dustin

What do you guys think of this?
http://home.kscable.com/ssutton/miat...e/toluene.html

My engine is not happy with 91 octane...

Dustin

Ubermensch

If you decide to try this please be extraordinarily careful. Toulene is very toxic and if I recall correctly the fumes induce a feeling of euphoria so you'll be poisened and not realize it. If you need more info on the safety precautions let me know and I'll get you a MSDS on it.

b18bturbo

that **** does work. check the formula for gasoline and mix tolunine in there and see what you get.

dustin

I also found this:
http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octanebooster.html

Dustin

Tanner

Dustin if you try this let us know what you think. I am interested even though I am not boosting yet, I am limited to 89 octane here in new mexico so I would be interseted in trying some just to get to a 91-92 octane level..
thanks tanner

dustin

How might I be exposed to toluene?
Breathing contaminated workplace air or automobile exhaust.
Working with gasoline, kerosene, heating oil, paints, and lacquers.
Drinking contaminated well-water.
Living near uncontrolled hazardous waste sites containing toluene products.

How can toluene affect my health?

Toluene may affect the nervous system. Low to moderate levles can cause tiredness, confusion, weakness, drunken-type actions, memory loss, nausea, loss of appetite, and hearing and color vision loss. These symptoms usually disappear when exposure is stopped.

Inhaling High levels of toluene in a short time can make you feel light-headed, dizzy, or sleepy. It can also cause unconsciousness, and even death.

High levels of toluene may affect your kidneys.

How likely is toluene to cause cancer?

Studies in humans and animals generally indicate that toluene does not cause cancer.

The EPA has determined that the carcinogenicity of toluene can not be classified.

How does toluene affect children?

It is likely that health effects seen in children exposed to toluene will be similar to the effects seen in adults.

Some studies in animals suggest that babies may be more sensitive than adults.

Breathing very high levels of toluene during pregnancy can result in children with birth defects and retard mental abilities, and growth. We do not know if toluene harms the unborn child if the mother is exposed to low levels of toluene during pregnancy.

How can families reduce the risk of exposure to toluene?

Use toluene-containing products in well-ventilated areas.

When not in use, toluene-containing products should be tightly covered to prevent evaporation into the air.

VaporTrail

In short, it works very very well. Using a 5:1 mixture seems to be about the max you can safely go. Much more than that and it becomes unstable.

optiontoo

Xylene has an even higher octane than toluene...
A 30% (max) mixture in 92 octane gasoline nets approx 97 octane R+M/2. Don't go higher than 30% otherwise the motor won't start. And don't run this on the street because if you sit in hot traffic the engine could vapor lock.

redline

boost does the same thing to me!!!

boomslang

I am going to try toulene out tonight. I am sick of buying that NOS octane booster for $9 a pop, and from what lots of articles say, it doesn't help much.

dbman96

Hey post your results and where you found toluene to purchase and how much it cost, I'm interested in trying too.

VaporTrail

the NOS racing formula definately works!

sgT

NOS Racing formula contains a small amount of nitromethanol as well though.

dbman96

I checked some paint supply and found plenty of products with Toluene or Xylene IN them, but including other things (methanol, mineral spirits) as well, and no indication of what the proportions were. Anyone have any success finding this stuff in a reasonably pure form?

dustin

From the second article I pasted above:


MAKE YOUR OWN OCTANE BOOST
How to make your own octane booster (this is the basic formula of one of the popular octane booster products). To make eight 16 ounce bottles (128 oz = 1 gal):

100 oz of toulene for octane boost
25 oz of mineral spirits (cleaning agent)
3 oz of transmission fluid (lubricating agent)

This product is advertised as "octane booster with cleaning agent *and* lubricating agent!". Diesel fuel or kerosene can be substituted for mineral spirits and light turbine oil can be substituted for transmission fluid. Color can be added with petroleum dyes.

RoaringTurtle

tried it yesterday
used about 2 gallons of that toulene with 8 gallons of 91 octane (cuz im in CA)
dunno if it made a difference
im still trying to figure it out
i promised myself i wouldnt say it makes a difference just to make myself feel better cuz i spent like 20 bucks on it
so far, i cant tell the difference but at least my car still runs

dbman96

Where'd you buy it, turtle? Is it sold as just plain "Toluene" or under another product name?

boomslang

I found some toluene. I looked at Lowes, Sears Hardware, and Walmart. I finally found it at Ace Hardware. I bought a gallon for $10. I mixed it with 7 gallons of 93 octane fuel. I should a total octane rating of about 96 or so. I spent the next two hours racing at the street drags.

I usually use NOS off-road formula octane booster every other fill up. When I use the NOS stuff, my plugs look great, except for the reddish color, which is normal. No speckling on the insulator at 0.5 bar with stock timing. However, with the toluene, the results were different. Most of the reddish color was gone as expected, but the insulator had quite a bit of black speckling on it, as well as a few speckles of silver. Uh oh, everyone knows what that means.

I don't know anything about the shelf life or photosensitivity of toluene. Maybe the gallon I bought had been sitting on the rack for 2 years in the sunlight. Who knows. All I know is that I probably won't be using it again in the near future. I will just buy the NOS stuff from now on, my plugs and motor will thank me for it.

If anyone has had sucess with toluene, I would like to hear about it.

paulzy

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to hear about it too...

RoaringTurtle

yeah i bought mine at dale hardware
thanks for the tip inline four
ill check my plugs when i get home
i hope everything is fine though

RoaringTurtle

one more thing
i asked my dad about mixing toulene with gas
he is familiar with the use of toulene, mainly removing paint
anyway, he read the above article and advised me that the toulene that i bought at the hardware store might not be as pure as buying it from a chemical supply warehouse, meaning they prolly dont filter all the bad junk out
just a word of warning

dbman96

I wouldn't worry too much about purity; it's not like toluene comes straight out of the ground or anything; it's a heavily refined and processed petroleum product. Those facilities don't make much money when they allow random contaminants into their chemical processing systems.

Turbo00

i also read that moth ***** could be used as a octane booster. but its only the moth ***** containing NAPHTHALENE.

RoaringTurtle

ok all i have to say is this stuff actually works
i can definetely tell the difference
it just picks up faster
usually when its very hot out
my car runs like ****
well today its very hot out
and while driving it to work
i drove it super hard, and it runs just as good as it would in the cold
now dont take this out of context
im not saying that its hella faster or anything
im just saying when i step on the gas, it just picks up faster
and it doesnt run shitty in the hot weather
but at 10$ a gallon, i wouldnt buy it every fillup
its just too much money
im gonna try looking into getting some from a chemical supply warehouse for much cheaper

Ray

I guess you can buy a 50 gallon drum of Toulene, just be careful where you keep it. I Wouldn't be too comfortable with a 50 gallon tank of gas sitting in my house