Is it safe to run octane boosters with my 2 litre 150HP merc? Its a carb motor. The shop sells two types....a normal one and a racing one. Can i go for the racing one? Will i have to adjust timing? What benefits will i see? More knots?
A 2 liter 150 HP merc does not need octane booster and you will not help the motor in much of any way by by using it. If you have milled the heads for substantially increased compression it may help but most commercially available octane boosters sold in this country do almost nothing and some do absolutely nothing besides make you feel good. A gallon of straight hardware store toluene in 10 gallons of premium gas will boost your octane from 92 to 93.5 or so at the cost of $14 a gallon.
Adding any octane booster ( or using high octane fuel ) to a motor that doesnt NEED higher octane because it has high compression or substantially increased timing and high compression is a waste of money.
