This was a recent email I had sent to Bell Engineering after reading the Book that Corky Bell had published. But I quess them guys really have no time to answer questions if it don't have a pay back. So here it is, hope someone can shead some light on the questions I have.

Thanks,
Pnyxxpress

Hi,

I'm Mike from St. Louis, Mo. Last year I installed a Cartech Turbo System. Since then I have come across 100s of questions about tuning the setup to the max. All of these questions have been answered with the reading of "Maximum Boost". Except I still have a few still unanswered and hoping someone at Bell Engineering can clear my confusion.

1). In the book it states octane, if raised 3 points you can possibly get 2 more pounds of boost without detonation. I'm not sure what points are....If I use 93 octane and bump it to 93.3 ? Or is the points whole numbers take 93 octane to 96 octane? Is that an indefinite statement, is every 3 points good for 2 pounds of boost?

2). Being I live in a emission crazy location. I have 10% alcohol in the pump gas. The book recommends not using this mixture. What can I add to the fuel to compensate for this? Several enthusiast have recommended using xylene or toluene as an octane additive instead of the expensive over the counter mixtures. What are the long term effects? Would you recommend something, if the two I mentioned are not a good choice.

3). This third question is more of judgment call, so if time allows, elaborate a little if you please....Adding boost to a point is a good way to enhance the performance of any motor, but 40 bhp I'm seeing per pound of boost will diminish as the boost numbers increase. Given I'm at a point where I can add, lets say 2 pounds of boost or increase my timing 2-3 degrees what would be the better of the two options?

 

I would say 3 points would take 93 octane to 96 octane... raising it from 93.0 to 93.3 wouldn't give me enough assurance to increase 2 psi safely.

 

1. 3 full points

2.turn your fuel pressure up

3.i think that you should crank up the boost and play with your timing from there. its kinda finicky, youll have to play with it to see what your combo likes.

 

Thanks for all the info. So I'm gathering that when I purchase an octane boost over the counter and it states will raise 3 points. That is a whole 3 points not just 3pts...

Pnyxxpress

 

I also heard that the octane boost cans raise by tenth of an octane being one point, which I think is rediculous. Try to figure out how much that is per gallon....

 

Dont even bother with the octane booster, it is all crap and only raises by TENTHS of a point. It will put an orange coat of crap on your o2 sensor to boot.
If you run gas that has alcohol in it, do like Underpsi said and raise the fuel pressure. The alcohol in the gas makes the car run lean if no fuel settings are changed. Luckily out here in California, some of the gas compaines sell gas without alcohol (MTBE) in it because they are now agreeing that MTBE is carcinogenic. They knew this a long time ago, but did not care. Emissions can bite my ass. ERIC.:bling:

 

GT-104 or C-16 will put smiles on your face

 

Wish I could find 104 readily available in my area....

Pnyxxpress

 

ponyxxpress... You can find Sunoco 104 octane "unleaded" all over the St. Louis area.. I usally buy mine at the race track, since thats where I'm going to use it at.. But durning the off season, when the track closed, I go to Bier Brothers.. They've got it and all other kinds of gasses and fuels.. And they give you your moneys worth too.. Take a 5 gallon jug in there, and they will fill it to the brim..

Also...Speed Sports has all sorts of racing fuels, even Nitromethane if you're feeling brave ...

 

Jeff,

Thanks for the info but I think the key phrase is "readily available" I live 40 miles from the track and almost 70 from Bier Bros. Do you know of a sunoco in the southern region of town that may carry it.

Thanks,
Mike

 

:agree:

 

Two COMPLETELY different chemicals, similar only in that they are both organic compounds and are oxygenates.

MTBE is an ETHER, not an alcohol.
Not even close to each other chemically.

 

Torco Fuel Accelerator is the ONLY additive that actually raises Octane level up points vs tenths of a point. Here is a very good thread on Modular Fords, complete with lab analysis results.

http://www.modularfords.com/forums/...ats-the-deal-torco-36616.html?highlight=torco

 

There's another additive you might want to find: TK-7. But I think the blended gasoline you have at the pump should be fine; like stated before, play with the timing and don't get over-anxious with the boost.
If you're after another 50 hp, look in the camshaft.