Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

Octane numbers are something we see every day and probably take for granted. We all know this is a rating means to measure a fuels resistance to pre-ignition, but how does that apply in a practical sense. Let's first assume you have a car that runs well on 91 octane. What could you gain by altering the fuel you fill up with. By going down to 87 octane you will achieve better mileage, but could risk detonation depending on your cars engine. By going up to 93 octane you might allow your car to advance the timing gaining horsepower. Due to lower BTUs per gallon you will give up a few miles per gallon. So right off you can see that it is a balancing act.

Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

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Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

Looking closer at this, you notice that the extra horsepower comes from the ability of the car to advance timing and not the fuel itself. Higher octane fuel has less BTUs, but still nets power due to the timing advance and higher boost it can achieve. In modern vehicles with knock sensors the timing is constantly varied to achieve the best balance between performance and economy. Because this adjustment takes time, simply switch to higher octane at the track is not good enough. The fuel needs to be run in advance to allow the car to compensate for it. So using 91 all he time and then going to the track and filling up with 95 is not going to help your track times. You will have a faster car on the ride home though.

The other end of the spectrum is less octane. The down side here is the risk or pre-ignition and high EGTS. Both of these can lead to melted or bend pistons. Valves and the head is also placed in risk. If you have a modern vehicle it will detect this and retard timing to prevent damage. This timing modification is easy to detect with an OBDII scanner and it an easy to diagnose too fuel with too little octane.

Because of the above reasons, a lot of people turn to the boosters as a way of having both good fuel commonly and good performance at the track. The problem with them is most do not work. If you do find one what works, adding it to your tank a day before you go to the track can be beneficial. Despite the benefit, use boosters sparingly as most rely on MMT as a means of boosting the octane. Excessive MMT can cause problems with sensors, injectors, or even the exhaust.

By now you are probably confused again by what all of this means. To sum it up, if your car has no changes to compression, raised RPM limiter, or lots of boost, you should probably use whatever fuel the dealer recommends. If you have a race built motor, stick to a race fuel that meets the need of your engine. If you have a lightly tuned engine and enjoy the occasional track day, throw in a bottle of octane booster the day before and call it a day. Do not rely on boosters all of the time.

Octane Boosters and the Truth Behind Them

Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner

With so many code scanners on the market today, what features do you need for your code scanner to come equipped with in order to diagnose your vehicle? There are several manufacturers of code scanners out there today, the one in particular I will be reviewing is Actron because I believe their product line has the most useful features in its array of products. Their product line has models that fit the novice driver ("where is my engine") to the advanced home mechanic. The features below are not on every model but I will highlight the features that are and are the ones I feel are most useful in diagnosing your car's performance.

Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner

Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner

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Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner

Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner

Cost Effective

Without a doubt, this has to be true. Your scanner has to be cost effective. There are many that you will find that are in the thousands of dollars but I see no sense in spending that kind of money when it is totally unnecessary. Your scanner should pay for itself when it saves you one, maybe two trips to the dealer having them tell you what is wrong.

OBDII Compliant

OBDII refers to on board diagnostics in vehicles later than 1996. Basically auto manufacturers after 1996 equipped all their vehicles with the same mechanism to test the on board diagnostics (wow it only took roughly 100 years). So if your car was made 1996 and later, your scanner needs to be OBDII compliant.

OBD I Upgradable

But my car was made before 1996, what do I do? Well, it will depend on the make of your car because manufacturers were not consistent in how they obtained on board diagnostics from vehicles. Basically, a good, reputable scanner manufacturer (like Actron) will provide upgradable cables to attach to your scanner to hook up to pre 1996 vehicles based on the make of your car.

Dependable

Overall, I would say that most scanners and readers on the market today are dependable. I mean, a scanner in it's most basic form is simply reading codes that the car is giving to them. What happens after that is a different story. Now unlike some scanner manufacturers, Actron scanners have a 1 year warranty period so in the event you do have something go wrong you can trade it in for a new one.

Actron Code Scanner - The Absolute Most Useful Features Needed in a Code Scanner