Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

AtomicLabMonkey · 2003-07-22, 03:06 PM

I don't have any personal experience with racing fuels (yet..

) but from some things I've read it's "let the buyer beware" when buying/using it. This Buick GN site seems to have some good fuel tech info on it...

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/fuel.../fuelpage.html

and a particular section here...

http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc...explained.html

caught my eye:

"A2: Racing gasoline could be a much more convenient way to run high octane fuel compared to having to constantly mix in toluene with each fill up. There are, however a few caveats:

You don't know for sure if you are really getting what is being advertised. You should find out if the fuel inspectors verify the actual octane of the racing gasoline in addition to ordinary gasoline. If you paid $3/gallon and only got 94 or 95 octane instead of 100 octane you may conclude erroneously that your car does not benefit from octane boosting.

You don't know what octane boosters are used in the racing gasoline. The worst case scenario is buying leaded racing gasoline without knowing it. Unleaded racing gasoline may still contain damaging octane boosters like MMT or methanol. A very high alcohol content will lead to fuel line erosion, accelerated fuel pump wear, very poor fuel economy and possibly lower performance as alcohols have a less impressive MON rating than aromatics."

The potential for accelerated component wear doesn't matter much if you're dealing with a dedicated racecar because they usually have those parts replaced frequently, but with a street car... that's a different story.

2003-07-22, 03:06 PM	#5
AtomicLabMonkey Nightwalker Real Name: Austin Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Oshkosh, WI Posts: 4,063 Car: '13 WRX YGBSM	I don't have any personal experience with racing fuels (yet.. ) but from some things I've read it's "let the buyer beware" when buying/using it. This Buick GN site seems to have some good fuel tech info on it... http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/fuel.../fuelpage.html and a particular section here... http://www.gnttype.org/techarea/misc...explained.html caught my eye: "A2: Racing gasoline could be a much more convenient way to run high octane fuel compared to having to constantly mix in toluene with each fill up. There are, however a few caveats: You don't know for sure if you are really getting what is being advertised. You should find out if the fuel inspectors verify the actual octane of the racing gasoline in addition to ordinary gasoline. If you paid $3/gallon and only got 94 or 95 octane instead of 100 octane you may conclude erroneously that your car does not benefit from octane boosting. You don't know what octane boosters are used in the racing gasoline. The worst case scenario is buying leaded racing gasoline without knowing it. Unleaded racing gasoline may still contain damaging octane boosters like MMT or methanol. A very high alcohol content will lead to fuel line erosion, accelerated fuel pump wear, very poor fuel economy and possibly lower performance as alcohols have a less impressive MON rating than aromatics." The potential for accelerated component wear doesn't matter much if you're dealing with a dedicated racecar because they usually have those parts replaced frequently, but with a street car... that's a different story. __________________ "None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you.. you're locked in here with me."