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Octane Booster

GTR RETIREE

By GTR RETIREE,
in New South Wales

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GTR RETIREE Contributor

GTR RETIREE

Posted
Posted

Plan on taking our extensively enhanced GTR R34 to Tassie for a short trip. As there is no 98 octane fuel available there it has been suggested to lower my boost to say .8 bar ( currently it is configured through an Apexi AVC-R boost controller at 1.2 bar) and use a good octane booster with premium fuel (95 octane) which is available over there.

Any one had any experience or comments re the suggestion ? I'm presuming these octane boosters work.

Of course being a retiree the beast probably won't even get to its boost parameters (chuckle). What am I saying! I lie.

post-25792-1136464128.jpgpost-25792-1136464009.jpg

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flukey Experienced

flukey

Posted
Posted

octane boost is good, only use it if you have to... e.g. when your using 95 or when ur gonna race someone :D

i've used it before and yes i feel the extra boost not much but it works magic :) cheers hope that helps

also the come in different brand but the all work the same u wont notice the difference in brand unless u put it on a dyno and you wouldn't wanna waste ur time seeing which one is better they all do the job. :)

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Drift King Community Regular

Drift King

Posted
Posted

Be careful using octane booster! I, personally will never use it again!

Recently I had to use octane booster due to the lack of 98 ron fuel. Not long after using it my car developed a 'miss' during idling and acceleration.

After taking the car to my mechanic, the spark plugs were removed and had to be replaced. As soon as my mechanic saw the condition of the spark plugs he knew that I had been using octane booster and hadn't told him.

Rarely do I drive the car hard as I value my licence and my car too much! Not sure how common this kind of thing is, but just thought I would let you know of my experience with octane booster and why I will never use it again!

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Duncan Grand Master

Duncan

Posted
Posted

I'm pretty sure octane booster only adds 1/10th of a RON...so you can go from 95 to 95.1 if you add a bottle....not good enough.....

Also AFAIK there is only 95 octane at one place in Hobart and that won't get you around the whole state.

At targa we run 98 octane, nothing special, but we have to get it trucked around the state it drums.

I reckon the best thing to do is turn the boost as low as you can, and retard the timing a few degrees, I'm sure Ali can give you a hand.

Maybe post up in the Tassie section and see how thsoe guys are doing it? Its a great place for a driving holiday, enjoy!

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Merli Grand Master

Merli

Posted
Posted

It says on that pretty spec sheet that it's running a Powerplay-tuned ECU.

Best bet is to call Alistair and ask him what fuel he tuned it to... Hopefully he tuned it on 95 for safety, but if he tuned it to 98, just turn the boost down a bit like you planned, and she should be fine. If you're REALLY worried, get the timing retarded a bit.

Forget those octane boosters. They don't work and just foul your plugs.

edit: Damn you Dundan, stop copying me :D

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Links Veteran

Links

Posted
Posted

Hmm.. wasn't aware of the fact that tasmania is so removed from the rest of australia and doesn't have 98RON.. was thinking about doing a road tour down there..

What do all the Tassie people do for fuel?

I'd check what they say in their little forum area. Good luck - let us know..

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SECURITY Grand Master

SECURITY

Posted
Posted
After taking the car to my mechanic, the spark plugs were removed and had to be replaced. As soon as my mechanic saw the condition of the spark plugs he knew that I had been using octane booster and hadn't told him.

maybe you need to run hotter plugs.

octane boost will give a brown layer of crap over your spark plug tip. it will eventually need to be replaced but it wont immediately effect a decent set of spark plugs.

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NXTIME Grand Master

NXTIME

Posted
Posted

As Duncan said above, octane boosters only raise the octane level of fuel one or two tenths of a point (0.1 to 0.2) at best. They are a waste of money and would be better sending the $20 or $30 on regular fuel instead, whilst running less boost and not loading the engine too much. Retarding the timing is the best insurance against detonation.

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Beer Baron Grand Master

Beer Baron

Posted
Posted

what a lovely looking car. not bad for an old retiree. much better choice than a tinny and a caravan. hehe. very nice taste indeed!

duncan, andrew and nxtime have the right idea. octance booster can cause more trouble than it's worth. start with a full to the brim tank (of 98ron) before you hop on the ferry then try and fill up when you still have half a tank left. that should effectively give you a full tank of 96.5 octane (plus you have been able to use half a tank of 98 in the meantime). do the same again at half tank and you get a tank of near enough to 96 octane. after that, you are down to pretty much straight 95. which should be fine on your low boost setting. just keep a little eye on your MFD for anything abnormal, and have fun.

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Drift King Community Regular

Drift King

Posted
Posted
maybe you need to run hotter plugs.

octane boost will give a brown layer of crap over your spark plug tip. it will eventually need to be replaced but it wont immediately effect a decent set of spark plugs.

I had NGK spark plugs in it, almost certain they were NGK iridium spark plugs, aren't they supposed to be good?! Are there better plugs?

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Guest Mashrock

Guest Mashrock

Posted
Posted (edited)
eh? Tassie has the best driving roads in Aus.

And I'm sure that with standard boost and a few degrees timing retarded you will still be able to get to the speed limit ok......

they have speed limits in tasmania?

p.s. say hi to uncle chop chop for me

Edited by Mashrock
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Sydneykid Grand Master

Sydneykid

Posted
Posted

From the BP web site..............

2. How can I boost my octane?

The octane of a fuel can be boosted by adding proportions of a higher octane fuel. Also available is toluene, which can be used as an octane booster in both unleaded and leaded fuels. Generally each 5% addition of toluene will increase the fuel's octane rating by one number. It is not recommended to add more than 30% of toluene to the fuel. Because of the dangers with incorrect mixing, individual motorist are advised against mixing additives with fuels without first consulting their car engine manual or their fuel supplier.

So check with the Tassie guys where you can get toluene.

:P cheers :D

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