Toluene to boost octane and fuel performance

[Ducman]

I really liked this article and think I may have learned something. I stold this info that a guy posted in a Ford Lightning forum that he stold from somewhere else. I'm thinking about trying adding some to my fuel for some added protection against detonation in the winter and an overall performance boost in my lightning and possibly my banshee. Has anyone ever tried mixing fuel with toluene?

 

To summarize the inportant points in the article, Toluene is an aromatic hydrocarbon which is virtually the same chemical composition as gas but has a slightly higher energy yield per volume. Your every day pump gas may already contain toluene. If you buy octane booster in a bottle, its main active ingrediant is toluene probably over 95% and its being sold at about 1000% markup over what you could buy the same shit at a paint store. You may be able to buy it more readily than race fuel in a small town. It has 114 octane rating and is cheaper per gallon than 114 octane race fuel but contains no lead. Probably a bit more expensive than 110 though.

 

One thing I can say for sure is that in a vehicle that has a nock sensor which is almost all these days, if the motor senses nock it does retard the timing and/or increase fuel to lower air to fuel ratio which supresses detonation but also decreases power. It's like jeting the banshee pig rich. I definitly can say for sure and have experienced that in most new pickups especially ford and dodge V-8's they ping like a bitch with 87 octane under a load at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and the pinging goes away with 91 octane. On a naturally aspirated motor this probably makes a fair amount of difference but when your at WOT with say 10 psi of boost on my Lightning (14 when I add a pully) or 17 psi on my eclipse it makes a huge difference. I also though some people that mix race fuel 50/50 with pump fuel might benefit in performance and by saving a couple $ by mixing their fuel with toluene rather than race fuel.

 

Any thoughts, experience, or opinions?

 

The article:

 

"Rocket fuel" for cars.

Toulene

R+M/2...114

Cost...$2.50/gal (fuel mixed with toluene)

Mixtures with 92 Octane Premium

10%...94.2 Octane

20%...96.4 Octane

30%...98.6 Octane

Notes: Common ingredient in Octane Boosters in a can. 12-16 ounces will only raise octane 2-3 *points*, I.e. from 92 to 92.3. Often costs $3-5 for 12-16 ounces, when it can be purchased for less than $3/gal at chemical supply houses or paint stores.

 

 

Rocket fuel FAQ

Copyright

[01bansheeke]

I do not like toluene. I prefer xylene. I have had better luck with it. I have not used it in my banshee but i have used it in more than one forced induction vehicle. At first when i bought it, i would just buy the gallons. That got expensive. So, i then went to sherwan williams and got 5 gallons for 24 dollars. about a 1/3 of the cost of buying gallons. Then i found out my buddies dad used it for his furniture business and i got a whole 55 gallon drum of it. It came out to about like 1.36 a gallon compared to 10 bucks a gallon at the hardware store. Saved hella money. ALWAYS ALWAYS mix it with marvels mystery oil. If you don't, you will dry up all of the seals etc, you don't want that to happen. A capful per gallon is plenty. I wouldn't reccomend over a 3:1 mix. 3 gallons of gas to 1 gallon of xylene. good luck!

[Ducman]

A couple examples I worked out using $2.05/gal for 91 octane gas and $5/gal for toluene

 

For a vehicle with a 20 gal tank mixing 2 gal toluene

{((18gal x 91 octane) + (2gal x 114 octane)) /20 } = 93.3 octane (10% toluene) $2.35 per galon

 

mixing 3 galons

{((17gal x 91 octane) + (3gal x 114 octane)) /20 } = 94.5 (15% toluene) $2.49 per galon

 

Mixing 5 galons

 

{((3gal x 91 octane) + (2gal x 114 octane)) /5 } = 100.2 (40% toluene) $3.23 per galon

 

The more toluene you mix the more inefficient the ratio becomes and it is hard to get over 100 octane because if you mix 91 and 114 50/50 you still only get 103.5 octane. But if your only trying to get 100 octane it works pretty good. If you mix 110 race fuel with 91 you only get 100.5 octane at about $3.25 gal so if your already doing that you wont really save any $ but some people cant buy 110 where they live, but probably can get toluene. Also 110 race fuel is leaded so it wont work for a car with cats, toluene will.

[Ducman]

I do not like toluene.  I prefer xylene. I have had better luck with it. I have not used it in my banshee but i have used it in more than one forced induction vehicle.  At first when i bought it, i would just buy the gallons. That got expensive.  So, i then went to sherwan williams and got 5 gallons for 24 dollars. about a 1/3 of the cost of buying gallons.  Then i found out my buddies dad used it for his furniture business and i got a whole 55 gallon drum of it.  It came out to about like 1.36 a gallon compared to 10 bucks a gallon at the hardware store.  Saved hella money.  ALWAYS ALWAYS mix it with marvels mystery oil.  If you don't, you will dry up all of the seals etc, you don't want that to happen.  A capful per gallon is plenty. I wouldn't reccomend over a 3:1 mix.  3 gallons of gas to 1 gallon of xylene.  good luck!

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As far as the marvels mystry oil and not exceeding 3:1, you mean use those requirements for a 4 stroke motor not a 2 stroke right? And do you know what chemical difference there is between xylene and toluene. Are they both 114 octane? Also what do you mean when you say you had better luck with xylene, like you didn't blow as many motors or you just found it more readily available or cheaper. I'm curious because I'm serious about trying it in my Lightning especially when I install a crank pully on the supercharger belt to add 4psi of boost.

[01bansheeke]

i got better perfomance out of xylene. That and toluene wasn't as readily available. Toulene didn't seem to react as well as xylene, but i think chemically, they are very similiar. Check out turbobuick.com, i know there is some stuff on both somewhere on that site. I ran 20lbs of boost easy on the street with 92 octane(amoco) gas and xylene mixed 3:1. I am talking about a turbo buick. It is my understanding that any more of a mixture won't work. I could be wrong. keep researching, you will find the answers.