FYI: race fuel

[phillysrt4]

just curious, what did the price for 100 turn out to be?

also, is Xylene still available down there? I cant find that or toluene in any hardware/paint stores

[blizzard]

i thot Xylene only came in metal cans?

they decided on 110 leaded, so no good for cats but its $7.999

[phillysrt4]

Xylene does come in metal cans, but I've put it in my plastic race fuel jug with no problems. You really need to add lucas or some kind of lubricant into the fuel, but when it came to power the xylene/sunoco94 homebrew I made was just about on par when it came to power (SOTP dyno and boost gauge) with Sunoco's 104 and was superior to what sunoco's 100 would do.

8 bucks a gallon isn't bad for 110 race fuel. Up here there is unleaded fuel available up to 114 octane but its way more than that per gallon.

[SAC81]

Yep, Xylene is available at our local hardware stores and I've been using it with great sucess for years. It works awesome in a pinch.

[Martin0660]

My appology that this is going off the original topic, but I think it's a good discussion on fuel alternates ...

but when it came to power the xylene/sunoco94 homebrew I made was just about on par when it came to power (SOTP dyno and boost gauge) with Sunoco's 104 and was superior to what sunoco's 100 would do.

I know you can still get 94 in parts of Canada, but it is now all 93 in the States ...

We have had this conversation before, I've used Xylene as well, but am not a fan of it for a number of reasons. The Xylene mix is a bit sketchy IMO as to what you get, but set that aside for a bit and just look at the economics these days .... Xylene around here runs $15-20 a gallon, with $17-18 what you see at most places. For reference ...

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CGEQ8wIwAA#

To get to something comparable to what you reported (better than 100 no lead) ... you would have had to be at a 30% mix? It gets pricey at that.

Here is the Torco mix chart for 93 octane ...

http://torcoracefuel.net/2-docs/acce...r-ratio-93.pdf

For reference, I can buy it by the Quart for $21.00 (shipped), or as I do, in 5 gallon cans for $260.00 shipped ($13 / quart) ... Using the worst case of $21.00 / quart, the price is 0.66 / oz

Per the mix chart, I can make 10 gallons of 104 octane with 32oz (1 Quart)

I filled up yesterday with 93 premium at $3.899/gallon and added 11.67 gallons ($45.50) to that, I would need to add 37.34 Oz of Torco to get to a 104 mix, or $24.64 worth of it ... In the end, I can make 104 octane for $6.18 / gallon, and only do it when I need to do it (like Xylene) ... I actually am closer to $5.18 / gallon because I buy in 5 gallon cans.

This was more or less an example because you was discussing 104 octane as a target ...

I mix to 100 octane for my stuff and made my own mix chart. The "down side" is that I race with a full tank to know how much gas i'm mixing with (okay for me as I need the weight), or have to work out of a 5 gallon fuel jug to mix and add to the tank mixed. My last fill up at 11.67 gallons of 93 ($45.50) plus 28 Oz of Torco ($11.20) at a cost of $4.85 / Gallon for 100 octane no lead versus about $8.00 at the pump (that is ~15 miles away).

Now, the tank I filled up yesterday will not be mixed ... I didnt race yesterday, and wont until next weekend ... I can (and will) drive the car all week (at 21 psi boost or less) on 93, then will fill up to go to Columbus Thursday and mix that tank based on tank capacity because it will be 100% 93 ...

[John4cam]

This may be completly different than xylene, or mabey not....but my friend used to run denatured alcohol in his buick t-type. We used to always joke about him getting fuel from lowes, lol.

[Martin0660]

in his buick t-type.

It is sort of different, but working to the same end as octane ... He was likely using it with an alcohol injection kit, real big in the Buick world is SMC and they specify denatured alcohol ... In the more modern systems, companies like Snow, Devil's Own, etc typically use a water / methanol mix ... In any case it is injected to the intake tract as a detonation supresant ... could be a whole 'nother thread on those systems.

[phillysrt4]

I have no disagreements on the economics of Xylene vs torco vs "preblended" fuels, but in a pinch Xylene was a viable alternative for me. Back when I needed 100/104 torco was a PITA to get. If there was an impromptu street battle with cam (sometimes it would be a PM in the late afternoon to head over that day) then 104 was not an option. At that point, I had two options:

a) drive anywhere from 20-40 min out of my way (depending on who was open) + fuel costs to get 100 then hope I ran my tank down enough to not get kicked out, or
b) hit the hardware store on my way and adjust my blend based on what my gas gauge said (i was getting pretty good at this).

I will willing to sacrifice the economics for the sake of race time.

If I had a car today that could take advantage of 100+ octane fuel, would I do xylene even if I had it available? Probably not.

[blizzard]

hence why i did the thread in the first place, we're not all 1320 chemists but sometimetimes when the pocketbook allows we like a lil kick in the pants..

otherwise, i can appreciate the usefull info contained herein,, :beer:

[phillysrt4]

forgive the threadjack, but is MTBE banned in PA?

[Martin0660]

1320 chemists

lol

forgive the threadjack

lol 2

[97LaserRed]

Very excited they are selling 110! Do they sell race fuel containers too?

[blizzard]

Very excited they are selling 110! Do they sell race fuel containers too?

don't think so.. smokes, snacks, beer.. and petrol el grandios