Octane Booster: What do you think?

[MAXXIE]

Anyone out there adding octane booster to their fuel? I'm running a 16' bowrider w/ 85 hp Force o/b. Everything runs fine & I was just reading up in a few threads about prop's & pitch, stainless steel vs alum. that kind of stuff, (I'm a fist year boater). One of the threads brought up the fact that the current fuel we buy is mixed with ethanol. I don't know that this make's any difference at all one way or the other, but got me thinking about octane booster. I use 94 octane fuel in everything I own, from my FJ Cruiser to my riding lawn mower. From time to time I'll add octane booster to the FJ & I can notice a difference & was wondering if it is acceptable to add this to the 50:1 2-stroke mix for the o/b. What do you think?

 

[mattb1974]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Octane booster isnt going to do anything for you UNLESS you have a high compression engine. The higher octane fuel is to prevent pre-detonation in high compression engines.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Trust me......outboards run best on the 87 octane and the Force really will not see any benefit. You might consider sea foam or the blue marine stabil (some say it off sets the ethanol) as a better additive for your money.

Now you can run the 92-94 octane stuff but I doubt the changes would be that obvious.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

In most applications high octane fuel is a waste of money, if the owners manual says you need to use it, or if the motors been modified for higher performance or compression would be the only reasons. Most O/Bs are designed to run on 87, anything more than that does nothing for you, wastes money and some say can do harm.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Stick with the recommended octane.
My 2 cents.

 

[JB]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Premium fuel (over 87 octane) offers no benefit to a 2 stroke outboard. On the other hand it contains additives that many believe are detrimental and create deposits.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

As others have stated, Ocatane won't do anything for power. It is only for preventing knocking on higher compression motors. Unless the manual specifies it, 87 would be fine.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

All that I would like to add is that E-10 gas (ethanol) is proven to lose octane rapidly...even within the time that you finally purchase it at the pump.

For that very reason, I use one grade over the manual's suggestion (89 instead of 87), and ALWAYS add Marine Sta-Bil. Marine Sta-Bil only takes 1 ounce per 10 gallons, and that is something that I can live with!

Happy boating!

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

oddly enough, my OMC 5.0 calls for 89 octane, so thats all i have ever put in it. I was tempted to buy some octane booster yesterday but decided against it. 89 makes her run smooth enough i figured. maybe try that and see if theres a difference.

 

[DJ]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

oddly enough, my OMC 5.0 calls for 89 octane, so thats all i have ever put in it. I was tempted to buy some octane booster yesterday but decided against it. 89 makes her run smooth enough i figured. maybe try that and see if theres a difference.

I/O four cycle is different story.

 

[tawood]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Octane boost raises octane, but unfortunately, only a tiny tiny amount. Read the fine print some time, and you will see you would have to had dozens of bottles of the stuff to get the octane to go up any appreciable amount.
And sorry to the original poster, but you only "think" you see a difference in the FJ while on high octane. Ask any engine tuner, and he will tell you that you can make the most power by running the LOWEST octane gas that your engine can run without detonation (modern timing shifting engines designed to run on high or low octane not included, of course).
As a pilot, I get a laugh out of the guys that come to the airport and buy the 100LL gas, thinking they are getting the REALLY HIGH octane stuff. What they don't realize is they are buying 87 octane (which is what av gas 100LL is), with lots of lead, and a poor vaporization formulation.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

I suspect that his fj is indeed a modern engine with a knock sensor and variable ignition timing so he may be right on that but VERY few boats have that tech and will run the best on whatever fuel is specified by the manufacturer... Oh and as far as octane booster..... it adds chemicals that are intended to make the fuel less volatile and thus more stable.... the point of high octane or booster is to make the fuel less likely to ignite so that the engine is able to compress it further without it detonating before the spark and to control the burn rate and allow for more ign timing advance.

There is more to this but this should help explain a bit

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

using higher than required octane not only wastes money, it gives you LESS power than lower!! yes, you heard correctly. To the OP. I suspect is is 99% psychological, but 94 octane in a car designed for 87 is a huge waste and probably cuts power nearly 10 percent.

higher octane has increased detonation resistance, but the flame front speed is also slightly slower. You need to increase timing to take advantage of it, and an engine designed to run on 87 won't have nearly the design limits to push the timing that far. Running 94 has the same effect as 87 with timing pulled back a couple degrees.

 

[tawood]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

My apologies....
I just got off the phone with my friend that has an FJ Cruiser, and Toyota specifies 91 octane right in the manual. Sooooo, you definitely WILL feel a difference using high octane with this vehicle.
But, if a car (or boat, or lawn tractor, etc) specifies 87 octane, and it doesn't knock with 87, going higher is a waste of money AND power.

 

[MAXXIE]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

OK-OK! I was just looking for feedback. If it won't do any good- than it won't do any good. I'm good with that. I did not want to spill in a can if it was a bad thing, I was only asking, not stating any type of fact. Just asking a question. Thanks for feedback. I'll scrap the idea.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Sorry Maxie, you asked he question, now you have to sit there and read lots of answers...or let the thread die.

 

[jrs_diesel]

Re: Octane Booster: What do you think?

Here's a good article on octane boosters:

http://volvospeed.com/Reviews/octane_boosters.html

And a good one on octane in general:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Octane-Boosters-and-the-Truth-Behind-Them&id=802568