Whether you’re a professional racer, a fan of street cars, or just into the more excessive aspects of driving, octane boosters, and diesel octane boosters are likely things you’ve heard of at least in passing. An octane booster works to increase the octane combustion point in your gas. This improved combustion point reduces the chances of engine knock while improving the overall efficiency of the fuel that you have, allowing you to drive longer and push your car further than you would with just fuel on its own.
How Do Octane Boosters Work?
Octane boosters work through the use of what’s known as anti-knock agents. These anti-knock agents work to make fuel less likely to detonate, thus preventing any engine knock symptoms. There are multiple anti-knock agents available, each with their degree of overall effectiveness, with the more effective options scaling several points over less impressive options.
What Are ‘Points’?
When it comes to how effective a car’s fuel is being used, octane boosters are rated by way of ‘points’. One point is an increase of a tenth of an octane. This means that an octane booster that is worth a single point won’t change an “87” octane gas to “88”, but rather from “87” to “87.1”.
Why Use Octane Boosters?
While a tenth of an improvement in efficiency may not be particularly useful or effective for the vast majority of drivers out there, in the world of professional sports racing, that can be all the difference in the world between winning and losing a race. Standard and diesel octane boosters, when used by racers, can give them that slight edge needed to pull ahead of the competition, especially when all other racers are already using premium fuel that inherently has an octane count in the 90s. As most premium fuel options can’t exceed low-to-mid 90s octane fuel, octane boosters are essential for those that expect to hit the 100s and beyond.
Can I Use Octane Boosters Instead Of Premium Gas?
While octane boosters are incredibly useful for racers as a way of getting an edge over their opponent, as mentioned, this isn’t all that practical for anyone in their regular life or a non-racing street car. This is mainly because the amount of improvement for non-racing is so small while the costs are so great. Put simply, unless you’re scared of dealing with engine knocking, there’s no reason for you to invest the incredible amounts of money for octane boosters in your regular life. Keep it for the tracks and the tracks alone.