How to Use an Octane Booster

Buying Octane Boosters

Check your owner's manual for your octane level. Your owner's manual should specify what octane level your car requires. Mixing gas with an octane booster to create a higher octane level than required will not give you a huge power boost. You just need to get it to the required level.

Look at the rating on the bottle. Most products can only raise your octane level by about 3, meaning you could move from 90 to 93, for instance. A few will raise it higher than that, so be sure to buy what you need. Octane is a measurement of how much compression will cause the fuel to "knock." Typically, your fuel doesn't ignite until it's lit by the spark plugs. However, knocking is when the compression causes it to ignite spontaneously. A higher octane level means the fuel can withstand higher compression before igniting, but you really only need the octane level required by your car. However, be careful about labels. Some cheaper products put the boost number in points, which is deceiving. If it claims a boost of "3 points" for instance, that actually means it will only raise the octane level by 0.3.

Use octane boosters for turbocharger engines only. Most of the time, an octane booster isn't going to provide much benefit for a normal car. However, if you have a turbocharger or another similar engine, you may find that an octane booster is beneficial.

Weigh the cost versus the benefit. Octane boosters can range from $10 USD to $50 USD per bottle. Since a whole bottle is typically used for one tank, that can get fairly expensive. To save money, you may consider only purchasing an octane booster for special occasions, such as a road trip.

Upgrade your fuel at the pump instead. If you're considering buying an octane booster, you may just want to buy a higher octane gas at the pump. In many cases, it will be cheaper and easier to boost your octane this way. However, if your car needs a higher octane than what's available at the pump, you'll need to buy an octane booster.

Buy boosters based on your desired octane level. To know how much booster to buy, you'll need to read the back of the package. It will tell you how much of the octane booster you need to raise your gasoline to a certain octane level. There's not a standard amount because it is based on what octane level you want and how much gasoline your tank holds.

Adding the Octane Booster

Pour the booster into the gas tank. The booster goes into the tank before you add the fuel. Pop off the cap and pour in the amount you need, based on the back of the bottle. This process ensures that the booster will get mixed into the gas properly, as pouring in the gas will stir up the booster.

Add the gas. Once you've got the booster in the tank, all you need to do is add the regular gas on top of it. Keep in mind that your octane level will be the octane number of the gas you're buying plus the amount the octane booster ups your level. Therefore, if you're buying 93 gas and you add a booster that increases it by 3, your level will be 96. Higher octane gas burns more slowly, making it less likely to knock, which is only beneficial if your car needs a higher octane level.

Use the booster within a year. You'll get the best performance out of the product if you use it within a year. While some boosters will last longer than a year, it goes bad faster when it's not stored in ideal conditions, such as not in its original container.

Keep the booster in the original container. Some boosters are light sensitive, so it's important that you keep them in the original container. Also, follow any other recommendations on the back of the bottle about storing the mixture.

Try not to leave the octane booster in your tank for extended periods. When adding an octane booster, it's a good idea to use them up quickly. If you have a car that you don't use much, only add as much as you need for the amount of fuel you're planning to use. Many boosters are ethanol based, and as they sit in your tank, their drawbacks become more of a problem. Buy what you're going to use in the short term, and try to mostly use it up. For instance, ethanol isn't as efficient as other types of gasoline, and that becomes worse over time. It's not as efficient because it burns more slowly, causing a slight reduction in the power.