Will an octane booster help or harm my horsepower?

Question

I don't drive a "Hunda" I ride a Suzuki gsxf.

Answer 1

taken fom rogue.com

Additional notes (not tested on the dyno): Never add any type of octane boosters or fuel system cleaners to your motorcycle tank. Additives sold in auto stores are designed to treat anywhere from 16-22 gallons of fuel from one small bottle of concentrate & more often than not those chemicals are very hazardous to your motorcycles fuel system especially if the mix ratio is not absolutely perfect. I cannot tell you how many carb jobs I have done over the years because some yahoo dumped half a bottle (or more) of octane booster into his fuel tank. The bike runs great for awhile but within a day or two a varnish starts to set up on the fuel system components & it just gets worse from there. Run quality fuels & stay away from the additives period.

Answer 2

If your timing is being retarded by the computer because the knock sensor senses pinging or detonation while running on lower octane, then Octane booster will increase performance a bit.

If your engine is designed to run on 87 or 91 octane and the computer is running optimal timing as it should with that octane , than booster will cause a small performance loss due to the slower burn rate of the fuel.

Same applys with no computer, if timing is optimized for lower octane, adding booster will not add power. However if you advance the timing & add booster, you will pick up a performance increase, but this is not something you should do without help or experience as you can cause serious engine damage if you over-advance the timing, even by just a few degrees.

More octane=slower burn slower burn helps prevent detonation & preignition which are detrimental to an engine due to the shock waves they create which will damage pistons etc.

Answer 3

Not really, boosting the octane is used to prevent "pre ignition" or knocking when under acceleration. You won't notice enough of a difference to be felt in hp gains.

Answer 4

Octane boosters are to control pinging. If your bike doesn't ping on pump gas, it won't be any help at all. I don't see it reducing horsepower, but it's a waste of money on an engine that doesn't need it.

Answer 5

without your bike info i cant really help much but the higher the octane the less likely it will detonate prematurely. this is used in engines that have a HIGH compression. if your bike doesnt have a high compression adding octane boost can actually be harmful to the engine as it might retard detonation.
best example i can give you is the r6 vs r1, the r1 can take lower octane gas because its compression isnt as high as the r6 in which need high octane or pinging will occur.

Answer 6

Neither, if the recommended gas is used. Some bikes are designed for premium fuel.

Answer 7

The octane is only noticeable in high compression motors, its like putting jet fuel in a lawnmower, if you don't have a high-pro car, hell i run regular in my corvette!

Answer 8

Really depends on the car. But one thing you can count on, more often than not, is that it will add additional stress to your engine which will most likley lead to more problems that shorten the lifespan of your engine.

Answer 9

It wont do anything, your computer will sense the higher octane and lean the fuel mixture out, there will not be a change in performance or mileage whatsoever. Good luck!

Answer 10

duhh.....what kind of car do you drive?? I am willing to bet the answer to that is a Hunda.