Fuel Additives

MSporty

Hello All,

Im sure its been posted before. I just wanted to know if anyone has used fuel additives such as Toluene, if so did you get any noticable difference in performance and/or MPG. From looking at other motoring forums Ive noticed that it seems to be commonplace to use fuel additives in the UK and US.

Run_to_da_hills

I would look at them as similar to that blue stuff one puts in the toilet cistern, i.e. MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN.

MSporty

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I would look at them as similar to that blue stuff one puts in the toilet cistern, i.e. MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN.

Think thats a bit of a generalisation, Toluene is what formula one cars used to use in the 80s, it was subsequently banned when they were trying to reduce the speeds and increase safety. So i assume it must have some Octane boosting qualities, i dont think Toluene is available in Halfords

Steve

I use E5 all the time now, does that count as an additive?

There's definitely a slight performance gain and better MPG.
In saying that, the car is JDM and is mapped for the higher octane - most euro cars aren't.

Gumbo

stevec wrote: »

I use E5 all the time now, does that count as an additive?

There's definitely a slight performance gain and better MPG.
In saying that, the car is JDM and is mapped for the higher octane - most euro cars aren't.

i agree, if your worried about fuel octane ratings etc then you should be usinf maxol's E5, its 99 ron and no over the counter octane booster can bring standard petrol to that level.

Steve

kceire wrote: »

i agree, if your worried about fuel octane ratings etc then you should be usinf maxol's E5, its 99 ron and no over the counter octane booster can bring standard petrol to that level.

You're agreeing with me then??

fletch

Are you findin the RS4 lacking in the performance department MSporty?

Sam Kade

I used fuel additives a few years ago. Yes you do get better mpg but when you add the cost of the additive you are not making any savings.

Gumbo

stevec wrote: »

You're agreeing with me then??

isint that what i said??

Steve

kceire wrote: »

isint that what i said??

I wasn't sure - sorry.:)

Yeah, E5 FTW:pac:

L1011

Have been using whatever cleaning additive Airton Fiat push for diesels on the auld pairs cars (I have to manage all the servicing for some reason) and it has a noticeable impact on MPG for a while - not sure if it actually covers the cost of it though!

Gumbo

stevec wrote: »

I wasn't sure - sorry.:)

Yeah, E5 FTW:pac:

No Probs

joedumper

Toluene is a dangerous chemical.... beware :rolleyes:

Fratton Fred

joedumper wrote: »

Toluene is a dangerous chemical.... beware :rolleyes:

Tri Nitro Toluene = TNT.

Yeah, its a bit dangerous

joedumper

also highly carcinogenic, flammable/explosive and causes the skin on yer hands to flake off :eek:

MSporty

A few people on the Audi RS246 forum were talking about using Toluene to boost performance and make their cars more fuel efficient. To be honest id be more interested in the fuel efficiency properties of an additive, i think i have enough power as it is!!

Run_to_da_hills

MSporty wrote: »

Think thats a bit of a generalisation, Toluene is what formula one cars used to use in the 80s, it was subsequently banned when they were trying to reduce the speeds and increase safety. So i assume it must have some Octane boosting qualities, i dont think Toluene is available in Halfords

You could say the same about nitrous oxide which can be added to the fuel system in a kit form, incidentally Quinn Direct prohibit the use of this stuff on their proposal forms. I am talking of the fuel additives that are sold on the shelves in supermarket stores like Tesco and Halfords.

guju121

Just brough in an evo 8 from the uk and am wondering what way to fuel it as the super unleaded is unavailable here.
According to the owners manual, you are supposed to use super unleaded but if you put in 95 ron, the engine remaps itself to suit with a loss in power.
My question is then, do I need to get the engine remapped for the 95 ron or is there any need.
Also if I was to put in octane booster, what it the best one to bring 95 ron up to super unleaded levels

Thanks for any advice

Green Hornet

Just watch it lift the paint off the car if any spills on the paintwork!

Green Hornet

Just watch it lift the paint off the car! Nothing better than toluene.

guju121

Anyone ever use " Dyno-Tab max strength octane booster ". They come in tablet form instead of a bottle. Claim a 10 point increase in ron

Steve

guju121 wrote: »

Just brough in an evo 8 from the uk and am wondering what way to fuel it as the super unleaded is unavailable here.
According to the owners manual, you are supposed to use super unleaded but if you put in 95 ron, the engine remaps itself to suit with a loss in power.
My question is then, do I need to get the engine remapped for the 95 ron or is there any need.
Also if I was to put in octane booster, what it the best one to bring 95 ron up to super unleaded levels

Thanks for any advice

It'll adjust itself to the 95RON without any re-mapping.

Best thing to put in the tank would be the Maxol E5, 99RON. Same price as everyone elses regular unleaded.

Esel

guju121 wrote: »

Also if I was to put in octane booster, what it the best one to bring 95 ron up to super unleaded levels

Thanks for any advice

Castrol Valvemaster - never heard anything bad about it.

guju121

Put ordinary unleaded in it today, no octane booster. Notices a big loss in power.
Is that Maxol E5 stuff really 99 ron, sounds perfect for what I need. Is it available in Maxol stations now, had a look while passing one in Maynooth, Clane and Naas today, but pumps just say unleaded, no mention of the new E5 stuff

Neilw

guju121 wrote: »

Put ordinary unleaded in it today, no octane booster. Notices a big loss in power.
Is that Maxol E5 stuff really 99 ron, sounds perfect for what I need. Is it available in Maxol stations now, had a look while passing one in Maynooth, Clane and Naas today, but pumps just say unleaded, no mention of the new E5 stuff

Maynooth deff have it, filled up there last week. All the unleaded maxol sell now is E5.

L1011

I think any station that has the E85 pumps has E5 for definate, not sure if every single Maxol in the country sells it.

But Maynooth has been E5 for quite a while now.


Noticed the Maxol's up north selling B5 diesel also!

s14driftking

ive the silvia mapped for 95 octane and if im going giving it a good spanking i usually add in soome fuchsoctane booster as it reduces the knock in the engine

L1011

Surely that should be "I've the silvia incompetently mapped for 95 octane"

If its mapped for 95 octane it won't knock on 95 octane.

Bee

MSporty wrote: »

Hello All,

Im sure its been posted before. I just wanted to know if anyone has used fuel additives such as Toluene, if so did you get any noticable difference in performance and/or MPG. From looking at other motoring forums Ive noticed that it seems to be commonplace to use fuel additives in the UK and US.

The TV how 5Th Gear had an excellent indpendent test on a test rig of various additives

See here http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=401&featureid=931&pageid=-1&show=s12e5&section=Consumer

The fuel additives decreased performence every time!

Your ECU and Turbo would have to be adjusted and reprogrammed to match your additive laden fuel and you probably would have bugger all difference anyway

s14driftking

MYOB wrote: »

Surely that should be "I've the silvia incompetently mapped for 95 octane"

If its mapped for 95 octane it won't knock on 95 octane.

not completly true it will knock get a hard driving as im not getting as much air in as needed due to drifting ie can get a full blast of air n through the front mount;)

L1011

s14driftking wrote: »

not completly true it will knock get a hard driving as im not getting as much air in as needed due to drifting ie can get a full blast of air n through the front mount;)

So it only knocks when you're absolutely abusing the car, then? Right so, its absolutely useless for anyone sane, then...

joedumper

Yes

Tis great craic altogether bein insane !!!

s14driftking

MYOB wrote: »

So it only knocks when you're absolutely abusing the car, then? Right so, its absolutely useless for anyone sane, then...

abusing the car on track;)also wit the weather changes can efffect knock ie colder air less knock wit normal driving knock rarely sees over 7 getting ragged witout octane booster 50 wit octane booster 25 or so

s14driftking

joedumper wrote: »

Yes

Tis great craic altogether bein insane !!!

insane bishopscourt style:D

joedumper

Daaaamn Right !!!!!

2manyturbos

guju121 wrote: »

Just brough in an evo 8 from the uk and am wondering what way to fuel it as the super unleaded is unavailable here.
According to the owners manual, you are supposed to use super unleaded but if you put in 95 ron, the engine remaps itself to suit with a loss in power.
My question is then, do I need to get the engine remapped for the 95 ron or is there any need.
Also if I was to put in octane booster, what it the best one to bring 95 ron up to super unleaded levels

Thanks for any advice

I've been using E5 from Maxol because I know the Ethanol runs cooler and is more resistant to knock, but I was unaware that it is 99 ron. Is this true? Because if so, at ordinary unleaded price it is a bargain.

My car is also a Mitsubishi, but is GDI, not performance tuned. Unfortunately it is Japanese market and the CR is 11:1 so it needs the best fuel to be right.

I've tried a lot of boosters down the years. I've had a variety of cars, twin turbo Legacys, Mitsi Mivecs, all needing good fuel. The mapping detects poor fuel and retards the ignition, so you get inefficient low power running. Really good fuel makes a lot of horses wake up in Japanese imports.

Up to recently I used Shell V power plus Nitrox boost. That was a good combination. I figure it was at least 98, and went very well.

By accident I found a better one. I was avoiding buying Bardahl, because the tin stated that it increased octane, but neglected to say by how many points, so I figured it was a scam. Because Nitrox was out of stock, I tried a few tins. It is by far the best response I have got from anything up to now. :eek:

At present I am using a tin of Bardahl per tankful, a tank is around 50 litres. I use this mixed in Maxol E5. The car is driving so smooth it is like new. It costs me nothing to use the booster because it increases the range of a tankful. Each tank now gives me 50 to 100 more kilometres than it used with ordinary unleaded. Tonight I filled up at 595 kilometres which I am more than happy with.

You could do worse than try this stuff out for a tank or two. I get it in CPL Maynooth.

Steve

2manyturbos wrote: »

but I was unaware that it is 99 ron. Is this true?

My car is also a Mitsubishi, but is GDI, not performance tuned. Unfortunately it is Japanese market and the CR is 11:1 so it needs the best fuel to be right.

Yes it's true 99RON - its all on the maxol website.

I've an FTO mivec and she loves E5 - like cream to a kitty.

The JDM cars are all mapped up to 100RON so you can't really go wrong with it, wouldn't have thought mixing in a booster would give you much more.

MSporty

Just went and got some of that Bardahl stuff, my car is best run on 98 Octane fuel so I will see if it makes any difference to performance and economy.

blackbox

s14driftking wrote: »

not completly true it will knock get a hard driving as im not getting as much air in as needed due to drifting ie can get a full blast of air n through the front mount;)

The tendency to knock is greatest if the engine is running lean. If you are getting less air due to drifting it will run rich, so this is not the cause of your knocking.

2manyturbos

stevec wrote: »

Yes it's true 99RON - its all on the maxol website.

I've an FTO mivec and she loves E5 - like cream to a kitty.

The JDM cars are all mapped up to 100RON so you can't really go wrong with it, wouldn't have thought mixing in a booster would give you much more.

I was unaware the Maxol E5 is as high as 99, I thought maybe 97. However, I have run using Vpower on it's own and also run using E5 on it's own. It runs OK on either, but adding the Bardahl makes it run really smooth, good throttle pickup, and like I mentioned 50 to 100 kms better per tank.

I interpret this as probable total absence of knock [ yes, my engine is designed lean burn for economy, so will knock and retard if fuel is sub-optimal] with subsequent absence of retardation by the fuel map. This opinion is supported by the markedly better economy I'm getting.

You might be right that the use of the booster on top of E5 is overkill, but it feels much better and is delivering the economy, so I have to presume it is making good use of the extra points the Bardahl booster gives [whatever number that is :rolleyes:] Is it possible maybe that E5 is stated to be 99, but in practice is delivering 97 or 98 most of the time??

This may sound paranoid, but I doubt very much if the NSAI is checking that they are actually achieving 99, particularly as they are not pricing it as premium unleaded. I will still continue to use it full time, even if I am suspicious if it is really measures 99 RON.