With a world full of additives for vehicles, it’s tricky to know what works and what doesn’t. Premium vehicles do better when they’re running at optimal levels, but you don’t want to dump just anything into the tank. Using the best octane booster, allows you to increase the flow of your engine and bump up your vehicle ratings. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the best octane boosters on the market today.
What are Octane Boosters?
Octane boosters are fuel additives meant to increase your fuel octane rating. They aren’t that effective in a regular vehicle, but in premium vehicles or race cars, you’ll see an increase in power and efficiency. Increasing the octane rating can dramatically increase engine performance, if done correctly.
The octane rating of gasoline simply indicates how much compression your air and fuel mixture can take before it combusts. Basically, it’s the hydrocarbon compound of your fuel. The octane impacts your acceleration and also supplies a knock resistance to the gasoline used.
The octane rating of gasoline that you need depends on several factors. These include the engine compression ratio, spark timing, and engine temperature controls. Faster vehicles require a higher octane rating than those with standard engines. That’s why a high octane booster fuel additive is helpful for premium vehicles.
Benefits of Using Octane Booster
RON is the measurement used for octanes. It stands for Research Octane Number. Modern engines run on 91, 95, or 98 RON. Some engines use 100 RON, but generally only in race cars or boats, not normally in a passenger vehicle.
Because newer cars look for higher octane, there might be issues when using fuel measured at fewer than 91 RON. Often, this signifies poor quality or even some contaminants are present. If this continues, your engine might suffer and start knocking.
To prevent wear on the engine, most modern vehicles will operate in a lower power phase to avoid too much stress. When this occurs, your performance and fuel economy feel the effects. By increasing your RON index, you prevent the additional strain on the engine.
In addition to that, a good octane booster also stabilizes the fuel and acts as a fuel system cleaner as it actively helps to clean the fuel and fuel related components.
Choosing the Best Octane Booster
We’ve been through all the bestselling products from the best brands to handpick these ten options for you. When searching searching for a good octane booster, you’ll want to evaluate everything by the following criteria.
Performance
Obviously, the most critical aspect is how much booster your additive supplies. That’s why in our reviews below, we made sure to list the octane level you could achieve.
Cost
If you regularly use octane booster, the cost adds up. You’ll want to factor that in with your purchase. Most people like to consider it an additional fuel expense or maintenance for their vehicle since it helps to protect the engine.
Turbo-Safe
If you drive a turbocharged vehicle, it’s imperative that you use an octane booster that’s compatible with your engine.
Capacity
Even if two octane boosters come in the same size bottle, it’s important to read how many gallons of fuel they treat. That’s because not all of them work in the same proportion. This is a great way to evaluate what you’re getting for the money you spend.
Catalytic Converter Safe
Just like not all octane boosters are safe for your turbo, there are some that won’t work with your catalytic converter either. Make sure you read labels carefully. Some boosters may not be street legal because of this.
Does Octane Booster Work?
Octane boosters definitely raise the octane level of fuel. It’s the rate at which they raise them that you need to pay attention to. That’s why finding the best fuel booster is essential; you don’t want to just grab a product from the shelf and hope it works.
Premium octane boosters won’t let you down and always deliver the results they claim. With that said, there are plenty of boosting products available that won’t deliver on their claims, which is why you need an expert like us to weed through the results for you.
It’s also important to keep in mind that the type of car you’re driving makes a difference as well. For example, driving an older car with a small carbureted engine probably won’t feel many differences in performance with an octane booster.
On the other hand, if you drive a supercharged, modern car that uses an adaptive ECU, then running an octane booster is going to provide better fuel consumption and higher performance. This is even truer if you use a car that runs on 98+ octane fuel.
If you don’t drive a modern vehicle, there are still ways to improve the performance of your automobile. Simply tune it with a dyno to use higher octane levels. This allows you to run aggressive timing and improve your performance.
How Much Octane Booster Should You Use?
This depends on which product you choose. You need to factor in the amount of fuel you’re treating and the source of fuel. On each bottle, there will be clear instructions as to the proper amount to use.
For example, if one bottle treats up to 25 gallons, you’ll want to be aware of that when you put it in. It’s also important to know that when manufacturers refer to 10 octane points, they measure it as one octane level. For example, if a booster says it increases octane by 8 points, that simply means 0.8 levels.
Because an octane booster works over time to improve performance, it might take several treatments before you receive the largest benefits from the additive.
Out Top Ten Best Octane Boosters Reviewed
To help you make sense of everything out there, we’ve put together a list of the top ten choices for the best boosters. We’ve evaluated these based on the criteria we outlined and feel they are your best options.