Octane Booster and synthetic oil - Page 2 - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

*CamaroSpike23* · 04-30-2008, 11:47 AM

seafoam, royal purple oil, 93 octane gas, k&n oil filter. race additive octane boost (on occasion)

Wedgy · 04-30-2008, 12:56 PM

Quote:

When it says it raises it 4 points it means from 91 to 91.4, not 95.

octane boots is a waste of money.

My friend has been modding turbo cars for a while. he had a 1.8t GTI, a wrx, and now has an STI. For turbo cars octane is a big deal for tunning, when you up boost you are upping the compression. LOL go to your tuner and tell them to tune your car for 91.4 oct and see what they say.

For a NA V8 its not that big a factor if your around 10 to 1 compression 91 will be fine.

Only having 91 oct in CA; I filled up with 93 oct one time, and i don't know if it was in my head, but maybe it ran a little smoother... I don't know...

If you want higher octane, buy higher octane gas.

Muscle Master · 04-30-2008, 01:19 PM

wont that mess up the engine

o2camaross · 04-30-2008, 02:20 PM

nope

SoFlaZ · 04-30-2008, 03:51 PM

Speaking of fuel additives for cleaning injectors, me and my father use Gumout fuel injector cleaner and it works like a charm. Runs smoother and better mileage after use.

*CamaroSpike23* · 04-30-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wedgy

.
Only having 91 oct in CA; I filled up with 93 oct one time, and i don't know if it was in my head, but maybe it ran a little smoother... I don't know...

If you want higher octane, buy higher octane gas.

it should run smoother. higher octane gasoline allows for more clean burn of the fuel itself, netting you more (albeit not much) power. lt1 camaros came out the door with 10.5:1 compression and the lt4 vettes came with 11:1

they were recommended to run at least 91 octane. tho you can use 89 in an engine, you are really not saving any money, sure a couple bucks every week or so when you fill up, but when your motors insides are deteriorating due to the crappy fuel you are running, it will cost more in the long run.

Loader · 05-05-2008, 10:49 PM

Synthetics - these days they are safe to use from day one. They've come a long way, so forget anything you know from as recent as 5 years ago. One of the top performing synthetics out there is AMSOIL. I was a Mobil 1 diehard until I saw the specs. I switched everything to AMSOIL and I'm now a dealer. I have three cases of Mobil 1 in the shop if anyone is interested in it! If you want information, I've got more than you'll ever need - or you can visit my web site.

When is synthetic a must? It's a good idea in ANY car as the molecular structure doesn't break down like dino-oil. If you are running anything with a turbo, especially a diesel truck, it should be considered mandatory. Since the oil doesn't break down, you can safely extend your change intervals. With good filtration, you can easily go 10,000-15,000 between changes in a non-turbo, non-diesel vehicle. AMSOIL has been tested to maintain it's lubricity at 25,000 miles - you just need to use good filters to clean out any debris.

Now, about OCTANE. Let's assume your car is designed to run on 91 octane. You have a tank full of 91 octane. If you change nothing, adding octane booster will make your horsepower DROP and gas mileage will suffer. The only time octane booster will help is if you NEED it. The only thing octane booster will do in a modern day performance car is turn the valves a reddish-orange color.
The deal is all about detonation. With a car that needs 93 octane, running 87 octane will cause detonation. This is because the 87-octane fuel is MORE VOLATILE, meaning it's more unstable and ready to explode. When you compress air (like when a piston is coming up on the compression stroke) heat is generated. With a fuel that is too volatile, it will explode from the cylinder heat BEFORE the spark plug ignites it. This is NOT a good thing and it can destroy your internals. So, if you have high compression (creating high cylinder pressure) or you are increasing cylinder pressure through boost (eg. using a turbo), you need to make the fuel harder to ignite - you need higher octane through higher octane fuel or octane booster.

To illustrate, we'll use my Buick. V-6, turbocharged. Compression is under 9:1, so it'll live on 87 octane as long as the boost is low. To play, I may want to run more boost, so I need to run 89 or 91 octane usually. This is only good to about 16 PSI of boost. After than I need to step to 112 octane (or maybe 91 and a bunch of octane booster) which will let me crank it to about 19-20 PSI. After that I need to go to 116 octane race gas (which is leaded and destroys the oxygen sensor) or start injecting methanol which will allow me in the 24 PSI zone. Each needed increase in octane rating was because I changed the need through ignition timing, turbo boost, or a combination.

If you aren't changing things, you are probably making things worse with the octane booster as that makes it harder to burn the fuel. Wanna try something? Put some airplane fuel in there. You probably heard old wives tales about how airplane fuel will make a car scream! Well, that stuff has such a low BTU rating that you won't generate much power unless you crank your turbo waaaaaay up! Don't have a turbo? Then your car is going to feel like a Yugo. Stay away from the cheap stuff that could gum up injectors. You want performance? Go with fuel management and if that isn't enough then boost it with a turbo or a supercharger.

Sorry this got so long.

crippled · 05-07-2008, 10:24 PM

loader pretty much has it, the airplane gas tho that your talking to is not to great to put into car engines as it contains lead, which from time to time can clean an engine but if you constantly use it will actually corrode your engine, and if you want a clean engine just use the highest offered octane available at the pump and get a fuel injector cleaner, they are cheap, but make sure to look to see if it has acetone or not, if you get an acetone based cleaner don't use it as much as it will cause corrosion in your lines

the higher octane fuels will run cleaner and also allow your engine to run cooler, that is why it will run smoother, so there is no need for an octane booster, like loader said it has to do with the compression of your engine and your ignition, and can cause more harm than good.

for oil i still say still stick with your mineral based oils in the beginning, you want your rings and bearings to run hot for the break in period so they can seat properly, and if anything just ask the dealer or look up the specs for break in procedures and what not and you should find all you need to know

Teflon_Drill · 05-13-2008, 11:54 PM

Here is a link to a test that was done that showed Octane boosters to reduce power by 2%
http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=901&id=190&description=Fuel%20Addit ives%20-%20do%20they%20really%20make%20you%20faster?

*KILLER74Z28* · 05-14-2008, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teflon_Drill

Here is a link to a test that was done that showed Octane boosters to reduce power by 2%
http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=901&id=190&description=Fuel%20Addit ives%20-%20do%20they%20really%20make%20you%20faster?

link no good...

Teflon_Drill · 05-14-2008, 11:41 AM

http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=901&id=190

Try now

shadowed_Stranger · 05-14-2008, 03:32 PM

So we have established that octane boosters are bad and that using lower grade gas in a high performance engine (Z28 or SS) is bad...

I put premium (93 here) in my V6 (3800 series 2)... Will that cause any damage or performance loss?

Just incase it matters every gas station within 100 miles only has 87, 89, and 93.

04-30-2008, 02:20 PM	#18
o2camaross Drives: 2010 2SS/RS & 04 silvy Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Driving Posts: 362	nope

04-30-2008, 03:51 PM	#19
SoFlaZ Drives: 2013 SS LS3 Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: WPB FL Posts: 947 View My Garage	Speaking of fuel additives for cleaning injectors, me and my father use Gumout fuel injector cleaner and it works like a charm. Runs smoother and better mileage after use.

05-05-2008, 10:49 PM	#21
Loader Camaro Lover Drives: Duramax Join Date: May 2008 Location: Maryland Posts: 19	Synthetics - these days they are safe to use from day one. They've come a long way, so forget anything you know from as recent as 5 years ago. One of the top performing synthetics out there is AMSOIL. I was a Mobil 1 diehard until I saw the specs. I switched everything to AMSOIL and I'm now a dealer. I have three cases of Mobil 1 in the shop if anyone is interested in it! If you want information, I've got more than you'll ever need - or you can visit my web site. When is synthetic a must? It's a good idea in ANY car as the molecular structure doesn't break down like dino-oil. If you are running anything with a turbo, especially a diesel truck, it should be considered mandatory. Since the oil doesn't break down, you can safely extend your change intervals. With good filtration, you can easily go 10,000-15,000 between changes in a non-turbo, non-diesel vehicle. AMSOIL has been tested to maintain it's lubricity at 25,000 miles - you just need to use good filters to clean out any debris. Now, about OCTANE. Let's assume your car is designed to run on 91 octane. You have a tank full of 91 octane. If you change nothing, adding octane booster will make your horsepower DROP and gas mileage will suffer. The only time octane booster will help is if you NEED it. The only thing octane booster will do in a modern day performance car is turn the valves a reddish-orange color. The deal is all about detonation. With a car that needs 93 octane, running 87 octane will cause detonation. This is because the 87-octane fuel is MORE VOLATILE, meaning it's more unstable and ready to explode. When you compress air (like when a piston is coming up on the compression stroke) heat is generated. With a fuel that is too volatile, it will explode from the cylinder heat BEFORE the spark plug ignites it. This is NOT a good thing and it can destroy your internals. So, if you have high compression (creating high cylinder pressure) or you are increasing cylinder pressure through boost (eg. using a turbo), you need to make the fuel harder to ignite - you need higher octane through higher octane fuel or octane booster. To illustrate, we'll use my Buick. V-6, turbocharged. Compression is under 9:1, so it'll live on 87 octane as long as the boost is low. To play, I may want to run more boost, so I need to run 89 or 91 octane usually. This is only good to about 16 PSI of boost. After than I need to step to 112 octane (or maybe 91 and a bunch of octane booster) which will let me crank it to about 19-20 PSI. After that I need to go to 116 octane race gas (which is leaded and destroys the oxygen sensor) or start injecting methanol which will allow me in the 24 PSI zone. Each needed increase in octane rating was because I changed the need through ignition timing, turbo boost, or a combination. If you aren't changing things, you are probably making things worse with the octane booster as that makes it harder to burn the fuel. Wanna try something? Put some airplane fuel in there. You probably heard old wives tales about how airplane fuel will make a car scream! Well, that stuff has such a low BTU rating that you won't generate much power unless you crank your turbo waaaaaay up! Don't have a turbo? Then your car is going to feel like a Yugo. Stay away from the cheap stuff that could gum up injectors. You want performance? Go with fuel management and if that isn't enough then boost it with a turbo or a supercharger. Sorry this got so long.

05-07-2008, 10:24 PM	#22
crippled Drives: MB clk430 02 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Naples, FL Posts: 15	loader pretty much has it, the airplane gas tho that your talking to is not to great to put into car engines as it contains lead, which from time to time can clean an engine but if you constantly use it will actually corrode your engine, and if you want a clean engine just use the highest offered octane available at the pump and get a fuel injector cleaner, they are cheap, but make sure to look to see if it has acetone or not, if you get an acetone based cleaner don't use it as much as it will cause corrosion in your lines the higher octane fuels will run cleaner and also allow your engine to run cooler, that is why it will run smoother, so there is no need for an octane booster, like loader said it has to do with the compression of your engine and your ignition, and can cause more harm than good. for oil i still say still stick with your mineral based oils in the beginning, you want your rings and bearings to run hot for the break in period so they can seat properly, and if anything just ask the dealer or look up the specs for break in procedures and what not and you should find all you need to know

05-13-2008, 11:54 PM	#23
Teflon_Drill Drives: 92 Camaro Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 11	Here is a link to a test that was done that showed Octane boosters to reduce power by 2% http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=901&id=190&description=Fuel%20Addit ives%20-%20do%20they%20really%20make%20you%20faster?

05-14-2008, 11:41 AM	#25
Teflon_Drill Drives: 92 Camaro Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Fayetteville, NC Posts: 11	http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=901&id=190 Try now

05-14-2008, 03:32 PM	#26
shadowed_Stranger WAITING! Drives: 97 V6 5spd Join Date: May 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 236 View My Garage	So we have established that octane boosters are bad and that using lower grade gas in a high performance engine (Z28 or SS) is bad... I put premium (93 here) in my V6 (3800 series 2)... Will that cause any damage or performance loss? Just incase it matters every gas station within 100 miles only has 87, 89, and 93.