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Toluene, Xylene, or MTBE Where to Buy

15K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  boosthard05 
#1 · (Edited)
I'd like to buy a few gallons of octane booster, but not sure where to get it for less than $20 a gallon. Toluene and Xylene are available thru Sherwin-Williams, but I don't know how much it costs. I emailed them a request-for-quote but haven't gotten pricing yet. I don't know where I could buy MTBE.

Has anyone found good sources for Toluene, Xylene, or MTBE that are closer to $5 a gallon?

Some booster info below:

Toluene has an octane rating of 114
Toluene - R2K1 - Products - Product Finishes

Xylene has an octane rating of 117
Xylene - R2K4 - Products - Product Finishes

Methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE) has an octane rating of 118

O1=gasoline octane rating
V1=volume of gasoline
O2=octane of additive
V2=volume of additive
O3=mixture octane rating

O3 = ((O1*V1)+(O2*V2))/(V1+V2)

To treat 1 gallon of 91 octane gas to equal 100 octane you need:
0.64 Gallons of Toluene & 1.6 oz of ATF (automatic transmission fluid)
0.53 Gallons of Xylene & 1.4 oz of ATF
0.50 Gallons of MTBE & 1.3 oz of ATF
 
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#2 ·
I got pricing back from Sherwin Williams

Xylene in 1 gl can 154-8684 is $10.07. In a 5 gl can 154-2398 it is $8.99/gl.
Toluene in 1 gl can 154-8668 is $11.24. In a 5 gl can 154-2372 it is $9.89/gl.
they don't carry MTBE

To treat 1 gallon of 91 octane gas to equal 100 octane you need:
0.64 Gallons of Toluene $6.33 per gallon of gas
0.53 Gallons of Xylene $4.76 per gallon of gas

Looks like Xylene is more cost effective than Toluene

If 91 octane costs $2.75 to get 1 gallon of 100 octane Toluene mix costs $5.54

If 91 octane costs $2.75 to get 1 gallon of 100 octane Xylene mix costs $4.91
 
#4 ·
xylene has detergents that can harm your engine and fuel system components, i would suggest using toluene.
 
#5 ·
I can only buy 87-91 octane where I live. I can get 100 octane about 65 miles away for close to $8 a gallon.
 
#7 ·
I think i might throw some toluene in the tank, have a gallon sitting around... not really looking for power increase... just tryin to fight the knock retard this stupid hot weather is causing.

bout half a gal should do eh?
 
#8 ·
So............ I've been reading for the past 2 hours about toluene and the pros/cons.

I just moved to a new area a couple months ago and this town/other towns only have 91 octane. And with the RL's stage 2 tune and ported blower. It has been misfiring alot, now there is a Sherwin Williams paint store right up the road from my house.

Should I just throw a 10-20% mix in and see what happens over the next couple months or not? Almost everyone says that the toluene will not hurt your car but an old member *** said that toluene will definitely ruin our fuel system. IDK
 
#9 ·
people said that E85 would hurt the fuel system too... It's just more speculation with no experience to back it up, people are concerned by what they read...

Toluene may have negative effects on the fuel system OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME WITH EXTENSIVE USE.

in other words, if you use it every tank and constantly run it through the system, yes it MIGHT harm your fuel system... but that's a big maybe considering they already use Toluene in gas as the additive that determines the overall octane rating... so personally i don't see how it could hurt your fuel system.
 
#11 · (Edited)
E85 absorbs water quickly. When ferrous materials or Aluminum is exposed to the water-E85 mix, the water can cause corrosion.

Corn ethanol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If the fuel rail design is return-less, water gets trapped in the rail. If the fuel system doesn't have a mechanism to eliminate water build-up, mix with ethanol should be less than 20%....probably closer to 10%.

Octane Boosters

Some of the forums suggest adding either mineral oil or trans-fluid as a lubricant when adding toluene. Others say it’s not required at all. If I had to guess, I'd say the mineral oil / trans-fluid requirement is BS.

This is a pretty good article on Toluene:
http://www.elektro.com/audi/toluene/tolq.html
 
#12 ·
has anybody tried using E85 with a water injection system like Snow Performance makes? I would guess you wouldn't care if the E85 had a bunch of water in it when used in this application.

Snow Performance: Home
 
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