Race-gas.com. Does anyone have any input on this race-gas octane booster I saw on a tv show a month or so ago? Is it legit? The claims are pretty amazing.

 

It's snake oil...there are no octane boosters that will raise the octane number more than 2 or 3 numbers. The octane booster on that website has MMT which the owner's manual specifically states will void the warranty due to the deposits left behind that damage the engine. If something sounds too good to be true, run the other way.

 

I talked to Clay Witt at TPiS about Race-Gas.They have performed dyno test using Race-Gas on high CR engines. He said it works. As a matter of fact the way I understand it TPiS did testing for Race-Gas during development of the product. I am planning on using it in my new engine built by TPiS. I have asked Clay to use it when he dyno test my engine after the build in a few weeks. I am going to TPiS in Minnesota for the dyno test.
He said he will test it with Race-Gas and then with Sunoco race gas.
TPiS sells the product and they will have a case for me when I pick-up my 12.5:1 CR engine in a few weeks.
Call TPiS and talk to Clay

 

I have since my last post had conversations with Race-Gas about the product and have also done more research on other octane booster.
It looks like most all of the other products that advertise to be octane boosters increase octane such a small amount that it is not worth the cost. Race-Gas is the only product that I have found that one can will increase the octane rate of 93 octane pump gas high enough for a 12.5:1 CR
I am thinking about becoming a reseller of the product because of the quality, cost and the fact that race fuel is hard to find in my area of upstate NY.

 

I am not familiar with Race-Gas, but you are definitely correct that most all octane boosters do not raise octane very much.

 

There is Torco too

 

I have recently also tried Boostane . It also seems to be a well tested octane booster and works great in my car. It takes less Boostane to increase the octane in comparison to Race-Gas. Boostane is less expensive .

 

Both are $29.99 unless you buy in bulk?

 

Yes Torco is a good product and does deliver on what they say, definitely not snake oil as others say

 

Boostane costs less because you use less.
7 oz per 5 gallon of 93 octane gives me 98 octane
It takes 16 oz of Race-Gas to get 98 octane.
I have two cases of both.

 

I am very interested in Octane Boosters. I worked at an oil company for a couple of summers, in their labs. We used to test this stuff just for fun.

$30!!! Wow!!!

Let me save You $30 per hit. Spend it on better stuff, at that price, there is a lot. Or send me $30. I will send you a white cube. You put it under your tongue, it will make you feel good and all your worries will go away. Works for me all the time! Does not work on children under 18, really freaks them! Do not take, if you have diabetes.

I would like to believe that $30 would really raise the octane of my gas. I keep on spending $20/gallon on C16, here.

Here are the clues:

1. No independent octane test.
2. Reports of dyno runs. Realize dynos are not precise instruments 5% to 10% error should be expected. There are so many variables.
3. Independent test would be to buy the stuff in the store, buy gas from a gas station, mix additive with 1/2 of the gas. Take sample of untreated and treated gas to a lab and run an octane test. Everything else is a trick.
4. I am surprised that they showed Torco throw a sediment. That could lead to a nasty suit due to engine damage. Most of these things are harmless i.e. have not effect neither positive or negative.
5. Disclose and apply for a patent on the formulation. This will make someone a few hundred million and still leave the ability to sell the premium brand of the magic formula.
6. Statements like 'we ran the car to 1% knock'. What does that mean? The motor knocked 1% of the time during the test? That should have destroyed the motor in 30 to 60 seconds....
7. Increasing Octane by xx POINTS. What does 'points' mean? Bonus points? In finance industry an 'point' is 1/100 of 1%. so increasing octane by 8 points means by 0.08. It needs to say 'increase octane by x number'. It cannot, because x would depend on where you start, 91 or 94 or C16. Cannot increase C16 by much with anything except more lead.

I have seen one octane booster in action. We were doing a new gas formulation. I wanted to see the Octane test (RON in that case). The tech wore rubber gloves that looked like about 1/2" thick. He took a dark colored bottle and a measured (1/4pint?) beaker of our new gas to the fume hood. Very carefully he measured a few drops from the bottle into the beaker. Closed the bottle. Carefully took the beaker with concentrated solution out and poured it into a 5 gallon drum/pale of gasoline. Closed and mixed it up a bit. Took off the gloves. Poured some of the gas from the pale to the test motor and ran the test. Tetra-ethyl-lead is very toxic, it gets absorbed through the skin, one little drop and you are dead, there is no cure and it is a slow process (2 or 3 days). A lot of organo-metallic compounds are very poisonous, because they start chain reactions in our bodies. MTBF is much safer, but still not that good.

The old 'snake oil' in Octane boosters, if it was not just light distillate (i.e. kerosene), was Toluene. 104 Octane if pure, was used in all F1 turbo cars, before they went to regulated fuel. Not bad stuff, not very toxic. Commonly sold as paint thinner in the hardware store. Use that, if you like, cheaper, cleans injectors and the fuel system (it is a good solvent). Just run the hardware stuff through a filter.

If anyone has a valid test for an octane booster where a quart is good for a tank of gas or a few gallons, I would be very interested.

Anton

P.S. My $30 white cube magic pill is cubed sugar, if You have not figured it out. I like sugar.

 

I looked at Torco. They have a good reputation in the oil business. I was surprised to see that they started selling 'snake oil'.

Unlike most snake oil companies, Torco has an MSDS on their site. It identified regular gas and naphta (common summer additive) +
Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl. MMT is the magic or active ingredient.

This is a known octane booster. It is widely used in Europe and Canada, but does not seem to be legal in the USA...

MSDS states concentration of .1 to 10%. It is not clear how much you are getting from Torco. I do not know what the effect is on Octane i.e. how much is required per gallon. I am sure that Torco price is 20 to 50x what you would pay for MTT from a supplier.

It least the Torco claim is plausible.

Anton

 

Most octane boosters claim increase in points.When they say it raises it 3 points they mean 93 octane becomes 93.3 octane.

Any octane booster that raises the octane an appreciable level would have to be added in gallons not ounces.And most of them can be bought at the local hardware store for much less.Toulene etc.
Mixed my own fuel when I wasn't able to buy c16 locally for my Grand National.

And unless you are using a supercharger,high compression Pistons etc they won't help you much if any.

 

+1

Anton


P.S. Race-Gas is MMt, as well, they just say it outright, together with B.S. about just gas and some oxygenated gas.

 

I used to mix 4 gallons of 93 with 1 gallon of xylene ( not box store xylene which isn't 100% xylene) + an ounce or so of marvel mystery oil for 98 octane. No I just buy 100 octane unleaded.

 

Let ask this question do you have 2 diff tunes for this car, one for the street with like 93 are what ever octane. Then a race tune for the car with the 98 are 100 plus octane for the car. Robert

 

Toluene and Xylene are similar. Xylene is less reactive and harmful to humans. Both are closely related to Benzene, so not so good. Both have an Octane rating of above 114. Toluene was used as the 'magic' fuel of the F1 turbo era. Both are much more expensive than gas.

Oil companies try to manage their profit and revenue. In the summer they accumulate butane and lighter crude fractions to blend them into gas in the winter. They cause vapor lock. They do the same with Naphta and heavier by-products. Octane is 104, blend in the summer and hope that you did not over do it leading to a class action suit for plugged and destroyed injectors.

Anton