Fuel Mixture Is there any fuel boosters out there?

[Frankenstein]

Does anyone else think of that napalm in the morning quote when reading this thread, I do..

 

[CrazyDan]

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part3/
6.20 Can mothballs increase octane?

The legend of mothballs as an octane enhancer arose well before WWII when
naphthalene was used as the active ingredient. Today, the majority of
mothballs use para-dichlorobenzene in place of naphthalene, so choose
carefully if you wish to experiment . There have been some concerns about
the toxicity of para-dichlorobenzene, and naphthalene mothballs have again
become popular. In the 1920s, typical gasoline octane ratings were 40-60
[11], and during the 1930s and 40s, the ratings increased by approximately 20
units as alkyl leads and improved refining processes became widespread [12].

Naphthalene has a blending motor octane number of 90 [52], so the addition of
a significant amount of mothballs could increase the octane, and they were
soluble in gasoline. The amount usually required to appreciably increase the
octane also had some adverse effects. The most obvious was due to the high
melting point ( 80C ), when the fuel evaporated the naphthalene would
precipitate out, blocking jets and filters. With modern gasolines,
naphthalene is more likely to reduce the octane rating, and the amount
required for low octane fuels will also create operational and emissions
problems.

Sounds like with modern gas, mothballs are snake oil.

 

[Frankenstein]

Actually I stand corrected, he did make references, I failed to extort the entire view line.

 

[Frankenstein]

Automimographic/spider.bin <class: viewline autosort="pagecrawl 5"> hierarchical response frame 4_ data:receive page data bar_subclass
Digger framework value=1
Mode:classic responsetime float=1_5 poolcollect \

Runtimedata send.
Downstream t
For t in response.data
Var _this $ ( this) /

 

[Carl Walichnowski]

Automimographic/spider.bin <class: viewline autosort="pagecrawl 5"> hierarchical response frame 4_ data:receive page data bar_subclass
Digger framework value=1
Mode:classic responsetime float=1_5 poolcollect \

Runtimedata send.
Downstream t
For t in response.data
Var _this $ ( this) /

STOLE THE WORDS RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH!

 

[GreenMantis]

GreenMantis:
OK - You've got me hooked. As soon as the snow is gone, I'm going to try the mothballs, since I use bottled octane boost anyway. Funny thing though - I couldn't find any mothballs here that are Naphalene based. - - Had to order them on-line. - - On their way from Sri Lanka! They are 50gram pellets.
Should I try one pellet per 5 gallons?

Last time I checked, Walmart had them, but they have both kinds, from the same brand, in identical blue boxes, except for the fine print, right next to each other. Walgreens has them, too. I used to use one per gallon, but I read somewhere that it doesn't take that much.
This doesn't change the actual octane, this changes the apparent octane. The desirable trait of high octane is a slower burn, mothballs slow down the burn. I used to be fond of going out to the commuter airport, and buying 100 octane aviation fuel for my motorcycle (which got me the strangest look from the guy with the fuel truck, but he sold me the fuel) whenever I could, it ran a bunch better on that than it did on premium pump gas. Av gas is expensive, though, so I didn't really save on gas buying that stuff, actually, it worked out exactly the same, money wise. Premium pump gas with mothballs did exactly the same thing, as far as performance and mileage, this saved me lots of money. My guess is that it boosts the apparent octane to 100 or so, maybe a bit more.

 

[CrazyDan]

But napthalene is 90 octane... can't increase gas above 90 with it...

 

[Bill Carson]

So I run across all types of boosters when I go to the Auto Parts store, engine and/or gas/fuel boosters are a dime a dozen. Thing is when I ask if there’s any 2 Cycle boosters they always tell me there’s nothing out there made for 2 Cycle motors, is this true?? If there is anything I can add to my fuel/oil mixture to improve performance then what is it?? Thx

Just like Arty said, use regular gas. I also add 30 ml. of Gumout Octane Boost. Now for the radical. I know this sounds nuts, but if you cut a copy of the head gasket out of a Coke can and use it, you will increase low end power. I have a billet head on my engine though, so I don't have to worry about blowing the top off. These two things increased my low end power so much that I hardly have to pedal at all to get going, and my engine starts right up every time.

 

[Rick73]

Octane booster isn't a performance enhancer unless you pre-detonate from too high compression. Higher octane slows the burn time so less power vs lower octane fuel.

so 87 octane would be better than 93 octane?

 

[GreenMantis]

so 87 octane would be better than 93 octane?

No, not at all. They don't sell low octane fuel cheaper to save YOU any money, they do it because people will pay more for gas at the pump to get a lower price. The difference in actual fuel economy more than offsets that difference in price, and they know it. Haven't you ever wondered why your car doesn't get nearly the kind of mileage that they claimed that it would on the sticker it had on it when you bought it? The auto industry knows damn well that your fuel economy depends on the quality of the fuel you use, so they use 100 octane aviation fuel when they do their tests. Av gas has to be made to higher standards, and better consistency. But again, you don't have to spend $10 a bottle on fuel booster, it's just naptha, and mothballs will do the same thing. More octane = better mileage. But they don't give you any kind of real indication of that on either end. The price you see at the pump means nothing, and the mileage your car gets means nothing, until you do all the math yourself. Fuel economy donsn't measure dollars per gallon, or miles per gallon, it's about miles per dollar, and the only way to calculate that is to do it yourself. And I have, so now I believe.

Gasoline is only about 10% efficient as a motor fuel. That means that for every 10 btu's of energy created when you burn it in your engine, 9 go out the radiator for every one that pushes your car down the road. So it really only takes a 5% improvement to manifest as a 50% improvement in fuel economy. Even injecting a small amount of water into your intake will do the job, that water will use some of that heat to convert to steam, more pressure to push the piston, and less heat. The reason that is unpractical is that it will rust the inside of your engine in no time. But this was done quite a bit by the loosing side near the end of the war, when they had a huge shortage of fuel, and could afford to replace the engine after every flight, that is, if they came back at all, which they usually didn't. Mothballs will give you about 5%, which always translated to a 50% improvement in fuel economy EVERY time I have tested it, or had anyone else do so to convince them. Your results will be a bit less if there is ethanol in your fuel, though. This only applies to the gasoline content.