Octane Boosters

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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Anybody know if Toluene is available for sale in Chiang Mai?

I want to boost the Octane rating of 91 towards 95 with a 10% addition of Toluene.
 
Jun 21, 2006
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not sure whether it is toluene or not but sa moto on mahidol road used to have putoline octane booster that i used to put in the crf. think it was about 600baht a litre.
 

mikerust

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Nov 5, 2003
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Are you sure there is no 95 Octane in Chiang Mai?
I was told by a reliable source that Caltex 95 maybe more than 95 more like 97. This from a guy who races Motard here.
Shell a likely candidate as well.

Ah I get it you want to carry Toluene around in your pocket to top up the 91 in the villages:)
 

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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mikerust wrote: Are you sure there is no 95 Octane in Chiang Mai?
I was told by a reliable source that Caltex 95 maybe more than 95 more like 97. This from a guy who races Motard here.
Shell a likely candidate as well.

Ah I get it you want to carry Toluene around in your pocket to top up the 91 in the villages:)
I tried Shell, Caltex, ESSO, PPT .......no have
 
Dec 25, 2007
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Dazza wrote: [quote quote=mikerust]Are you sure there is no 95 Octane in Chiang Mai?
I was told by a reliable source that Caltex 95 maybe more than 95 more like 97. This from a guy who races Motard here.
Shell a likely candidate as well.

Ah I get it you want to carry Toluene around in your pocket to top up the 91 in the villages:)
I tried Shell, Caltex, ESSO, PPT .......no have
I'm not totaly sure but Petronas has it in Chiang Mai , on the way to Doi Saket i thought.
Thats were i filled up my Honda XR for the last time with 95

Cheers
 

mikerust

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It seems incredulous to me that 95 is not available , however.

Has your bike been modified from stock? Does it say anywhere on the bike that it needs 95?

If you think it needs it and if this information is correct Toluene has an octane rating of 114 and the formula is :

The calculation is straight arithmetic, just add up all the octane and divide by the total number of gallons:

(gallons fuel1 * fuel1 octane) + (gal of fuel2 * fuel2 octane) = "combined octane"

"combined octane" ÷ total gallons = average octane.

For 10 gallons of calif. gas and a gallon of toluene,

(10 * 91) + (1 * 114) =
(910) + (114) = 1024

1024 ÷ 11 = 93.09 octane
To get 95 from 91 you need to run at least 20% which gives you 94.8.

So you need to carry 2l to the gas station to fill up! If you are racing that is different and in which case why not ask your fellow competitors.

Have you been to Home Pro or your local hardware store and looked in detail at all the paint thinners to see if any of them are Toluene?

from the web:

Q: I can't find Toluene in my local { hardware / Home Depot / liquor store }. Does it have a common name in these stores?

A: No. Toluene is the real name of this stuff. If you can't find it in your favorite store, then it's because they don't carry it.

Go to a commercial paint store like XXXXXXX stores. Some place that sells paints to auto body shops and commercial painters will carry it.
i bought it at a paint retail store . powell paint. i live in oregon. Toluene is a paint thinner so it should be available at paint stores.
Might be cheaper to go to the airport and see if they have any AVGas.

Question to self: Why am i bothering with all this?

Update : According to my knowledgeable friend. Toluene from the refinery is about 200 baht / litre. So to make 12 litres of 95 will cost 400 plus 10l at 3x baht = 700/2 = 58 baht/litre. Are you really sure your bike needs this?
 

Dazza

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Aug 25, 2008
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That's some reply Mike are you a Maths teacher :lol:

KTM recommend a 95 RON, which is the most commonly used guide to octane rating.

Does it need to be 95, can't say for sure but more octane up to certain point is never a bad thing, particularly whem thats what the manufacturer recommends.

Your calculations are spot on, it's a simple mass balance equation but I'd be happy to give it a boost to say 93 with 10% Toluene. Some places quote Toluene as 121, but as you say 114 is more accurate.

Apparantly in Arizona / Colorado all the guys can get is 91 RON so its not the end of the world, but as I said more is better in this case.

Bike is KTM 300 2 stroke.

I'm back to CM in a week and will go a a hunt for the stuff then

Cheers Daz
 

mikerust

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Daz,

2-stroke . 8) Well you should have said.

The guy you need to contact is Matt at Tyga Performance you find him by surfing.

Nsr 300 Mike
 

mikerust

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David,

That is weird because here in BKK both Shell and Caltex have 95 Benzene in many locations.