does anyone know if its ok to use an octane booster? i want to use it in a mercedes e350. does anyone have any experience in using it in this type car that requires premium unleaded gas but put in regular grade and used an octance booster without experiencing any engine problems? thanks
Which octane booster? What does the label say? And why do this?
It takes tons of the stuff to actually raise the gas an octane number, so it will be much cheaper to actually buy premium gas. That stuff is only for if you live somewhere where for some reason you can’t get premium (which I can’t imagine is anywhere these days), or if you have a racing engine that requires even higher octane.
Also, our typical response to questions like this is why would you spend extra tens of thousands of dollars on a high-performane car and then cheap out on a few cents worth of gas?
It is best to buy the octane you need and not try to play chemist. It is also cheaper. BTW can I assume your engine calls for high test? Does it recommend it or does it say it is required?
And here’s what one of the octane booster makers says in their FAQs:
“Q: Can I use a lower grade of fuel than is recommended by the manufacturer and add 104+ Octane Boost products to make it a higher grade?
A: No, we recommend that you follow the fuel grade suggestion in your vehicle?s owner?s manual.”
If you cant detect any ping or knock then you do not need higher octane. Why spend money to provide octane your engine does not need??
My dad told me that some Ford Model T owners would drop mothballs into the gas tank to boost the octane. The driver could then set the spark advance control higher (the Model T had a manual spark advance lever on the steering column) and get better performance. He didn’t try it himself and doubted that the mothballs really did much to raise the octane. Since I can’t find anyone around who remembers much from the 1920’s, I would guess that my dad was right. I think today’s octane boosters may be the same hoax as the mothballs were for boosting octane of gasoline in the old days.
You bought a Mercedes, and you want to cheap out on the fuel to feed it? Time to start looking for a different vehicle then.
To put things in perspective, and assuming the vehicle is atleast an 06(the first year Edmunds lists the E350, look at it this way:
Your vehicle has a 20.6 gallon fuel tank. Assuming 91+ octane is 20 cents more than 87(I know it varies from place to place, but 20 cents seems to be the average). If you ran your vehicle out of fuel and filled up with 91+, then you’d only be spending [i]an extra $4.12 over 87 octane[/i].
How much does a bottle of octane booster cost? $5? $10 a bottle? And most only treat up to 16 gallons, requiring almost TWO bottles to treat your fuel tank.
Which method seems cheaper to you now?
AND, you have no way of knowing if the "booster’ did ANYTHING!
I can tell you this…Whether or not your engine lives or dies will NOT be determined by 5 octane points…