Ray

I found this article on Toluene(C7H8).
http://home.kscable.com/ssutton/miata/engi...ne/toluene.html

It has an octane rating of 114, and cost $3/gallon if you buy it in 55 gallon drum or $6/gallon in a 5 gallon can from a chemical supply or paint store.

This seem like a cheap way to gain a little power and keep most of what we have.

Quick calculation tells me that [(91 Octane)(7 gallons)+(114 Octane)(1 gallon)]/(8 gallon)=93.875 Octane

Any comment on this, cause I am about to start calling paint shops to find this thing.

Kaptain Insano

Sounds pretty interesting. I have never heard of this before. I suggest you try to find someone that has done this before. Like the paper siad, toluene is a cacinogen and a very powerful solvent. Using it improperly could be very hazardous.

Kaptain Insano

marcucci

Something to keep in mind: too high of an octane rating will result in lower power. I'm not sure what that "magical number" is, but I would suspect it it somewhere in the vicinity of, or above, Japan's highest octane rating. Somewhere around 105? When the octane rating is too high, your burn is less efficient. I know from experience on my Prelude that NOS Octane Boost worked wonders, but honestly couldn't see a difference in the S2k.

My primary concern would be the O2 sensors and the cat, the 3 highest-priced pieces in the emissions system. This article trys to allay those fears, but any moron can put text on a web page.

My wife, a Chemist/Chem E., says she can't fault any of the logic or info in the article. She says it sounds legit. Might give it a try, though I haven't seen a need for higher octane.

Has anyone done a dyno run with regular/then race gas, or used an OBD2 analyzer to see if timing gets backed out on 92/93 but stays in with 100+?

Tanqueray

[QUOTE]Originally posted by marcucci
[B]Something to keep in mind: too high of an octane rating will result in lower power. I'm not sure what that "magical number" is, but I would suspect it it somewhere in the vicinity of, or above, Japan's highest octane rating.

2kturkey

Back in the '60s and '70s Caltex used to sell fuel in this country. It has subsequently pulled out of the market.

It differentiated itself from other brands by advertising " Caltex.... with Toluene".

So adding Toluene to regular fuel ain't nothing new. It sounds to me like it would be worth experimenting with. Maybe on a dyno....

naishou

Try telling that to the Caltex servo 500m down the road from me

2kturkey

Hey, they're still in NSW are they? I haven't see a Caltex in Victoria for yonks.

JRM

Your forgetting one thing, Flash Point!! It's not very compressable. To low of a flash point and way to voliatle to handle. Much more so than gasoline. You may as well convert to alcohol! It would run much cooler is more compressable/stable and has about the same flash point, not to mention being way cheaper.

You'd never be able to get the air mixture it to compress in the cylinder without having pre-detonation. It's way to corrosive also. You'd have to have special gaskets for the TB as well as the engine. Cylinders would have to be protected in some way or use special alloys also. Oh heck, you'd have to have special fuel lines and fuel pump. Way too much cost envolved to make it work effectively.

kevin

Toulene works fine as an octane booster. The turbo cars use it all the time as a cheap octane booster. You can check the GNTTYPE.ORG list for more info on this subject. No special precautions necessary, no problems.

marcucci

JRM, isn't that the point? It's not as compressible and takes more energy to burn? Raising the octane? Convert to alcohol? We're not looking to change things THAT much!

I also challenge the notion that there would be pre-detonation or that different gaskets would be needed. Corrosive? How much moreso than gasoline? We're (at least I'm) not talking about a 100% mix- more like 10%.

Something else my wife reminded me of, good and bad- energy density. Greater energy density means more "punch" when it burns. The drawback is a greater use of O2 in the burn, meaning you're using more air in combustion. As such, this might impact the wasted O2 levels enough to throw off the O2 sensor and cause the ECU to run rich. Might explain why NOS Octane booster causes cars to run rich and prematurely burn cats- not through any property of the "booster" itself, but as a result of lowered O2 levels in the exhaust.