I found this while doing some research on finding ways to get higher octane fuel. This is a Q&A session that rocket brand race fuels had with motor trend and gives some good information on mixing fuels, issues of detonation and pointers on octane booster and aviation gas.

Some of the threads I have been involved in during the last month or so have had a lot of discussion on mixing fuel to reach higher octane so I thought I would post this and see if anybody had extra input on this subject.

octane article

My issue is still a problem of living in Alaska. 90 octane is premium here, and I haven't been able to find racing fuel. I even checked out the rocket brand websight for distributors and Alaska is the only state that they don't offer their product in.

 

Well I found the one place in Alaska that sells the high octane racing fuel. Sunoco has 104 octane unleaded and it runs $440 for 55 gallons. Mixing that with 445 gallons of 90 octane will give me 91.54 octane which will hopefully suffice. Before doing the big mix, I plan to do some runs to see if 91 octane is sufficient and I get rid of the detonation that is going on with the 90 octane.

I figured the cost will be $3.55 a gallon based on $3.00 per gallon 90 octane and $8.00/gallon 104 octane. Total cost to fill the 500 gallon tank completely will be $1775 and would yield 20 fill ups of 25 gallons each. At 12 mpg average, I should be able to get 6000 miles out of each 500 mixed gallons.

I could mix it to be 93.08 octane which would cost $275 more ($4.10/gallon) as well, which if I'm going to all this trouble, the extra few hundred for 6 months isn't too bad ($45.83/month). I just wonder if I'll get better performance with the 93 octane vs. the 91.5 octane.

Here is an online calculator that I found to figure the volume for mixing.

 

I can't give you no useful info on mixing or what would be best but I will tell you that it will all depend on your tune. You re-tune your car to run on 90 but it will not run as good if it is tuned on 93.

Just curious .. how are you going to store and mix all that gas ??

PS . Very nice looking truck

 

Wow, what a headache. Bummer dude.

I guess my main concern would be proper storage too. It would sure suck to buy all that gas and then have it go bad before you can use it.

 

My plan for storage is either a single walled above ground steel tank or a double walled below ground tank either 500 gallons or 1000 gallons in size. If I do above ground, I'm worried about the "eye sore" factor, but I might have a place where I can put it and keep it out of view. The benefit will be I can do a gravity feed rather than have to include a pump. If I bury it, I don't have to worry about the eye sore factor but the tank will be more expensive and I'll need a pump. The pumps need maintenance as well with fuel flowing through them, so that would be another headache. I'm building a new house and we are actually burying our heating oil tank today or tomorrow, so I've got some familiarity with fuel tanks now, but not much. I've talked to a couple of people that have them, and they are very happy with them. They don't have to worry about going to gas stations, and they save up to 10 cents a gallon by ordering bulk instead of paying at the pump. I found that gas is usually good up to two years in plastic jugs, and longer in steel tanks/drums, so I should definately be able to work through the fuel before it goes bad.

It is a major headache and I hate having to go through all this, but it is either tone the truck way down, put a larger pully back on and lose a bunch of power, or get the gas to where I want it and enjoy being able to fill my truck up at home year round. I plan to go get 20 or so gallons and try different octane levels before buying the bulk amounts. If I don't see much difference in 91-93 octane, I'll just keep it simple. Whipple tuned the truck to run on at least 91 octane, but I'm not sure if I would notice improvement at higher octane. I'm about to fire an e-mail off to Dustin and inquire about that.

slowtan, thanks for the compliment.

 

Maybe build a wood shed around the tank to lessen the eyesore factor

 

I've thought about that route as well, but I can't build it where it is easily accessible, it would be about 35-40 feet back from the front of the garage, and I plan to park my trailer and boat along side the house, so backing up to it would be out of the question. I need to look into how long of a hose I can run, and see if I can position it on the side of the house next to the garage door for filling up. Thanks for the idea though.

 

how about a custom dyno tune for 90 octane? Sure you would be leaving some power on the table but you could run Torco from time to time and switch to a more aggressive tune??

 

From what I've heard, there hasn't been much luck doing custom dyno tunes on the Whipples. Also, being in Alaska, I have heard of one dyno about 350 miles away, and I think they are far from capable of dyno tuning my truck. This is why I headed to Fresno and had Whipple dyno tune the truck the week before I headed back to Alaska.

I can get a custom tune (mailed) through Whipple, and pay more again to lose the power that I just paid to get, or I could pay a little extra in getting 100-104 octane fuel and mixing it. I found another source in Fairbanks for 100 octane fuel, so I think I'm good to go now.

It's amazing how many articles out there warn against additives like STP, home made brews, NOS and other octane boosters. I just don't want to play around with that stuff.

 

To each his own, but I guarantee any reputable tuner Like psp, JDM or the like can get you a solid 90 oct tune. Ofcourse as you stated being in BFE doesn't help. I'd suggest a wideband at the least if you are going to do any mixing etc.

I agree with some of the additives but Racers have been using Torco for years. Search in the Lightning section. Just some thoughts.

But hey if you are willing to go through the hassle of mixing that is the way to go. Just cover your bases. Wideband and do some datalogging from time to time.

 

05Roush, first of all very beautiful truck. I am also here in fairbanks and have been trying to find 91 octane gas for my magnum. I know not a ford owner here, but a previously owned many mustangs, and car admirer so dont flame me to bad. Very difficult up here to be a performance guy so we need to stick together.