Check this out! - Homebrew Gasoline Octane Boosters

[abalto]

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/gasoline-octane.html

Pretty interesting...

[Land Crusher]

awsome

[mr_340]

I'd stay away from Xylene as there are three types of Xylene, one of which has a low octane rating. MBTE is currently being added in large quantities to pump gas in large urban areas which have smog/pollution problems. Adding more MBTE doesn't give as much benefit, plus your mileage will decrease as this is an oxygenated fuel like alcohols. I'd stick with toluene (methyl-benzene). Like all benzene compounds, it is carcinogenic, so be careful in handling it. Benzene has the best octane rating of all, it's literally off the chart, 120+.

[Dr. Righteous]

New a guy that had a 12.5:1 Olds that added toluene to his gas. Mean machine; 455 made monsterous torque. He got off by doing block long smokey burnouts in that boat.

[shannon]

What about adding mothballs to your gas tank? I've heard this for years but I didn't belive it until mr 340 said that benzene is a big octaine boster. Mothballs are paradichloralbenzene (PDB). PDP is also nonpolar so it should mix with gas? Any one ever heard of this or tried this? Any imput?

[dewme5]

the way i see it, if a big company isn't doing it, and trying to make all the money off of it that they can.... there is probably a good reason. Sure, some home brew's work, but I'm not going to trust them enough to put in my car. Once I can pull up to the sunoco station, and get 100octane+mothballs. then maybe. Just gotta wonder what some of the other chemicals are doing to rubber seals, how posionous the stuff coming out of your tail pipe is going to be, and how about a chunk of partially disolved moth ball blocking your fuel pickup at the 60' mark during a final round.

paradichloralbenzene (PDB)

water is H2O. but you can't breathe that oxygen can you?

[70Ted]

agreed, i ain't risking my motor on chemistry 101
stuff.