Thread: Octane Booster Fuel Additives - Opinions/Facts Needed!

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Originally Posted by rspears

Eric,
On my 347 I can simply use my handheld calibrator to do a global timing adjustment, backing out two or three degrees of spark across the board until I get back to a known, consistent fuel..

Showoff!

Originally Posted by 34_40

Showoff!

Hey, just one of the benefits of EFI!! I was just trying to reinforce that it should be easy and effective to back down the timing a notch or two, at least per the Edelbrock tech's...

One thing I've learned from this - I chased the story on ethanol octane rating based on Dave's statements about using E85. From what I read, pure ethanol has an octane rating of ~110, and Dave told us that E85 is ~106. The problem I have is that ethanol blends have a "shelf life" of around two weeks before they go into a phase seperation from absorbing water, and when that happens they lose four or five numbers on octane rating - if you buy 91octane that has 10% ethanol it starts absorbing water from the atmosphere immediately, and if you park for a few weeks or months you'll have 85 to 86 octane fuel, with water laden alcohol which may not be really good for your performance engine looking for 91 or better. Not a problem for your DD that gets refilled regularly, but for a car sitting all winter I'd worry about what's happening in the system. Not sure how this applies to E85 - maybe Dave can educate us?

Originally Posted by rspears

Hey, just one of the benefits of EFI!! I was just trying to reinforce that it should be easy and effective to back down the timing a notch or two, at least per the Edelbrock tech's...

One thing I've learned from this - I chased the story on ethanol octane rating based on Dave's statements about using E85. From what I read, pure ethanol has an octane rating of ~110, and Dave told us that E85 is ~106. The problem I have is that ethanol blends have a "shelf life" of around two weeks before they go into a phase seperation from absorbing water, and when that happens they lose four or five numbers on octane rating - if you buy 91octane that has 10% ethanol it starts absorbing water from the atmosphere immediately, and if you park for a few weeks or months you'll have 85 to 86 octane fuel, with water laden alcohol which may not be really good for your performance engine looking for 91 or better. Not a problem for your DD that gets refilled regularly, but for a car sitting all winter I'd worry about what's happening in the system. Not sure how this applies to E85 - maybe Dave can educate us?

And right you are Roger! I guess it is one of the perks of going electronic.. I've been curious also what may/will happen to our cars with the newer fuels. I've added stabilizer but am not sure if it's enough? Let's see what others think!?!?!

Don't they also make sbc head gaskets in various thicknesses? I know they do for Olds engines because we were looking at them in Summits catalog.


Don