was recently at a Kragen and i saw these bottles that claimed to raise the octane level of your gas. i honestly dont trust them enough to use them, especially since they didnt list how many fluid ounces=how much of an increase (just said to pour the whole bottle in your tank and get a 2-3 increase...); but i was wondering if anyone has tried them?

 

It depends on what the ingredients are. Most don't work. Beware of those that say they will raise octane 2-3 'points' because they sometimes literally mean .2 -.3 (point 2 to point 3) octane increase, not 2 or 3 whole octane numbers.

 

x2. Kinda like how they trick people selling mixed coolant when you can buy unmixed and have more coolant not diluted with water

 

i've tried i don't know how many of those octane boosters, different brands, different claims. and i never really noticed any performance difference. but i do however use stp or even walmart brand super-tech fuel injector cleaner, its dirt cheap. not sure if it really helps, but i've never had a fuel injector issue on any of my cars.

 

ive used the fuel injector cleaners on my '99 civic, i've actually noticed a difference. drive half way across the state (about 300 miles) a couple times a month. when i use the cleaner i can get about 360 miles to the tank before the fuel light comes on. when i dont i get about 330. granted thats only like a 3 MPG difference, but it still saves moeny overall.

 

You do realize 150ml in a tank of 50liters is really nothing and that you wouldnt even notice the difference. Octane boosters would theoretically only give more power if the engine timing was changed to correspond the need for the octane booster. Given that everything in the engine would be the same as before, increasing octane does nothing. On a trip of 300 miles a 3 mpg difference can be caused by a harder headwind at one section of trip. Different terrain. Modern fuels in themselves have detergents in them....

Truth is however... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jbcCr2ll3c

 

good video.
i know octane doesnt increase HP, its what limits ignition timing, etc. tuning my car soon (not the civic) so was more wondierng for that reason, since im in cali and can only get 91 octane.

i dont use STP cleaner, i just get the cheapie one from kragen with the white label and the clearish bottle. the increase in MPG is actually pretty persistant. whenever i forget to get it before a trip (about 25% of the time) i dont get as good mpg as when i do. i suppose i could have randomly been running agains thte wind for every one of those times, but tahts a bit overly-random. i know chevron puts cleaner in their gas, not sure abotu the cheepie gas stations though since i always use though.
just my 2 cents...

 

im looking to build a weekend driven k24 w/ hopefully 13:1 comp. theres only 93 octane around here and when i eventually get to the build wondering if i can get away with getting tuned for 93 w/ an added bottle of octane booster, or is it to variable of a product to rely on?

 

I know there was this one article bout this guy who made his own octane booster...

 

adding denatured alcohol from the hardware store will increase your octane more than any "booster" you find at any parts store. toulene, xylene buddy!! and be ready to replace rubber seals every drive lol

 

Buying premixed coolant is the best you can do in a bad situation. Premixed coolant is mixed with water that meets OEM specifications. Tap water will severly corrode your cooling system and only distilled comes close to OE specs and even that is not the best to use. Ever wonder why when a car is brand new the cooling system is virtually trouble free for about 5 years or so??