Excellent Article in Hemmings "Rods & Performance" on Gasoline.
03-30-2002, 08:42 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Excellent Article in Hemmings "Rods & Performance" on Gasoline.
There is an excellent article on gasoline and octane boosters in the MAR 2002 issue of Hemmings "Rods & Performance" titled "Fuel Facts" by Hib Halverson(p24).
The article is fairly long here are some Highlights:
Performance testing was done on a dyno with a ZR1 :yesnod: .
Gasoline blended for California generates more power and detonates less than all other states (huh, I wouldn't have guessed that :rolleyes: ).
The only Octane booster additive that made any difference is "NOS Racing Formula", at recommended strength it only raised octane 2.2 points. At higher strength it actually reduced the power generated.
Toluene and Zylene both increase octane, but also cause a leaner burn. In addition they reduced performance. And the price per gallon ended up higher than racing gas.
Blending with AvGas is risky as everything except LL100 uses substantial amounts of lead to increase octane. Even LL100 (low lead) contains a bit that just might be enough to poison catalytic converters. And actually illegal to run on street cars.
Blending with Racing Gas: This was determine to be the best and most economical. Blending a mix of 1:1 pump gas (92 octane) to 110 Octane no-lead RG would allow an effective octane of about 99.5.
All in all, a very good article
The article is fairly long here are some Highlights:
Performance testing was done on a dyno with a ZR1 :yesnod: .
Gasoline blended for California generates more power and detonates less than all other states (huh, I wouldn't have guessed that :rolleyes: ).
The only Octane booster additive that made any difference is "NOS Racing Formula", at recommended strength it only raised octane 2.2 points. At higher strength it actually reduced the power generated.
Toluene and Zylene both increase octane, but also cause a leaner burn. In addition they reduced performance. And the price per gallon ended up higher than racing gas.
Blending with AvGas is risky as everything except LL100 uses substantial amounts of lead to increase octane. Even LL100 (low lead) contains a bit that just might be enough to poison catalytic converters. And actually illegal to run on street cars.
Blending with Racing Gas: This was determine to be the best and most economical. Blending a mix of 1:1 pump gas (92 octane) to 110 Octane no-lead RG would allow an effective octane of about 99.5.
All in all, a very good article
04-09-2002, 04:59 PM
#3
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Re: Excellent Article in Hemmings "Rods & Performance" on Gasoline. (T1Kilr)
100LL Avgas contains MORE lead than the old leaded fuel of the past.
This stuff fouls the plugs like rip on the bottom cylinders of the very engines it was designed to run in.
Airplane engines are operated in much more "favorable" conditions than your car engine. (much less "speed cycling", gentler temperature variations [if flown "right"]
TWO plugs to the cylinder and fairly LOW RPM.
100 "LOW LEAD" is a joke! At least it DOES still SMELL like gasoline.
Jim Alford
Commercial Multi-Engine/Instrument Pilot. . . among other things
This stuff fouls the plugs like rip on the bottom cylinders of the very engines it was designed to run in.
Airplane engines are operated in much more "favorable" conditions than your car engine. (much less "speed cycling", gentler temperature variations [if flown "right"]
TWO plugs to the cylinder and fairly LOW RPM.
100 "LOW LEAD" is a joke! At least it DOES still SMELL like gasoline.
Jim Alford
Commercial Multi-Engine/Instrument Pilot. . . among other things
04-09-2002, 06:15 PM
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Re: Excellent Article in Hemmings "Rods & Performance" on Gasoline. (John Row)
john.....thanks for the info......I don't have access to the article but, the part about lead poisoning the cat has my attention, I just found a web site that sells a lead additive that 6 oz added to 15 gal will rise the octane from 91 to 93. what will lead do to the catalytic converter? thanks :crazy:
