Technical Fuel School. High Octane Alternatives

What options are out there as far as high octane fuels? There's the obvious choice of CAM2, but what else is available, especially if the CAM2 isn't readily accessible in some areas? Thanks, please school me.

 

My local NAPA has some similar to cam2 in 5 gallon pails..

 

Do you remember how much they were and perhaps the octane level?

 

Add 30% Toluene to the fuel [that'll do it]
Just don't use rubber fuel lines

During the turbo era of F1 the Toluene content was over 80%

Over here in NZ Toluene [Toluol ] is cheaper than gasoline because there is no Road User Tax on it.

 

VP Race Fuel is likely the best, they have dozens of different blends depending on your use. The nice thing about VP is that the chemicals that make it up are solvents of each other, that means they won't seperate like Cam 2. You let Cam2 sit over the winter and it'll seperate, if you pour it into a clear jug it'll look like a lava lamp with globs of stuff floating around.
One thing about race fuel, it contains lead and if you store it keep it out of the sunlight, if you have one of those clearish jugs and let it sit out in the sun the ultraviolet light will react with the lead and contaminate the fuel. Safer to get a colored jug.
Different people rate octane different, Cam2 rates it like they do on the pump where they average the theoretical and actual - there is a sticker on every gas pump. VP rates it actual, so if you compare Cam2 Blue at 116 Octane and VP C16 at 116 octane you are not comparing apples to apples, the Cam2 is a few points less - it is still very good fuel, but lesser octane than what they claim.
You can mix race fuel with regular gas and raise your octane, just don't run it thru a catalitic converter, the lead will ruin one in minutes.
If you want just more octane add some mothballs to your gas, I forget the active chemicle (touline or some such stuff) and it'll raise your octane by a good bit. Just about 3 per tank, although I have no experience with this modern gas.
And that is about all I know about that.

 

The best Fuel you can use is....

NITRO !!!!! Hmhmhm... I can smell it now ...eyes watering.... It must be heaven !



Gotta love nitro in the morning ! Better than Starbucks any day !

Seriously though if there is any kind of race track near you .. Be it circle strip etc.. There is fuel available. No one at the track that makes serious power mixes " octane booster " ..,

 

We used to use Moroso additive, I think the can was purple or blue. I am pretty sure you can still get in in gallon cans and it is actually a real octane booster. Not a good idea to over use it, too much will turn your plugs orange.

 

Budds Creek is close to you? Racing fuels sold in the pits.

 

Yeah, Budd's Creek is about an hour away. Might check that out. I was just down your way (Dogue) a couple of weeks ago bringing my motorcycle back from Richmond where a friend had been doing some work to it.

 

Every Friday night at our local dirt track if I am need of race gas they will let me in the pits for free to buy it and then I can hang out watch the races ... The vendors that sell fuel appreciate the extra business too !

They will order if they do not have what I want too and then bring it to the next race.

 

One time I needed a aluminum radiator for a drag car at the last second for a Saturday race and went to the dirt track on Friday night ... The vendor had a dirt track one that I made work !

Local race tracks are great for stuff like that !

 

Yes, I like to say I'm in the suburbs of Dogue. Also Roundhill Market , about two miles east of 301 on Rt 3 carries non-ethanol fuel as well as racing gas at Peerless Ent. in the rear of the building...ask for one of the Sawdy brothers.

 

Thanks.

 

you can buy Rockett ( old union 76 race fuels ) VP , and Sunoco race fuels online and delivered in 5 gallon drums ( ups charges $20 hazmat fees) no more dangerous to ship than paint thinner , also they list there distributors online , around here I can get it at the track , at the gas station , and at several oil distributors , the distributors are ussually the cheapest as they buy it by the pallet and can legally store the large quantities , and one I know used to have a bulk tank for the 105 unleaded stuff . ( which we could get at the refinery that blended it ) I used to buy VP C14 in bulk ( 55 gallons ) for my SS car and after tapping off what I needed I always purged the drum with nitrogen to keep it fresh , and kept it in the corner of the garage out of the light , if you open the can either purge it or use it up quickly as it will go stale and make crystals from the additives . ( and do not use it in a lawnmower unless you want a new one ) it burns slow and melts them down but you have great torque!)

 

Don, you might be able to get some at a gas station near Capital Race track. Some stations near drag strips sell it a little cheaper to bring in the racers headed to the track.

 

My local sunoco station has high octane racing fuel in two or three different grades in 5 gallon cans. Stuff ain't cheap though.

 

I use the concentrate called race gas in my Harley. It works great. It will mix up to 106. I don't know how economical it would be for a car, but works great in my bike.

 

Water or methanol injection.
Stops detonation and detonation is why you need high octane.

 

We have better pump gas (94 no alcohol) , but what I usually do on something with over around 205 cranking is drive out to the track on 94, top the tank with 110 at the track from the race gas distributor, and then fill it with 94 mid week.

 

I have a aircraft tail number from a helicopter I junked out to assemble a air boat. So I add airplane fuel . A C fuel is blended for high altitude so I mix 4o percent a c fuel to non ethonol pump gas. Tolune is 120 octane and as stated by kerry is a very good booster. . it is one point different on specific gravity so it will mix well with pump gas.Stay away from anything that is packaged in plastic

 

..........Thanks, Phil. I just want to mix something with lead and a little more octane with premium pump gas for the Kawasaki. Was always told back in the 70's when I bought it to use only leaded fuel which obviously isn't available at most corner stations anymore...................Don.

 

And not a word about E-85, interesting...

 

Sunoco GT is 100 octane and is sold at select Sunoco stations. It is sold right from a purple pump; you can dispense into your car. The Sunoco stations that have a GT pump usually also carry higher octane (110 and 115) in a barrel and can dispense into your container but not into a car. Go to the Sunoco web site to find the closest dealer to you. Last time I checked (which was a long time ago) the closest Sunoco dealer to Washington DC that carried it was on the North side of Baltimore, just inside the Baltimore Beltway.

 

LOL I need high octane because I am an addict and the lower grade stuff just don't get me off any more.

Water and alcohol injection has been around longer than most of us have. it was originally done on War Birds or so is my understanding of it. What a lot of people don't understand is that it does not have to run full time, you only pre-detonate under load, when under load your vacuum drops, you can hook it up on a vac sensitive switch and only have to come on when you are under load.

In my world E-85 does not exist, literally.

 

Not exactly but I got a low $50's figure in my head..

 

I guess because E-85 isn't readily available in all areas.
I purposely bought a flex fuel vehicle with anticipation of E 85 gaining some traction here. The price point spread in this area is fixed so it's a bunch cheaper per mile to run straight gas. Driving across town to get it at one of only a few stations don't make any sense so my mind just ignores E-85.

But that's a great alternative if the fuel system is set up for it and you can get it wherever you may find yourself needing fuel.

 

LOL not to make this an E-85 discussion as I personally think that E-85 was a joke a cruel cruel joke. never the less last year the wife and I went on a journey to Washington pulling her new camper behind her aging Silverado (one tough assed truck by the way). On our journey across Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington we stopped at one station with E-85, I think it was in Nebraska if memory serves. Of course like race gas it is a good alternative if you plan to just drive around your neighborhood, if you have E-85 in your neighborhood that is.

If you have an engine that is high enough compression to need higher octane fuel than you can find at the pump and it is not a dedicated race car you have to find an alternative to running just pump gas. I am faced with the same dilemma, I have two engines that I can use in my A. One will run on pump gas and the others is way cool but @ 12:1+ I have to decide which engine to run. The pump gas engine is winning at this point just because I may want to drive more then 50 miles from home.

 

The percentages don't change as much as going straight meth. Yes, a "dedicated" system that's designed to fend off the perils of ethanol would keep our heads on the pillow all night. Mileage? Like admitting to shopping occasionally at Wally World, a measurable number of "us" consider it when there's long road trips and such, or where we can pinch an extra $25-100 off the expense of driving our cars on thos trips. Even with limited access, I'm seriously considering the use in my next project, a 65 GTO with a 66 short block and 65 top end, factory compression ratio, and of course it's running trips and also has A/C. I have a feeling that the true potential of the car can be realized with a dedicated system. I don't want to hijack our brother's topic so I'll cut this short, but I intended some 'A-B-A' testing to show the differences in cost, power (might have to use the local drag strip), what additives I'll need in order to maintain useful driving should I be far from home and no E-85 within reach. My research seems very promising, and not for mileage nearly as much as the performance we remember, even if those memories are slightly exaggerated.

Race fuel? Within 10 to 20 miles I have 3 stations selling "Turbo Blue" at side service pumps. 110 octane by the "R+M/2" formula, not as dirty as many folks cry about (I take those comments like calling an early Sportster a girl's bike), and in fact with a drop of 2 deg in my old race motor it liked it just fine with 14:1 pistons and iron Merlin heads. Yes, it liked C14 better and went an average of 1 MPH faster, E.T. didn't change enough to warrant regular use. At the pump our Turbo Blue was priced at $7.59 to $7.99. At $2.099 E-85 should be a pleasant alternative. Just sayin, and I'd be very careful using Toluene as a boost.

 

Actually the Govt figured the price per mile with E-85 over regular unleaded when they were altering the price to be competitive and the cost per mile worked up to about 1/3 more per mile on a stick flex fuel car with E-85. it was never an issue here, the station that they said had E-85 has been boarded up for 20 years that I know of and even if it was not it was in a part of town where the average person would not own a car that would run on it, and someone who owned that type of car would not go.

That said, there are a multitude of alternatives or there is race gas. I personally think that with a little research one could actually go cross country on race gas it is more readily available than E-85.

Oh I meant to say early sportsters aren't chick bikes they are dirt bikes.

 

Thanks for the input everyone.