Originally Posted by
Reptile
There's always a lot of confusion regarding octane, octane-boosters and how they work. Typical misconceptions are evident in blank-statements like:
"Higher octane fuels burn slower, thus their higher octane number"
"Higher octane fuels burn hotter, therefore more power is generated"
"Higher octane fuels explodes with more force, thus their higher power"
All three of which are untrue and are coincidental in effect,
Some racers think that they need a slow burning gasoline to make good horsepower. This is far form the truth. What we need is a good fast burn gasoline to be able to complete the burn in the time available.
Keep in mind that at 6000 RPM, each spark plug fires 50 times per second. At this rate, there is very little time to draw the intake charge into the cylinder, compress it, burn it, expand it, and exhaust it. A good fast burn gasoline is very important in making as much horsepower as possible at this engine speed. The most horsepower is developed when the gasoline is burned completely.
07-17-2011
