| Petrol
Additives and Octane Boosters
Since there
can be a string of Questions on this fronts, I am doing it in a Q n A form
as below :
Q1 : I use System G @ 20 ml for 10 litres although the recommended amount
is 10 ml for 10 litres. (It is 20ml per 10 litres for the first 1000 kms).
The reason I use a higher quantity is because I feel a noticeable increase
in pickup when I use this higher quantity. My questions are : 1) IS this
increase on account of an octane booster component in injector cleaners
? 2) If not what is the reason ?
A1 Yes, it's due the Octane Booster component
- more apparent coz the so called 87 Octane fuel dished out in our country
is hardly ever 87 ! Plus the fact that a Baleno has 'knock sensors', which
automatically retard the ign timing even in case the knocking is due to
poor Octane rating of the fuel - resulting in noticeable loss of power.
Q2 If it does result in higher power, would there not be a higher explosion
in the cylinder given that I am regularly using this and it is not the initial
difference that I feel ? 4) If it is better explosion / combustion would
there not be a higher temperature build up resulting in higher wear and
tear? 5) Are octane booster good for a car? 6) How do they work ? &)
Which one would you recommend in India.
A2 Every engine is designed for a particular
Octane rating fuel to enable it give the best performance - via the ECU
in such cases. If one uses a fuel of higher than designed Octane rating,
since the ignition timing in such cases cannot be advanced any further by
the user, no harm can come to the engine.
While I am not a chemical engineer, though I wish I too were, I don't know
what additive is used in such Octane boosters. If I were you, I'd stick
to the best/purest fuel + PA in the recommended dose - as too much of even
a good dope can be harmful-like an overdose of vitamins !
Persisting higher than recommended dosage of PA's can damage the internals
of the fuel injectors, if not the other such vulnerable components of the
entire fuel system. In fact Honda doesn't recommend usage of PA's on their
Cars in India, for reasons best known to them !
The WHY of it
The entire System
stinks, like most of our Govt. inflicted misfortunes. For example, the
last I heard was that the Retailers’ commission on sales fixed by
our Policy Makers was 25P/Lr. An average Pump sells 150-200 KL/P.M, thus
Officially earning only Rs. 35-40,000/-P.M. Out of this, they have to
meet all their overhead costs such as 3-shift staff Salaries/Electricity
etc. No wonder they cheat.
It’s ironical that its about the only trade in our Country where
the more one sells, the less one makes!
|
