Xylene 100 octane

[Quinton Exler]

So I have been reading a lot, ordered a full tune, read some more. And I understand that one can safely use 25-30% xylene mix with your 93 octane gas and mystery oil for lubrication to achieve a solid 100 octane. Will I be the first to do this? Does someone else have input or advice?

 

[Eric Smit]

nico?

 

[GeneralZod]

Nico posted a link for another product used by racers and motor heads.

For the cost I would have done it. However the lubricants recommended could harm the emissions IMO. The fear alone makes it not worth it. Now if you can run it straight at 5 or 10% safely, I would try it.

 

[GeneralZod]

Nico posted about Toluene btw...

 

[theenico]

Back in the days of Merkurs and Audi 5000 turbos, we used to use toluene with premium to do that. We never added mineral oil or ATF to it. The premium has plenty of additives for that as is.

Toluene and xylene are both aromatics used to increase the octane in gasoline. Most race gas contains a fair amount of one or both of these.

 

[GeneralZod]

Nico, would you recommend a percentage?

 

[Quinton Exler]

Back in the days of Merkurs and Audi 5000 turbos, we used to use toluene with premium to do that. We never added mineral oil or ATF to it. The premium has plenty of additives for that as is.

Toluene and xylene are both aromatics used to increase the octane in gasoline. Most race gas contains a fair amount of one or both of these.

I see, 30% still has majorly skeptical outcomes from multiple reviewers. Did you ever run 30% mix?

 

[theenico]

Never that high. Most we ever used was 10%. There used to be a nice conversion chart on one of the Audi guy's personal websites, but it's long gone (It's been at least 15 years since I last looked it up). I'll bet if you dusted off the ninja search skills, you could find a table of ratios to figure out the exact mix needed to reach your octane goal.

 

[theenico]

The real question may be: How much does 10 gallons of each of the following cost?

- 3gal. toluene ($75-90 if using 1 gallon cans from the hardware store. Xylene can be upwards of 3 times as expensive) and 7 gallons 91 ($28 at $4.00/gal.). So this tank costs between $103 and $118.

- 10gal. E85. It's roughly $3.25 in my area so this tank would be $32.50

- 10gal. 100 octane unleaded race gas. Depending on area and whether or not you purchase at the track, expect to pay anywhere from $6.00-$12.00/gal. so this tank may cost anywhere from $60-$120.

Edit: Toluene and Xylene were a lot less expensive 15 years ago. I was surprised when I searched current prices.

Edit 2: Found the chart. It's on some Buick site now, but the numbers haven't changed. Ignore the per gallon prices, that page hasn't been updated in a long time.

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc/octanebooster.html

 

[Quinton Exler]

Thank you for that, i was reading a similar chart that mentioned the same. Reaching 100 octane using xylene and 93 gas requires 30%! I am going to buy a small amount of premium gas and xylene and mix them accordingly inside a Mason jar then put a fuel seal, some fuel hose, and aluminum inside and watch results over time.

 

[Swordsmith]

E85 conversion costs a few hundred dollars but then you get to run the equivalent of 106 octane for less than the cost of regular gas, in an engine designed to run this fuel instead of a homebrew.

 

[Quinton Exler]

E85 is nice, i think the people who run it are wicked. But i rather run gas... Its much more readily available considering Lowes Carries xylene.

 

[theenico]

E85 conversion costa a few hundred dollars but then you get to run the equivalent of 106 octane for less than the cost of regular gas, in an engine designed to run This fuel instead of a homebrew.

Adding toluene, xylene, and/or benzene isn't exaxctly what I'd call homebrew. All pump gas contains some of one or more of these aromatics to achieve their octane. Straight gasoline from the cracker is only 70-75 octane.

Adding the other crap such as ATF and mineral spirits is another thing. I definitely do not endorse that part.

 

[$ub$onic]

Ya ATF and oms in a gas engine is not a good idea.

 

[theenico]

It's not the engine that I'm concerned about. It's the two cats in the exhaust.

 

[theenico]

And to the OP, you might check out the Torco Accelerator. Someone posted about it in another thread and it looks pretty interesting.

http://torcoracefuel.net/2-docs/accelerator-blend-chart.gif

Based on that chart, I'd say it's probably made up of mostly aromatics and oxygenators.

 

[Swordsmith]

I run gas all the time, E85 only when I feel like having a rocketcar. OK I run E85 a lot. But I can quit it any time I want, I swear. Just need me one more hard pull up an onramp.

 

[Stew]

It's not the engine that I'm concerned about. It's the two cats in the exhaust.

As long as you don't overdo it you're probably fine. After all, engine oil that makes it's way from the PCV system through the intake and is burned is something cars do anyway. This is not an endorsement and anyone doing this does so at their own risk.

 

[$ub$onic]

It's not the engine that I'm concerned about. It's the two cats in the exhaust.

Never even thought about the cats. We have ran ATF fluid in diesels with good luck but no cats

 

[GeneralZod]

Never even thought about the cats. We have ran ATF fluid in diesels with good luck but no cats

I mentioned the emissions system in a few posts. The cats and O2 sensors won't be happy. The question is how much is too much. I do know this, some Toyota people (friend) have ruined cats with off the shelf booster, and those are weak.

As far as diesels, you could run just about anything in them short of gas and water. These are Pre-cat emissions systems. You can even run straight used oil.

When a turbo blows you get runaway on the engine using the oil as fuel. I did kerosene and used oil in a bad pinch. Ran fine too, and looked beast smoking.

That is one of the many things that make diesel awesome.