Just curious if there is any benefit to running higher octane fuel occasionly on my Flying Spur? The thinking is help keep everything clean and running well which is why I also bring up Fuel system treatment. I got the car with 40k miles and full service history with dealer doing every service as scheduled including the 40k service about 6 months ago which changes the spark plugs. I remember years ago my mechanic would say it was good to step on it little to blow the carbon out your engine, so should I be doing a fuel treatment? I have some Redline Racing Fuel treatment SI-2 I have used in my Ferrari, so I have that available.

I don't know what race fuels I can get in my area, but if there is a benefit, is there a limit to how high in octane I use? The other option is a plain octane booster. The best one I saw today was one made by NOS that says it will raise the octane a full 3 octane, which should give me 96 octane total since I use 93 gas.

Final question, the NOS octane booster said it has nitromethane in it, will that be ok as long as I mix it correct concentration? Thanks

 

Ahhh yes.... it all depends on the chemicals you use and the makeup of the hoses/seals/etc. Sure, usingTechnon every 3k miles is a good thing imho and i can feel a small bump in power when using it. As for which chemical concoction works best, not sure. Does anyone near you sell proper high octane race gas? If so, occasional use is fine but i'd not use it 100% of the time. The car already has a very good qty of tq/hp. In the wrong hands i can see bad things happening from sudden 'bursts' of power upward, with the inability to stop the fat pig of a car as the up-rev engine fights the braking system. Happened to me once...

 

I burn only top name brand gasolines of 93 octane from Shell, Exon and BP and do not add anything. I step on my fuel pedal every time I'm in the car so I hope I am fine. I can see using an additive occasionally to bump up the cleaning effort but would think it might be a waste of money to use it all the time. Pure racing fuel is way to expensive for regular use IMHO.

I am going to ask my mechanic the questions though.

 

Just to give some background on my mechanic statement, I had ordered a car from Chrysler a few years back that was going to take as long as 3 months to come in so I bought a little Pontiac Fiero GT to drive around in meantime that was owner by an older gentleman than passed away and was being sold by family. When I brought it to get checked out for rough idle and intermittent slight power loss, the service guy at dealer said the engine was clogged with carbon and just needed to clean out. That's when he mentioned that a bunch of low speed driving and short trips that don't allow engine to completely heat up keep it from fully burning up contaminants in fuel and oil which can leave residue. He suggested every so often, driving it a little on the fast side to help "blow out the carbon".

Now keep in mind the Fiero was an older car with 1st gen fuel injection, so with newest sensors and computers controlling timing, there is a good possibility this is no longer the case, but not sure so why I was asking.

I was told by the rep from GIAC ecu flashing that the engines computer is constantly learning and maximizes performance. It came up when I asked him about changing exhaust after getting an ecu flash and whether I would need to reflash after getting exhaust to take advantage of extra airflow and this extra HP. He said the computer would learn and adjust itself to the better exhaust.

That conversation about the car learning and adjusting itself to max performance is what got me thinking about trying some octane booster. The only negative about the NOS octane booster, made by Permatex and uses NOScname under license as gimmick, is that it uses MMT.

MMT was originally used to replace lead in unleaded gasoline to help raise octane level. It is pretty toxic and gas with MMT leads to vehicles with higher emissions. I believe MMT is not allowed on any USA gas, but is in some European and Canadian gas brands. From a technical point of view, MMT can leave manganese oxide residue which looks like and orange rust colored dust that coats spark plugs, O2 sensors, etc and clog cats. The NOS octane booster comes in two versions, street and racing with street version meeting the maximum MMT concentration allowed by EPA and race is higher. The interesting part is that originally the street formula raised 3 octane and racing formula raised 6 octane and then 7 in later versions, BUT current versions have street formula 1.5 octane and racing formula 3.1 octane.

Not sure if just one tank of MMT octane booster will cause any damage, especially at new lower potency formulas, but think its best not to risk. It does say on box it is safe for O2 sensors, catalytic converters, and meets the BMW detergent guideline or something like that.

From what I've researched, a boost can most safely be achieved by mixing in a couple gallons of good race fuel. Like 1/4 tank of like a 100octane and 3/4 premium. I still don't know what is the highest octane the car can benefit from because the car cannot benefit from any octane rating higher than its tuned for.

 

I am not sure about using boosters much but this last part sounds like a good occasional treatment to keep the beast flushed out. I am guilty of using the car on some short trips but am more than willing to drive a bit briskly. My ecu tune is for a minimum of 93.

One of my mechanics told me years ago that using a greater octane than the car is tuned for is a complete waste of money and I would never do that.

 

My handbook (2012 CGT) P2-54 says my model will take either 93 or 95 with Bioethanol E85 as an option, but not to use anything lower than 95 RON (which seems a little contradictory).

It also says for optimum performance we should use 98 RON, and in bold type says "Do not use fuel additives."

Seems pretty straightforward. The higher the better!

 

I am in California and 91 oct is all we get. Higher octane requires your ECU to be tuned to that octane. You can have several different tunes on the same ECU. GIAC performance has a good ECU performance package for Bentleys.

 

I am thinking about getting the GIAC time based on all the positive reviews, actual dyno info, and the fact it comes with a remote that let's you select which programming you want and can put car to dealer stock for service with just one click. The only issue is getting over the $3,400 price, and that's a reduced sales price.

Only had the car a few weeks so far and just recently noticed how different the car responds in S mode. It's not just waiting to higher RPM to shift, it is responding faster to pedal and feels like the ecu tuning might be more aggressive as car feels more powerful. At this point, I just don't know how much of improvement I desire over stock power, at least right now and at $3,400, half the price and I'm there tomorrow.

 

Yeah for sure it's not cheap. You are getting a proven tuned and quality. $3,400 is really not bad. Don't go cheap. You will pay for it in the long run. Also, look into the whole complete exhaust set ups. Will help you about 650hp. You are saying damm, $6,000 is justifiable for another 100HP? 100hp more you can really feel a huge difference. Asked DR. Disaster.