The best article I read on octane boosters was done by a magazine called sport compact truck or something like that. They used a lab that had an octane tester and measured.
Summary- there are two things that really do improve octane , and I’m not talking about .1 point, more like 3+ points. Of course there is a catch.
Toluene and mmt work!
The amount of improvement was greater with 87 than 91. Still, they can raise 91 to 93 ( I think, going by memory).
However... toluene can slow burn down so much that you can have flame come out exhaust! It can still be burning on exhaust cycle . Use less, it’s fine. It’s also $$$. My local paint shop wanted $20 a gallon, not cheap.
Mmt is magnese. Works great , like lead . Cheap too! But, it can leave deposits on your spark plugs, eventually foul then if over used.
Other additives, like alcohol, are not practical. I’m thinking that rather than using the 91 oct stuff that’s 10% alc, my bike my prefer some 87 oct boat fuel ( no alc in it) with a pint of toulene added. But, the possibility of splashing some toluene on the tank paint is enough to discourage me from doing it.
the older I get, and the more people I see coming up with extreme Chemical Induced Illness', daily, turning them into unproductive health care drains, and just basically sad and sick people.. that once were healthy...I just have to question why anyone would feel the need to, or actually take it upon themselves, to add MORE chemicals, to the sea of poison we all breath everyday...
I'm not being a 'nanny' about fuel as it exists today, I'm sure a lot has been done to reduce the detrimental output of toxins, been living thru this 'exercise in futility' for 5 decades of permutations..(5 decades of fuel revisions, that is). Lead HAS been removed from fuel, and not many of us suffer from that happening... there was a reason for it's removal.
I find it interesting that prior to it's removal, for the better part of the century, right up to the point someone said..."hey, that is toxic.." it was 'OK to have..." and viola, overnight, gasoline changed... I have a motorcycle that has a catalytic insert in the exhaust, and it IS in there for a reason..
MMT.... 'Magnese' does not appear on my periodic table as an element...( I assume you actually meant 'manganese'.. ) and if if you add the stuff,(MMT), willy nilly, to gasoline,(which is already containing what the 'safe levels' for use are already in it....) under the guise 'it's safe', some thought should be placed in what MMT really consists of...
Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl.. the chemical 'bond' which creates the structure, is the issue, not the manganese...
as for the Toluene, it's extremely funny you noted the price, as it is so cheaply manufactured, it is not even something to be synthesized in a lab condition.. basically it's worth about $0.18 / gallon.... yeah,
the 'online costs' vary from pennies to $$$... last can I bought for shop use, ran me about $12/gal. but that was generic 'solvent use', not 'lab quality'.... (i'm sure there is no difference, physically...as the contents did not disclose 'fillers')
as for the 'cost', that has been driven out of the necessity to 'restrict' its purpose for intentional inhalation, for intoxicating effects...( or, and for clandestine drug lab use... ), not saying it does much to reduce the sale, but as Benzene( now pretty much banned as a toxin), has been pulled, it's use a a common solvent for many industries keeps it in circulation. Al tho I wouldn't add it to fuel either, it has been used in the past in high concentration as a fuel, but it needs to be pre heated to extract it's best properties as a fuel. It's use in Europe has been banned in anything limiting it's content to less than 1% by volume.
I just watched a series about people with chronic health degradation, debilitating in each case, caused by simple everyday contact with things like mold spores, but many of these people had some exposures to 'metals/minerals', in airborne forms, that did in fact contribute to their health issues..
the whole 'chemical dump site' we create daily, even though it may not effect us individually, does add to what the future of everyone living, or not born yet, must endure...
I'm just glad I was lucky enough to be resistant to all the chemicals, and toxic metals/materials I was exposed to thru my life, and hope I never see the effects of them exacerbated before my time is done.. however, unlike
biological hazards, (germs, virus', etc.,living organisms,) that thru generations tolerances for them rise, and make the future children more resistant,
the toxic chemical footprint, and it's effects, are the complete opposite... the tolerance levels of my grand children, and their grand children, will become soo fragile to the cumulative toxins buildup, that a simple whiff could be fatal.
I'm off the Soap Box, sorry for being a Debbi Downer... if you get dirty looks for farting in a crowded place, just tell them they are lucky
it was only a fart... and not a new fuel modification... for more horsepower, to satisfy your desires.peace,
wear clean undies,
ride safe.