| I had not seen that article/test before and any previous mention of the test and scientific method,etc. was referring only to SCC's article. I can admit that I'm partially wrong. But you're also not acknowledging how misleading your first response was. By your own admission just now and the test you posted, not all the octane boosters tested are even readily available in North America. And not all of them perform equally well or work as advertised. But also the opening lines of the article states the same ambiguity that we were discussing from the start. Here's the quote:
"The biggest claims the bottles have is the amount of "points" they claim to increase. This is ambiguous as a "point" can relate to either 1.0 RON (Research Octane Number) octane points, or 0.1RON octane points." <-- this was exactly the point I and others were trying to make. Yes, I did pull the "0.1-0.2" number out of my ass as you so eloquently put it. But it was just making a point. It wasn't meant to be taken as exact. But as your TEST showed SOME of the octane boosters really only increased octane by a matter of 1/10ths of an octane level. You made a blanket statement that you presented as "fact" that octane boosters raise octane by TWO points. That is not true, and your own data source demonstrated that. I have not performed my own "independant laboratory test" on octane boosters but I have done some of my own real world testing on my car. I will pull two examples from your test for a comparison that I have made: Super 104+ Octane Boost
473ml treats 83 litres RRP: $25.95
The acknowledged winner of all previous testing in this country, Super 104+’s bottle stated we should expect an increase between four and seven point. With a new formula introduced about 12 months ago, identified by an "Eagle" logo on the back of the bottle, the Super 104+ seems to have lost its edge with a marginal gain of just less than 1.0RON.
OCTANE IMPROVEMENT: 97.5 (+0.9 RON) Toluene (Toluol)
20 litres treats 100 litres RRP: $48
Since toluene (pronounced toll-you-een – also known as methyl benzine) isn’t a commercially advertised octane booster. We were unsure of exactly what ratio to mix the clear Toluene to the fuel, with recommendations between 10 and 30 percent. From personal experience, we have seen high percentages increase octane even further, though 30 percent is considered the maximum. Available only from various fuel distributors (it is a special order through services stations), under advice we ran a 20 percent mix (quite a lot more than the others) and saw an impressive improvement of 2.5 RON, for the silver medal.
OCTANE IMPROVEMENT: 99.3 (+2.5 RON) No since I didn't do the actual laboratory testing I couldn't *quantify* the octane improvement. But my real world observations resulted in: The Super 104+ did not work (detonation did not go away - hence octane was not raised enough). The Toluene did work (detonation did cease - octane level raised sufficiently). CONCLUSION: Toluene works better than Super 104+ brand octane booster. (That's just one example) Any Joe can buy Toluene, or VP Racing fuel, and be sure that they will get a desirable outcome. How can they be equally sure of what their getting with an off the shelf little bottle of mystery octane booster - unless they are able to very specificially choose one of the better ones from your test? YOU made it sound like I was completely wrong and you are completely right that ALL octane boosters are great, they all work, etc. How was I the asshole in this whole thing?
Z-Jay
Vice President - Edmonton Z Car Club
93 300ZX TT - Stage VI  
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21:33:33 09/07/05
