo is an iridium tipped plug, the center electrode is smaller than a conventional copper plug and can foul up easier. If you run the high-content MMT products be prepared to change your plugs out a lot more often.

If you live in an area that only has oxygenated 90 or 91-octane pump premium and have access to a scan tool that you could monitor for knock then you could see what timing is doing and if any knock retard is being applied due to light knock/detonation. If that was the case you might notice an ever so slight increase in performance if the engine was not able to reach it's torque goal due to that knock. But for the majority of the stock cars out there there's nothing to gain from using it, it can degrade the emission system and plugs much faster, and it will also cost you the equivalent of around a buck a gallon extra if you buy the good stuff and use it every time you fill up the tank.

rocketpunch1221

That is good to know, though I don't use OB for DE's cause my old SRT-4 was stock. I was planning to do the S2 without the toy, but I got a TC instead...lol

an0malous

NOS racing formula
Lucas octane boost
turbo 108
torco accelerant

are the ones ive tested that showed extremely good results.
most of the others are junk.

Gyrocon

the one i've been using is Pennsoil octane booster http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

I don't have a data logger, so I can't be sure if the ecu is making any adjustments for some slight knock, but the torque curve seems to be smoother on hard wot acceleration. it at least FEELS smother when I'm using the booster! I just don't want to cause myself more headache than the SLIGHT increase in performance and acceleration is worth by clogging my cat and gunking up my plugs.

BowTieTillIdie

Please tell me you use that cat **** for oil too ?


pennzoil .. WOW maybe thats why you lost some power ...

Gyrocon

No, mobil1. and I didn't lose power.

Cobalt2921

I'm thinkin about getting that NOS stuff. I get 87 for my car, and I'd rather not pay for premium like I had to with my other car. Of course If I had premium, the NOS would be even better. The only additive I use is Marvel Mystery Oil to keep the o-rings and such oiled up, also gets me better MPG

an0malous

dont use penzoil dude, its junk.
try lucas or nos. youll notice a far greater improvement.

Gyrocon

Yeah? alright thanks! I tried the penzoil because a buddy of mine swears by it! but I"ve seen the lucas and the NOS, so I'll give those a try! I've read some good things about them, so once the stuff I have is gone, I'll switch. thanks everyone for the input BTW

blackbird

From your signature line it shows you have an '08 LT which would mean you have the 2.2L. It's designed to run on 87-octane and there is no reason to run higher than that or any octane boosters. The engine internal engine characteristics such as the compression ratio and then the powertrain controller calibration for things like the timing curves, etc. are designed for 87-octane fuel. If the computer will not give higher timing advance to take advantage of a higher octane fuel you will see no advantage in a properly running car.

If you reflash the computer with a custom tune/calibration, have heavily modified the car, or are carrying heavy loads up a mountain pass in the middle of summer in the desert you might be able to see some benefits from higher octane fuel. Otherwise it's just money you're throwing down the drain. Some brands of gasoline have higher concentrations of detergents in their premium but it's usually not much more than what the federal government mandates be provided in all fuels. If that's your concern about premium helping to keep your engine cleaner I'd run a bottle of good fuel injector cleaner every oil change or so. The much higher concentration will do much more good at keeping things clean than any fuel by itself.

Lets say you or someone else did have a modified car or one that needed pump premium. If you do the math one of the "good" octane boosters that has a high enough content of MMT to actually work usually run around $10 a bottle. If you figure you top up with around say 12 gallons that ends up running you an additional $0.83 per gallon ($10 bottle / 12 gallons). I most parts of the country premium is around $0.25-0.30 more per gallon than regular unleaded. And if you run the good octane boosters every single time you fill up you will be replacing the expensive iridium plugs a lot more often and run the risk of damaging the emission systems.

As for running Mystery Oil I personally would avoid using it in a modern engine unless you had an extremely high mileage one that was burning oil or other issues they can sometimes temporarily help with. There's been a lot of people that have tested an analyzed how it works (you can probably find some good info on the oil forums) and many times any increase in performance/mileage are usually due to the placebo effect. If you've kept long-term fuel logs of the actual amounts of gallons you used to fill up to the mileage driven and have comparisons over many miles of running with and without it might be possible to see some gains, but usually that's not the case.

All modern oils already have additive packages that protect seals and gaskets. GM says not to use any additional additives in the oil and if you want the absolute best protection for your engine then skip all the pour-in stuff and make sure to run a good quality, full synthetic oil and high quality filter. Tear apart two high mileage engine, one that has run convention oil and one that has run synthetic, and the differences can be staggering. On a lot off the newer engines if you keep up on the service and oil changes even a conventional oil will work "good enough" and you're unlikely to see any oil related internals failures due to running it, but synthetic provides much better protection and less wear which might be important if you plan to keep the car for a long time.