Since getting Sunoco 104 is a 600 mile round trip effort and $7.50 a gallon to boot, I have been following the Toluene threads on different boards and ran across this on an Audi forum.

"Toluene is a pure hydrocarbon (C7H8). i.e. it contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms. It belongs to a particular category of hydrocarbons called aromatic hydrocarbons. Complete combustion of toluene yields CO2 and H2O. This fact ensures that the entire emission control system such as the catalyst and oxygen sensor of your car is unaffected. There are no metallic compounds (lead, magnesium etc), no nitro compounds and no oxygen atoms in toluene. It is made up of exactly the same ingredients as ordinary gasoline. In fact it is one of the main ingredients of gasoline."

Sounds like an effective and safe way to boost octane.

Mark

 

Here is the link to the post on Toluene if you are interested in reading it. Sounds like using it would save some bucks over 104 Sunoco and perhaps even a more powerful fuel.

http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/95187.phtml

Mark

 

I have been told that back in the day of turbocharging in formula 1. The so called rocket fuel that they were running was actually something like 90+ % toluene.
Remember those days 1300 to 1500 HP on around 90 or so cubic inches.
Seems like it would be a great octane booster to me, besides Coldie uses it. And runs pretty good with it.
Dale

 

Toluene is a nice fuel to use. It has a high octane # and it has high energy density (energy per mass of fuel). One of the big reasons the F1 teams were using toluene is since it had a higher energy density, they could carry less fuel on board. Less fuel = les weight = faster car. Of course the octane # was another reason, but there are other compounds that could give similar octane numbers with less power.

90% might be a little high for how much Toluene they used. In order for the engine to run you need at least come lighter components C5's and C6's so that you get some vaporization.

F1 fuels still use a large amount of Toluene.

 

Toluene works great. I need to graduate from the 1 gallon sherwin williams cans to something in bulk. I also want to look into the different grades or purity levels that exist.

With 1 gallon of toluene to every 8-10 gallons of Amaco Gole (92), I can run the hot side of my chip all the time w/o any problems. I do mix in a few ounces of mystery oil for lubrication.

 

What kind of "mystery" (or is that a brand) oil do you use for mix?

Mark

 

NeedFourSpeed is referring to Marvel Mystery Oil. You should be able to find it at any of the standard chain auto stores.

 

I love that toluene


I buy it from a local guy in bulk for 15 bucks a 5 gallon pale. Mix that up with some 93 octane and your good to go brother.

 

If I remember correctly from my old days on the test stand, pure toluene, by definition, has an octane rating of 100. In fact running a motor on a test stand and comparing a given fuel to how toluene runs in the same test engine is how the octane number is derived. So therefore I wouldn't expect that you could get more than 100 octane running pure toluene, however, mixing it with another good fuel (>100) might get you better than 100 but no better than the other fuel you mix it with (theoretically). Also toluene has a bad habit of swelling and destroying most kinds of non-metallic seals etc. so I would be very careful abut leaving any high concentrations of it sitting in the fuel tank, injectors, fuel pumps etc.

Just my two cents from an old fuel chemist.

 

Toluene is 114 octane. It is a solvent, so it can harden rubber lines and damage some plastics, but if you're just using a few gallons per tank, I doubt that you will have any problems with your fuel lines. Like super dave said, don't let a high concentration of Toluene just sit in your tank.

-NGK

 

I stand corrected, it's iso-octane that has a rating of 100 by defintion. I guess I'm getting old

 

Sounds like ya'll are talking about Vapor Pressure. I can't see toluene mixed at say at 20% by volume would cause any problems with expansion. Most probably throw in a few gallons with less than half a tank to go to the drags..I buy this stuff from a paint factory for about 5 bucks a gallon. In 5 gallon cans. I use it often. I'm a toluene junkie....

10x93 octane, 2x114 octane= 96.5 Octane......

I don't add any Mystery oil...don't think it's needed with this mix.
Plus the oil from the intact vacuum should work anyway.....grin

 

Yeah, I have 3 gallons of Toluene sitting in the tank right now to get rid of some detonation that I get with this sh*tty 91 octane we have out here. I don't add any Marvel Mystery Oil either with Toluene. I've read that it's a good thing to do when using Xylene (117 octane) though since it is a stronger solvent. I'm sure it doesn't hurt anything to add it with Toluene though. I need to find somewhere to get it in 5gal. containers though. I've been hitting up Sherwin Williams for 1gal. containers.

-NGK