Does anyone use Octane Supreme, and, does it make a difference?

Are there any reasons to use the product, or am I throwing away $$?

Thnaks for your comments!

Tom

 

Sorry, I've never used it. I usually run 93 octane through my cutlass (just to keep everything clean and knock free) and that works great for me. But then again, I'm a cruiser, not a racer.

 

Ummmm... To increase your octane?


Are you wasting your money? I dunno - How much octane does your engine need?

Octane Supreme works great at increasing octane, just like it says on the label.

I can't tell you whether you need it, though.

- Eric

 

I have used it and if you need to increase octane this is the best product to use,it is real lead

 

X2 with above if you need it. We've had a major discussion on it recently on another thread.

 

I love this comment on the Octane Supreme website:

IS OCTANE SUPREME-130 SAFE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT?
By adding Octane Supreme-130 to your fuel, your engine will perform better by increasing horsepower and burning the fuel more efficiently. Practically all the lead content is burned and deposited on the valves and valve seats, leaving the environment virtually lead free. The sun quickly decomposes any remaining trace of lead.


The last two sentences are total bull$Q@$%. You can't "burn" lead. You can burn the tetraethyl lead, and the result is lead plus other byproducts. The sun does not "decompose" lead, either. Lead is an element. It can't be decomposed further unless via a nuclear reaction of some sort which the sun's rays are not powerful enough to initiate.

There was a reason lead was removed from gasoline back in the '70s, and it had everything to do with public health. By putting lead back into your gasoline, while you may be helping your engine, you are harming the environment. Fortunately, the number of people who use this sort of thing is very small, and the impact on the environment is negligible. But don't be fooled into thinking stuff like this is harmless. It is not.


In other words, these statements are strictly CYA.

 

Here's another CYA comment from the Octane Supreme website. I underlined the relevant sentence.


Typical Applications High compression race engines Pre-unleaded gasoline engines without hardened valve seats Muscle cars with high compression engines Big inch, high compression bike engines, especially Harleys
This product intended for off road use only. Affects oxygen sensors.


"Off road use only"? Yeah, right.

 

It can't be CYA if it's patently false.

It's just stupid.

I like Octane Supreme, and understand its good and bad points, but saying that the lead is destroyed is just idiotic.

- Eric

 

True, of course, but remember that there's nothing illegal about lead, or even about leaded gasoline. It's still sold for some marine and aviation applications.

It's only illegal to put leaded gas in a car marked "Unleaded Fuel Only."

- Eric

 

The question is, where may one currently buy the product?

 

http://www.bing.com/search?q=octane+...bb5ad04ee8ed9f

 

Google "octane supreme," and you'll find a number of sites that sell it online, including vendors on ebay. I don't see any mention of it being available in stores, but I don't know.

Here's a site selling a 6-quart package for $90.

http://www.batterystuff.com/fuel-treatments/OS6q.html

There's a chart with mix ratios down the page a bit showing how much needs to be added to a gallon of gas to increase the octane by a certain amount.

Choosing an octane increase of 5 and doing a little math reveals the following. It takes 1.8 ounces per gallon of gas to do this. For a 17-gallon fill-up, that's 30.6 ounces, or roughly 1 quart. At $90 per six quarts, that's $15 per quart. That means paying an extra $15 per tankful on top of the gasoline itself.

Spread over 17 gallons, that's $15/17 gallons, or roughly 88 cents per gallon. If you pay, say, $3.75 per gallon of gas at your corner gas station, that's $3.75 + $0.88 = $4.63, meaning you're paying the equivalent of $4.63 per gallon of gas.

Of course, if you want to raise the octane by something other than 5, the effective cost per gallon of gas will go up or down, depending. Raise the octane by half that amount, 2.5, and your effective fuel cost is $4.19 per gallon. Raise it by double that amount, 10, and your effective fuel cost is $5.41 per gallon.

 

Tom, What are you contemplating using it in? We assume it is for a car, but what year, what engine, compression and how do you use it?

 

I have a 1967 Toronado with a stock 425. Runs fine on 93 Unleaded - meaning no knocking or run-on when I turn it off. I drive the car for pleasure. Just wondering if there would be a benefit to using the Octane Supreme to put some lead back in the gas. Don't need increased performance, except when next to a rice burner at a red light!

 

If it's not knocking, and you have the timing where it's supposed to be, I don't think you'll gain much.. The fears of wearing away the valve seat from normal driving has been found to be over stated. Constant high stress, high rpm running will probably result in seat wear, but I doubt your usage will cause any problems. Remember, back in the 60s, one of the most popular fuels for high performance cars was lead free American (Amoco) Premium.

 

I would disagree slightly.

It is definitely possible to have detonation, which can destroy your engine, without audible knocking.

In an engine of moderately high compression, such as 9.5:1, I wouldn't worry about it if you couldn't hear it, but in your Toro motor, which I think is10.5:1, I would be a bit paranoid.

Unless it has been retarded to the point of dogginess, that engine should need more than 93 octane. When it was new, it was specified to need either 102 or 103 RON octane, which is equivalent to about 97 or 98 AKI at your pump. For a difference if a point or so, I wouldn't worry about it, but with a five point difference, I'd try to supplement that.
An extra buck a gallon is cheaper than a rebuild for hammered bearings or shattered ring lands.

- Eric

 

Eric,

Thanks for the info and thoughts. I tend to agree with you. It doesn't run "doggy" but I don't stick my foot into it very often. In your opinion, is one can per fill-up sufficient? Usually 17-20 gallons per fill-up.

Thanks,

Tom

 

The first thing I would ask is, "Where is the timing set?"
Are you using the original distributor and vacuum advance, or have they been changed?
Does your vacuum advance work?
Have you checked it to see whether it is an aftermarket replacement?
What is your timing at idle, and at 3,500 RPM, and where does your mechanical advance stop?

If everything is original and your timing is to spec, I'd be amazed.
If your timing is retarded, I'd advance it to spec, then see how she behaves, then experiment to see how much octane she needs to quiet down, then decide where you want to compromise between advance and additive.
I'm a big fan of establishing a baseline - if you know where it starts to ping, you'll be better able to judge where you want to be.

In my own case, last year I put a 106,000 mile 10.25:1 350 in my car. I set it as close to spec as I could, then put 5 gallons of 106 AKI octane (110 RON octane) fuel in it and tested it out at full throttle.
When I used that up, I put in 5 gal of 93 and it pinged like crazy, so I started adding Octane Supreme a few ounces at a time and testing it out, and found that it seemed to like 1oz per gallon.
Once I had an octane rating for full throttle, I proceeded to set the mechanical advance, and then the vacuum (if I'd been using an original cam, I could have just stuck with the original parts).
Now I've just put a new set of heads on it, with the combustion chambers clean and at least a bit polished, and I'm going to be trying all of that over again to see whether I can use any less octane.

- Eric