In another thread TZABOY mentioned Octane boost. When I've spoken to other people I've gotten mixed opinions about it. Theres the obvious pro: more octane = more power, better efficiency etc. On the other hand i've heard comments about octane boost possibly damaging your engine.

If it is safe to use, is there a particular brand to get?

I wouldn't bother. 3rd gens dont have a knock sensor, so unless you've had your car specially tuned for 98+ its not going to make any difference. As for engine wear, i think they put solvents and stuff in it to clean injectors, engine etc which may be slightly harsh on seals, rings etc.

edit: although ralliarts MAY be factory tuned for 98 i'm not sure.

edit: although ralliarts MAY be factory tuned for 98 i'm not sure.[/QUOTE]



i dont think ralliarts are tune for 98 they're just normal as any magna's

No, Ralliarts are not tuned for 98 octane. That was one of the 'OH MY GOD ITS WICKED' features they flogged when they release it! I run Prem98+ in mine and have only suffered increased acceleration and more wheelspin, so the choice is yours!

Higher RON doesn't mean more power. It's a measure of it's ability to offset the point of detonation. It's needed for higher compression cars, cars with increased timing and probably most supercharged cars with higher amounts of boost.

This means that when tuning you can increase the amount of power because you can push it harder with the fuel. 3rd gens don't have knock sensors so can't retard timing. I can't remember if the 2nd gens retard or advance timing depending on the fuel and the knock sensors.

Also, my car was dynoed with a full tank of Optimax, (RON98), and recorded 119kW on a cold, dry day. On a hot, humid day it recorded 118kW with BP ULP. So yeah, high RON fuels give you more power. :bowrofl:

any power gains had by higher octane fuels are luck. if u have your car tuned for higher octane fuels then u will get a bit more power. an american street machine did a full test on fuels and octane boosts and found the only one to provide a power gain was a race fuel additive, which was more of a higher alcohol fuel then an octane boost.

methanol?

any power gains had by higher octane fuels are luck. if u have your car tuned for higher octane fuels then u will get a bit more power. an american street machine did a full test on fuels and octane boosts and found the only one to provide a power gain was a race fuel additive, which was more of a higher alcohol fuel then an octane boost.


intresting ... ZOOM magazine did a Octane Boost and did find some gains in using some brands of OB. some up to 5kw i think..... but yer, unless tuned no real point....

ill try find that article and scan er in :)

BOoya

intresting ... ZOOM magazine did a Octane Boost and did find some gains in using some brands of OB. some up to 5kw i think..... but yer, unless tuned no real point....
Dude, that's dyno error. Probably only means a 1-2kW variance due to the nature of engines and dynos.

they actually advanced the timing to see how much they could extract.

still looking for the article

Well, there you go. Neat gain maybe. I just know that on our dyno day we typically saw 3 - 6 HP difference between runs that were done withing the same minute. My last runs were almost identical.

my last dyno day i got a difference of just under 1hp just between my 1st and 2nd run, and it was just wind it up, slow down, wind it back up again. it went from about 112hp to 112.8hp. (in my other car, a 2000 pulsar sss with exhaust and extractors, but with a stuffed air flow meter. just don't have $1300 for a new one and i don't drive it much. good for wasting commodores and lancer tuffs though, mind u so is my magna)

I thought that the only reason you would use 98 is if you have a high compression gasket or something to reduce knocking :confused:

Is 98 cleaner than lower ULP. That's the only reason I ever put it in. That & I thought it reduced detonation in turboed cars etc.

I'm tuning mine for normal ULP.

I've never noticed any differenc but then I haven't put it on a dyno either.

ive been saying this for ages, unless the car is tuned for it, dont bother.. its the same with ulp and pulp.... people still do it tho :doubt:

The other reason for using a higher octane fuel is if you are getting detonation with lower octane.. I know it's been a problem for some of the Holden Gen 3 motors - I've seen a few road tests that comment on hearing pinging under load with ULP.

Keep in mind that even if an octane booster will actually increase the octane of the fuel it won't give you the claimed cleaning/purity benefits of the real high octane fuel.

A friend of mine who used to own a modified STi that was tuned for PULP used to use octane booster when he was in regional areas of the NT where they didn't have PULP on tap.. it probably made the difference between a busted engine and not. He had a bunch of guages in the car that monitored the knock sensor but never had any real problems running ULP + octane booster in that regard.

Octane boost didnt do a thing for my ralliart, so im in no rush to go out and get more

Octane boost didnt do a thing for my ralliart, so im in no rush to go out and get more
perhaps because its a stock motor/ecu and has been designed to run normal fuel. nissans (rb's and some others like sr's) have two maps in their ecus allowing high and low octain rating. this is probably why there is such misconseption about the whole thing. cos ol mates nissan felt way faster on higher octain fuels and his mate tells a mate, all the while petrol shops are laughing at them :doubt:

perhaps because its a stock motor/ecu and has been designed to run normal fuel.
That's right, it is.


nissans (rb's and some others like sr's) have two maps in their ecus allowing high and low octain rating. this is probably why there is such misconseption about the whole thing. cos ol mates nissan felt way faster on higher octain fuels and his mate tells a mate, all the while petrol shops are laughing at them :doubt:
Quite likely. Do they have knock sensors too? The 2nd gens have them and I believe the manuals state two power figures depending on the fuel used.

98 RON + Octane boost = 100+RON???

Just wondering if this would work.

How to make your own octane booster (http://www.team.net/sol/tech/octane_b.html)

perhaps because its a stock motor/ecu and has been designed to run normal fuel. nissans (rb's and some others like sr's) have two maps in their ecus allowing high and low octain rating. this is probably why there is such misconseption about the whole thing. cos ol mates nissan felt way faster on higher octain fuels and his mate tells a mate, all the while petrol shops are laughing at them :doubt:


Saabs, el onwards ford falcons, some nissans run knock sensors. The Saabs entire system is based on the knock sensor, the better the fuel you use the better you go, more boost, more timing and you can get serious increases from fuel. The rb series nissans run two knock sensors, not sure what for, although I assume it's just for more sensitivity but they definately gain power from better fuel, not to the extent of a saab as it's just a timing adjustment rather than boost and timing. The el falcons are the most limited setup but they do adjust to fuel, in 10 degree timing increments which is over the top :P so if one day you get beaten by a falcon and the next day you beat one, the second probably had a bad batch of fuel.

So if you want to get some advantage out of fuel in a magna your going to need to get some higher compression pistons or get an aftermarket/piggyback ecu and advance your timing some and if you got the money I'd recommend it, the more advanced an engine is the more power it produces and the more efficient it is, until it pings :P

Matthius

hasnt tzaboy got a unichip meaning it could be tuned for it?
please correct me if i am wrong :D

hasnt tzaboy got a unichip meaning it could be tuned for it?
please correct me if i am wrong :D

You are right.

It's common for the guys with e-manage or unichips to tune for 95 RON (PULP) or 98 RON fuel to get that extra few kW you just can't from regular 92 RON unleaded.

hasnt tzaboy got a unichip meaning it could be tuned for it?
please correct me if i am wrong :D
yeah my unichip is tuned to run 98 octane to get the last few donkeys out of the stable to haul the cart. But even still, with octane boost it claims 5-7 points increase in octane which takes fuel to 103-105 RON. Im not tuning my car to run that, octane boost is too expensive to add every fuel tank.

I understand what yer sayin tzaboy but technically(not practabilty) your car could still be tuned for more ponies.Already an impressive time could maybe be shaved a bit more.. :D

believe me, thats the plan
i am demanding high 13's

But even still, with octane boost it claims 5-7 points increase in octane which takes fuel to 103-105 RON

when octane boosts say they increase the octane by 5-7 points, that means 0.5-0.7 of an octane. so it would only take it from 98 to 98.5-98.7.

intresting ... ZOOM magazine did a Octane Boost and did find some gains in using some brands of OB. some up to 5kw i think..... but yer, unless tuned no real point....

ill try find that article and scan er in :)

BOoya


i know that article ... just happends to be a few pages away from a certain 4 page spread :P