I ran 3 cans of professional level Boostane, to try out my Hundred octane tune. It held the hundred octane tune perfectly, however, it left a very aggressive residue. I had the plugs pulled and they were not in good shape, and the O2 sensors were a mess, as well.
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Boostane, think twice!
LaserDoc
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That’s like e20ish, right? I imagine there is enough overhead in the stock setup to accommodate that, but I would think going higher could cause some problems.
One of the more surprising details about this "blend" thread is that from a cost standpoint it appears that starting your mix with 87 and adding a bit more additive is cheaper than starting with 93 and adding less octane boost. Boostane charts show this to be true. This is assuming a 50 cent diff per gal in 87 vs 91 (no 93 in colorado)
ive yet to try an oz of any of this stuff but this discussion is interesting.
ive yet to try an oz of any of this stuff but this discussion is interesting.
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Just chiming in from personal experience in case anyone is scared to use boostane (I'm sure this thread gets searched a lot and people think it's gospel). I've used 2 cases of boostane with no negative results in both my 2014 Porsche Cayman S and 2016 Challenger Hellcat. It definitely makes more power and reduces knock in comparison to pump gas. It definitely changes the color of your spark plugs but the residue seems to have no effect on performance. I don't understand the big deal with why people are scared just because of residue though I'm a big risk taker and have used 100% meth on a setup when the race community said you should mix with water. That stuff definitely turned my plugs white and after about 5k miles or so needed to be swapped due to misfires. That said, I have yet to have that issue with boostane and I'll continue to use it with no regrets. I will also add for comparison sake that I typically use boostane (4 oz.) to raise 91 octane to 94 octane since 91 is the highest in my area. I have used a whole can a couple times to make 100 octane and can feel the difference.
The concern is the deposits of Boostane coat the converter surfaces which over time reduces the converter efficiency. Plugs is bad enough but new factory converters for my 2002 Boxster were over $1000/each and this some years back when I priced them. I had an intermittently bad converter due to a loose "brick". (Road debris hit the converter housing and the impact caused the brick to fracture.) Finally got tired of the dull knocking at cold start and the very annoying buzzing when hot. Ended up sourcing two used exhaust manifolds (with the integral converter) for $495/each. After these were installed the noise was gone and no more intermittent P0430 error code.
2019 Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye - 2015 Challenger Hellcat
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I've run Boostane in my 2015 Hellcat for 4 years with no issues.
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This makes logical sense in theory though I've never experienced this issue. I admit I don't put a lot of miles on my cars and this may be why. I imagine some high flow cats would perform much better since the cells are bigger in comparison to factory cats. I actually plan on changing the headers on my Cayman since they make significantly more power with aftermarket headers anyway and I wanted bigger cells. I can't imagine the bigger cells getting clogged like the tiny ones do. Now for the Hellcat, I wasn't planning on changing the factory headers since they're pretty efficient but if they clog, I'll definitely go high flow or no cats at all with a custom tune. The residue on the cats doesn't bother me but I suppose I can see that being a problem for some if it's a proven issue.
High flow cats are not better. They are worse.
The converter cells need to be small and many (in the hundreds) to provide sufficient surface area so the exhaust gases can come in direct contact the cell surfaces which have the catalytic metals which latch on and retain excess oxygen in the exhaust gases. This is provided by an engine controller which slightly varies the air/fuel ratio to intermittently provide a sightly leaner mixture -- which has excess oxygen in the exhaust -- and a slighly richer mixture. The oxygen stored when the mixture is lean and not all used in this phase is then used when the mixture is richer.
With insufficient surface area excess oxygen in the exhaust gas can't be "grabbed" by the catalytic metals and stored. The efficiency of the converter is reduced.
Also with larger cells high flow cats probably have less surface area and which also means there is less catalytic metal. In this case the oxidation process is reduced which means less heat is generated which works to lower the efficiency of the converters. They are intended to work "hot" and the heat is partially provided for by proper operation. The high heat is needed to sustain proper conversion of the bad exhaust gasses into something less bad.
The cells do not get clogged the working surfaces get coated and prevent the direct contact of the exhaust gas -- which includes oxygen -- with the catalytic metals. This is a concern when oils with levels of ZDDP are used. The ZDDP under high temperature conditions such as found in the converters (which can operate at 600C (around 1000F) form a glass like like compound which coats the working converter sufaces.
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I'll have to take your word for it, but again I haven't experienced the issue myself and I forgot to mention I also used boostane for years on my old 2008 SRT8 with no issues though that car had no cats. I don't know why I don't have issues and other people do but I just follow the instructions every tank. Still running the factory cats on the Hellcat and Cayman with no lights, skips, or puffs. Only smiles per gallon.
Well to state the obvious with no cats there can be no degradation of the non existent converter surfaces. If the plugs are not affected fine. If they are they are reasonably easy to replace.
Hopefully the build up of deposits in combustion chamber and on the piston top do result in enough insulation to cause these surfaces to run too hot and lead to detonation that even Boostane can't prevent. Or result in higher compression that could result in off the shelf (so to speak) gasoline no longer having enough octane to control detonation which makes the continued use of Boostane necessary.
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Oh I hear you. I'm just saying I've always been that guy that uses products or methods that people are scared to do and I usually don't have issues. If I get 5-10 years of use out of it before I have an issue, it's hard to point all fingers at the product solely. A lot of people fail to disclose the plethora of other things they did to the car that could have caused the issue. Good example are the onsies and twosies that claim a diablo tune blew their engine. They don't disclose they did some dumb ish or didn't follow the instructions correctly and their 250 shot of nitrous failed because of the diablo tune they used. I follow instructions well and maintain my car on my own so I know what's going on with it and I know why it happens. So far, I haven't had any issues and I've been a product user for years.
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Interesting find I found for you on Youtube. A man with a Demon, (Calls himself Demonology) has 3 runs posted while doing dyno testing. Boostane produced more horsepower than 2 other different expensive race fuels he tried. His mixture used in the Demon was 8oz of Boostane to every 5 gallons of 93 octane (Shell fuel). The total octane level was 101. I myself trusted what I saw and I am now a Boostane user myself.
You guys need to look up the episode of Engine Masters where they tested ALL California gasolines on a hot LS engine. 87 through 116 race gas made the SAME power and wanted the same timing also for max power. Even E85, adjusted accordingly, did the same thing! Their whole conclusion was that unless you design an engine from the ground up to use race gas (12 to 1 or higher), you're wasting a lot of time and money. Just higher-octane gas does not add power, if the engine doesn't need it. I bought one of those Aeroforce gauges to actually see when my engine is pulling timing. I'm down to testing E15, 88 octane (Kwik Trip), and around town it doesn't pull anything. My next half-tank will be 87, E10 to see if I can run this as a DD. Now, Road America for a 20-minute track session in the summer, is another story. I can't hammer it anyway with winter tires on, so saving $.50-$.80 a gallon makes sense to me. Especially, burning up the miles on the highway! 
If you go back and read some of the old Demon threads, I thought that Boostane adversely affected the oxygen sensors.
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I used Octanium Unleaded for about 10,000 miles, 1 Qt in 15 gallons, ie 1 can every fill up. I proved through data logs how much it reduced knock sensor volt feedback thus allowing a bit more timing or boost or both. I too through plug and O2 sensor inspection that the MMT build up was tolerable and these where parts easily replaceable so no big deal. When I removed my engine to go forged I was shocked what the exhaust valves looked like. The tulip in the valve was filled with MMT build up to the point it looked like a flat top valve like the intake valve, this reduces cylinder volume and increases compression ratio which can lead to detonation. Worse though was the valve seats, they had MMT residue burnished into them which when filled with a penetrating oil the oil seeped past the valve which meant it was not sealing 100%. No chemical would remove the buildup in the tulip, not even after soaking a few days, it had to be removed with an abrasive. The valve seats resealed after hand lapping with Diamond infused lapping compound but this is something that can not be done without removing the heads, ie not as simple as changing fouled plugs or O2 sensors. Here’s the heads before and after.
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Here’s a spark plug comparison, 2000 miles on E85, ran 1 1/2 tank of gasoline with 1/2 Qt of VP Octanium Unleaded and here’s what the plugs looked like after not even 100 miles. Yes, they don’t look “that bad” but this is about 16 oz in 10 gallons of fuel, what you think happens after cases of it?? No more Octane Boosters for me, you guys can do what you want, I’m in the same boat now as @LaserDoc who started this thread about the ills of MMT. I once didn’t believe it, now I do.
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i run straight 87 from the pump..no worries here
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