Octane Booster.... Does It Really Work?

[Beef]

Hi all,

since my skyline has recently undergone a full respray i feel the need to take better care all round for it now.... dont ask me why

but that means from switching from normal unleaded to Premium + Octane Booster (every 4 tanks)

how much of an improvement will i see?

and sdoes octane booster really work?

this morning i ran her dry and filled it up with Shell Premium and a bottle of Nulon Boost and Clean

what would you say that octane rating of this combination would be compared to normal unleaded fuel?

Beef

[Cubes]

Octane booster does raise octane level ever so slightly.

If you throw in 95ron and drop a bottle of octane booster in it it still won't be as good as 98ron. With the bottle it only raises slightly, some not even a full point.

So its simple... Run 98RON octane fuel, its only $5 extra per tank.

Be sure you don't drop 95ron fuel it as its a waste of money.

[RANDY]

I thought it was a known golden rule for ALL Skyline drivers to only ever use 98ron fuel, as all our cars ran on 100ron in Japan?

In any case, you could probably reset the ECU (search) so that it relearns knock and timing off the better fuel. =-]

[Cubes]

I thought it was a known golden rule for ALL Skyline drivers to only ever use 98ron fuel, as all our cars ran on 100ron in Japan?

In any case, you could probably reset the ECU (search) so that it relearns knock and timing off the better fuel. =-]

The skyline ecu's are not like some others, they don't learn where knock occurs.

They simply detect knock then pulling timing and dump a little fuel in.

[Busky2k]

Not sure about dumping extra fuel in but they do pull ignition timing until it stops.

Best to run 98 RON and leave it at that. I would only use an octane booster if you had to resort to 91 Unleaded.

Octane booster works alright, the good ones though like Nulon etc. They can raise octane by a few points EG 98 to 100. But continual use is not recommended as they leave deposits.

[Cubes]

Not sure about dumping extra fuel in but they do pull ignition timing until it stops.

Best to run 98 RON and leave it at that. I would only use an octane booster if you had to resort to 91 Unleaded.

Octane booster works alright, the good ones though like Nulon etc. They can raise octane by a few points EG 98 to 100. But continual use is not recommended as they leave deposits.

When I had the stock ecu on the rb30det I had a small power run done.

It pinged as 3psi and 13:1 afr approached, ign. timing went from 28degree's to 18degree's and the afr dropped went half a point richer, it then recovered and the afr went back up to 13:1 until 5.5psi, it then dropped quickly to 11.2:1.

This was on blackwood auto & dyno's dyno as they had the little gizmo to connect to the consult port.

Interesting the stock ecu was holding 13:1 until ~5.5psi.

[jazza08]

I was under the impression a full bottle of octane booster can actually foul your plugs... where as using half a bottle may increase the octane levels one or two points, only really useful if your havin a track or drags day for abit more safety.

[antz69]

nulon pro-strength is supposed to work really well..

[mazgtr]

Im sure on the label it says "1 bottle treats 2 tanks".

I used to throw some in if i was doing a track day in my old Mazda GTR, just a little extra insurance...

Edited June 27, 2006 by mazgtr

[Busky2k]

Nulon AFAIK is 1 bottle per tank (60L)

[Primordial]

I wouldnt use some of the other dicky versions of the octane booster. I've tried a few and they're crap..

I've used the nulon pro strength and i felt a definite difference. More power, smoother, and less knock (reduction of maximum 50 down to about 35) This was at a track day, and I used about 2/3 bottle for 45-50 L of fuel.

Standard bottle is 500ML, and they say that this treats 60L. See below for the exact RON increases.

You can get it from Repco, or I 've found it at some caltex's

Taken from Nulon Site:

Nulon Pro Strength Octane Booster is specifically formulated to increase the octane rating of petrol used in high performance and competition engines. High performance, high compression engines require fuel with a higher octane than normal passenger cars. Using a fuel that does not have a sufficiently high octane rating causes the engine to detonate (ping), which in turn can cause severe engine damage.

Every engine has a minimum octane requirement (OR) that depends upon engine design and, in particular, compression ratio. The higher the compression ratio, the higher the OR. If the petrol used does not have a sufficiently high Research Octane Number (RON) to cater for the engine's OR then detonation occurs. Detonation is the term used to describe the chemical breakdown of the fuel/air mixture, which results in premature self-combustion during the compression stroke of the engine, i.e. the mixture explodes prior to ignition by the spark plug. Under these circumstances the force of the explosion is opposing the direction of piston travel resulting in enormous loads. If detonation is allowed to continue, engine failure can occur. Nulon PSO substantially increases the RON of petrol, thus reducing the likelihood of detonation. Nulon PSO is compatible with all leaded and unleaded fuels including race fuel and Avgas.

It should be noted that the lower the RON of the base fuel, the greater the increase after the treatment. Conversely, high RON base fuel yields a much lower increase after treatment. This phenomenon applies to all octane enhancers.

Many high performance modern engines are fitted with "knock sensors". These sensors recognise the moment detonation commences and retard the ignition timing to stop further damaging detonation. However, while retarding the ignition timing protects the engine from damage, it robs the engine of performance and efficiency. Adding Nulon PSO at the correct ratio stops this whole cycle and promotes maximum performance and efficiency without risk of damage.

Many cars imported into Australia have to constantly operate on premium unleaded petrol (PULP) of 95 RON or higher. In remote areas of Australia, PULP is unavailable. Nulon PSO effectively converts regular unleaded fuel to PULP when treated according to the directions.

Strict testing of Nulon PSO ensures that no component contained in this product will have a detrimental effect on any engine or fuel system part. All components have been tested for millions of kilometres.

Benefits:

Boosts RON by up to 7 numbers

Stops engine detonation (pinging)

Maximises horsepower potential

Reduces overheating and piston damage

Safe for catalytic converters and oxygen sensors

Components are US EPA approved

Protects against valve seat recession

Indicative RON increases:

91.5 Unleaded +PSO=96.5 (5.0 RON increase)

95 PULP +PSO=98.1 (3.1 RON increase)

98 PULP +PSO=100.1 (2.1 RON increase)

96 LRP +PSO=98.5 (2.5 RON increase)

(When used at maximum recommended treat rate.)

[GTROB]

I agree the Nulon pro strength is one of the better one on the market. I didn't really notice any difference in my GTR but I run it in my Falcon ute that has a 351 clevo in it running 11.5 to 1 compression ratio and I noticed a huge difference, its stopped pinging all together and I could really advance the timing and gained nearly 15 rwkw because of it. Gotta be happy with that.

[LerchR33]

I havent noticed any benefits in the cars ive owned... however, my 650cc motorbike gained alot of power allowing me to reach higher speeds.

[WantGTR]

In my opinion, short answer - no.

Only use fuel your car tuned on. nothing more, nothing less.

[tridentt150v]

Probably better off using some toluene - $ for $.

[GTR-N1]

My R34 GTR N1 in 2011 came with a Mine's ECU that couldn't be altered. So until changing the ECU etc and getting a tune I used Nulon Pro Strength and the pinging up Lapstone Hill disappeared.

Points to consider are...

* Nulon made two strengths of Octane booster and the lower strength product was noticeably inferior 

* The plugs were fully red by the time the car got to the tuner

* Toluene aka Methylbenzene will immediately raise octane at low cost but the warning is that you must do it in the open and upwind of the fuel cap since it is highly carcinogenic 

[Greekos]

pro strength is about the only one that really does anything, another option if you cant get decent fuel is water meth injection

[tridentt150v]

On ‎16‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 7:08 AM, GTR-N1 said:

* Toluene aka Methylbenzene will immediately raise octane at low cost but the warning is that you must do it in the open and upwind of the fuel cap since it is highly carcinogenic 

So is red meat, sausages and bacon!!!!!

Yep, follow the MSDS, use with caution.....................toluene isn't great on a BBQ.