Octane Booster is Not Snake Oil!

[Zman]

I have to speak up. I am a lucky owner of a DRM 385 that has 12:1 compression with cams. I can only buy 91 octane. My other cars will run on 91 but this one wont even turn it’s dash lights on for 91. VP Octanium Unleaded has proven to be my saving grace. Two cans to a tank of fuel and the car idles perfectly, runs strong, and makes every other car I have stay on the porch. I have experimented with most other octane boosters but found this concoction worth every penny and hands down exceeds all others for performance. This is my cars preferred beverage.

I wouldn’t change a thing about this car’s tune to accommodate the inconvenience of having to run such high octane. $45 octane booster plus $30 for 91 octane is 260 miles of pure bliss!

Just my honest opinion and close to 5000 miles last year to prove it.

[Vette Guy]

Seems as the East Coast has plenty of 93 Octane, and in Texas we have 100 Octane readily available at the pump (including ethanol free 90). Things get tough when I travel (race) in California.... I bring lots of Torco with me. Fortunately, I reduced the LT1 from 13.5:1 to 10.6:1 and no longer have to run VP C12 - which was $11 a gallon on the East coast, likely $15 in CA.

Would love to know more about your DRM-600!

[Hib Halverson]

Octane booster threads are like oil threads...they can get pretty partisan.

I've spent a lot of time testing boosters–at least three separate instances–and found that, in fact, some of them work fairly well at boosting the octane of premium unleaded pump gas a modest amount.

The thing to remember about the pour-in boosters which actually work is that there are some downsides to them.

First, any pour-in booster capable of a practical increase in octane has "methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl" or MMT as the active ingredient. That additive was developed by the Ethyl Corporation after tetraethyl lead (TEL) was outlawed back in the day. Today MMT is produced by Afton Chemical a subsidiary of the NewMarket Corporation which also owns the Ethyl Corporation.

Secondly, all octane boosters are more effective with lower octane fuels than they are which higher octane fuels. When you see some of the amazing claims some octane booster suppliers make like "Will raise octane five (six, seven or eight) numbers", invariably, that data comes from mixing the booster with regular unleaded gas which will is 85-87-octane rather than premium unleaded gas which is 91-93 octane and sometime 94-oct.

Thirdly, some octane booster vendors will claim their product increases octane a certain number of "points". Few consumers understand the difference between octane "points" and octane "numbers" and that difference is a factor of ten, ie: an octane "point" is a tenth of an octane number. There are some boosters which claim they can raise octane x points. When you read that, remember that's tenths of an octane which means they are of little use.

Fourth, when MMT is combusted it leaves behind hard metallic deposits on combustion chamber walls, piston tops, valve heads and spark plugs, thus, in that respect, it's no different than TEL and may be somewhat worse. That means that long term use of MMT boosters may cause plug fouling and other problems typical of hard metallic deposits on engine parts exposed to combustion.

Fifth, byproducts of MMT combustion degrades catalytic converters. The degree and the speed of the degradation will depend on how much MMT is in the fuel mix. Eventually, the cat will no longer effectively catalyze the exhaust and will become restricted.

Sixth, in some cases–like right now with gasoline prices tanking–the cost of regular use of MMT in concentrations high enough to raise octane to the appropriate level (which depends on the engine configuration and the calibration) are more expensive than mixes of premium unleaded pump gas and 100-oct unleaded racing gas.

While I have tested several, I never use an MMT octane booster long-term because of the above. As to what brands I have tested and found them to work. One is Driven Racing Oil "Defender + Booster" and the other was the now-discontinued NOS "Racing Formula".

Lastly, if you're going to insist on using an MMT booster on a regular basis, I'd do some testing using a scan tester which can save "snapshot" data. You need to set up the scanner to read knock retard then make some test runs with just gasoline and record KR. Then switch to your chosen concentration of octane booster and run the test again. Use only enough booster to counteract knock retard. In fact, when I did my first test of the NOS octane booster back in the late-90s, I used Barney, the '95 I used to own and that's how I figured the proportion to use. That said, after the testing was complete, I never used an MMT booster again in Barney because when I removed all the plugs and pulled the cats for inspection, I could see the orange deposits typical of combusted MMT.

Other than those tests, when I need to raise the octane of the gas I run on my Corvettes, I use Rockett Brand 100 Unleaded racing fuel.. Usually, it takes a mix of 1:3 or 1:2 of Rockett Brand and pump gas to get to where I am either KR-free or the KR is way low. The only exception to that is my '19 ZR1 which required a 1:1 mix to get rid of the 2G LT5s rampant KR.

If you want to learn more about gasoline for higher compression engines in Corvettes, a number of years ago I wrote a tech. article on octane boosters and racing gas for a couple of different magazines. Later I did a revised version for the Corvette Action Center. Admittedly at this point in time, there are parts of that story which are a bit dated, but the majority of the information still holds true.

[lfalzarano]

Nice write up!


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[Zman]

Here is the spec sheet that came with my DRM 600.

The car also has the following:
No Cats
4:09 gears
Slotted Rotors with reinforced calipers
High Capacity radiator and modified shroud
Rebuilt by DRM in 2009 at 61,500 miles
69,435 miles after the drive today

I drive this car everyday if weather permits.

I do appreciate the advice as far as continued use of Octane Boosters.
I was actually surprised when I looked under the car today to see no Cadillac Converters on the car. No need to worry about plugging those.

The truth of it is 93 octane is a 90 mile drive away, Sunoco 260 GT is $62 per 5 gallons, or $594 for 55 gallons. 91 octane and octane booster is available blocks away from me. For $85 I’m on the road again.

I Drink, I “smoke”, and I drive too fast. I know all of it is bad for me.
But it sure is fun!

[mpiecyk]

Thank you Hib on your article regarding octane booster its greatly appreciated.

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by WI Z’s

Here is the spec sheet that came with my DRM 600.

The car also has the following:
No Cats
4:09 gears
Slotted Rotors with reinforced calipers
High Capacity radiator and modified shroud
Rebuilt by DRM in 2009 at 61,500 miles
69,435 miles after the drive today

I drive this car everyday if weather permits.

I do appreciate the advice as far as continued use of Octane Boosters.
I was actually surprised when I looked under the car today to see no Cadillac Converters on the car. No need to worry about plugging those.

The truth of it is 93 octane is a 90 mile drive away, Sunoco 260 GT is $62 per 5 gallons, or $594 for 55 gallons. 91 octane and octane booster is available blocks away from me. For $85 I’m on the road again.

I Drink, I “smoke”, and I drive too fast. I know all of it is bad for me.
But it sure is fun!

If the car doesn't have catalytic converters, the problem with MMT octane booster is not as expensive to address.

You're not going to need much of a boost except if you drive hard in hot weather. I'd use the Driven Racing Oil Defender + Booster because it's a formula with a modest amount of MMT. Use as directed. You can buy the stuff on-line form Driven or Summit Racing.

Check your level of KR as I suggested above.

[Vette Guy]

I recall quite a bit about this car.... originally, it never saw DRM. RAMP Chevrolet in NY removed the engine and sent it to DRM for the engine upgrade. They reinstalled it, and may have upgraded the brakes. Claudio wrote a big article about it in one of the old newsletters - I have that issue, but not certain if it is on the Registry website yet.

Are the reinforced calipers the DRM version of the J55s?


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[Zman]

Yes this car has had quite the storied background.
I can’t answer the question about the brakes. You are correct the brakes, slotted rotors, and reinforced calipers we installed by Ramp. The build receipt states only that detail.

The car was originally built in 1996 at 41,000 miles. The 3rd owner missed a shift and had to have the engine rebuilt at DRM at 61,000 miles. I purchased the car last spring with 65,000 miles. I have 4,500 miles already on this car and have never taken any long trips with it. Needless to say..............................It’s Addicting!

I attached the copy of the repair bill for the blown engine for those that were wondering. I also attached the cover pages to the issues that have write ups on the car.

I forgot to mention that it has “roll bars” in it behind the seats that really stiffen the car up too.

Besides being a highly athletic car, the prior owner made “EVERYTHING” perfect.

I would love to see what an aluminum flywheel would feel like in this car. I do agree that an aluminum flywheel makes a huge difference. I have a Henderson 368 that has an aluminum flywheel. Changes thing up to say the least.

[Hib Halverson]

Originally Posted by WI Z’s

(snip).
I was actually surprised when I looked under the car today to see no Cadillac Converters on the car. (snip)

I want some of those Cadillac Converters!

Like... I just bolt them on...right?

I want to turn my Chevy Impala into a CT6-V.