The Best Octane Boosters You Can Buy

Octane boosters can help to improve your vehicle’s performance in many ways. Whether you’re looking for increased power, or something to stop engine pinging and knocking, you’ve come to the right place. Instead of wasting time researching dozens of octane boosters, we’re here to save you time by narrowing down your search. Below, you’ll see our picks for the best octane boosters currently available, along with plenty of information so you can learn more about octane boosters.

For more information on octane boosters, refer to our table of contents.

Just like their name suggests, octane boosters are designed to raise a vehicle’s octane rating. For most car owners, that means using a bottle of octane booster when refueling their vehicle to give it better performance, fuel economy, and more. Now, octane boosters are admittedly a subject of much speculation and debate within the automotive community, so the main thing you need to know is that an octane booster’s efficiency will vary heavily based on the vehicle.

Fuel octane is an important factor when it comes to the gas we use in our vehicles, but the big debate is whether octane booster additives are necessary for a car to run at peak performance. In the following sections, we’ll take a look at how octane boosters work and hopefully the information we provide will allow you to draw your own conclusions on whether or not you need octane booster.

Octane boosters are part of the “fuel additive” category, which typically includes fuel enhancement and fuel stabilization products. Octane boosters are a fuel enhancement product by increasing the octane rating of the fuel, enhancing a vehicle’s performance. Generally, as octane ratings increase, pre-ignition becomes more difficult. This results in a higher compression ratio and better vehicle performance.

When you’re shopping for octane boosters, you’ll notice the ingredients used in most of the products are fairly straightforward. They are typically a blend of tetraethyl lead, alcohols (including ethanol), traces of methylpropyl, manganese, toluene, and ethers. Products will vary on the blend of these ingredients, but these are normally the base for most octane boosters.

It’s worth noting that unleaded octane boosters can be “healthier” for your car, since leaded fuel has a tendency to affect or even harm oxygen sensors. Octane boosters from companies such as Lucas Oil and Torco are good options to avoid potentially damaging sensors.

Most octane boosters are also designed to prevent or eliminate pinging and knock. When you hear about an octane booster being anti-knocking, that means additional ignitions are not experienced within your cylinder when the booster is being used. Normally increased octane levels mean extra compression is necessary to induce detonation. Knocking is detrimental to an engine, which is why it’s important to prevent it from occurring.

Not surprisingly, high-performance vehicles tend to benefit most from octane boosters. Automakers design and manufacture vehicles to respond to fuel within a certain octane range, so that means owners of ordinary sedans and other more conventional (non-performance) vehicles may be disappointed by how octane boosters perform when used.

But in certain situations, octane boosters have proven to actually work. For example, engines that require high octane levels but have been routinely subjected to low octane fuel will have decreased performance. In that situation, that engine could benefit from octane booster. It’s always recommended to check whether your vehicle needs high-octane fuel to perform well before adding an octane booster. Otherwise, there’s a good chance you may not notice any major difference when using octane booster. You can typically find this information in your owner’s manual and understanding a vehicle’s required octane level is better than blindly spending money on octane booster hoping for more performance.

One of the most important things to remember when it comes to octane booster is using it before you need the results. So if you’re planning for a day at the track or you need to enhance the performance of your vehicle for a specific event, fuel treatments should be used weeks prior to when you actually need it. That’s because all engines require a brief adjustment period, which allows your car’s computer to recalibrate to any octane adjustments.

This is also a reason why the regular use of some octane boosters have shown to be more effective than using them occasionally or even one-time use.

To start, make sure you’re purchasing the right octane booster for your vehicle. Gauge the octane level that your fuel will be boosted to, and make sure you’re using the correct amount for the fuel going into your tank. Some octane boosters are more customizable than others, allowing you to even calculate a preferred octane level.

Make sure when using the octane booster to not come into contact with the liquid itself. Many of the ingredients in octane boosters are carcinogenic if they come in contact with or absorbed by the skin.

It’s also very important that you add your octane booster to your fuel tank when it’s empty or nearly empty. This will allow it to adequately mix in the fuel tank while you’re pumping gas. Once you fill your tank with the octane booster and fresh fuel, let your vehicle idle for a short period of time before driving.

Lastly, take note to make sure you’re using the octane booster before it expires. Some products don’t have a long shelf life, so pay close attention to any special instructions that can be found on the bottle’s label. Normally if you have any booster left over after refueling, it’s best stored in dark places.

Truth be told, not every vehicle needs octane boosters. These products are often sealed in lavish, eye-catching bottles that make unverifiable claims. Some products advertise “for race use only,” and they “restore true horsepower.” Some of this is marketing speak, while in some states, it is illegal to operate a vehicle with a high octane level. It’s many of these claims that make octane boosters such a difficult product to buy. There’s a good chance you purchase a product because it looks good and claims it works well, but turns out it does nothing for your vehicle. Believe it or not, some products have been shown to reduce engine performance!

Keep in mind that regular use of octane booster could over time lead to additional wear and tear on your engine. In some cases, some products have shown to wear out spark plugs at a quicker rate. This is likely due to the use of MMT, an additive that serves as an anti-knocking compound.

Before we dive into when to use an octane booster, it’s important to know when you shouldn’t use octane booster. For starters, octane boosters should never be used as a substitute for fuel stabilizers or any all-around fuel treatment product. If you know your vehicle is going to be sitting for an exterior period of time, adding octane booster to the fuel won’t help preserve it—you’ll need a different product for that.

Next, you shouldn’t necessarily use octane booster to exceed your vehicle’s proper or recommended octane level. Unnecessarily increasing the octane level of your fuel may not result in a boost to performance.

If your vehicle is having any sort of fuel injector or sensor issues, you may want to avoid using octane booster until they’re fixed. That’s because MMT, a common octane booster additive, can be harmful to those components when used over time.

Always remember that octane boosters aren’t some magical solution for engine troubles. If your check engine light is illuminated, it’s time to check with a professional to see what’s wrong—never assume bumping the octane level of your fuel will fix anything.

Now that you know when not to use an octane booster, here’s some suggestions on when to use an octane booster. If your local gas station’s fuel doesn’t have the octane level you need for your vehicle, then using an octane booster might be necessary. However, it’s typically recommended to use higher octane fuel first before using an octane booster.

If your engine is experiencing knocking or pinging, an octane booster could be extremely useful. Most boosters will decrease the chances of pre-detonation, helping prevent knocking and pinging from occurring.

For the most part, using octane boosters on a daily driver that isn’t a high-performance vehicle won’t yield a noticeable difference. If you have however, been fueling your car repeatedly with low octane gas, using octane booster will likely increase its performance. Some enthusiasts will say forced induction (supercharged or turbocharged) vehicles benefit the most from octane boosters.

For the most part, using an octane booster is fairly straightforward. It can get a little tricky if you’re having to do a mixture to reach a certain octane level. But below is a general step-by-step guide on how to properly use an octane booster.

1. Identify Your Vehicle’s Designated Octane Level

As we mentioned before, you’ll want to determine your vehicle’s preferred octane level, which can be found in either your owner’s manual or underneath the gas cap. That value lets you know the recommended octane level your car needs to perform well, based on the manufacturer. Typically when these levels are not met, cars will underperform. But keep in mind, some non-performance, commuter cars will also underperform if your octane level exceeds the recommended value. That’s why you don’t always necessarily want to empty an entire bottle of octane booster into your gas tank.

2. Choosing the Right Octane Booster

There are a few things to consider when choosing the right octane booster, aside from price and size. You’ll want to do plenty of research in determining whether you want to use a product that contains MMT or not. You may even want to pay close attention on whether a certain formula could damage your paint if you accidentally spill it on your car. Another detail is seeing whether a product is actually street legal.

3. Determine the Right Mixture

Some octane boosters advertise a substantial jump in octane level, while others are smaller numbers. When determining the right mixture, go by what’s recommended on the bottle. You want to avoid oversaturating your fuel blend with octane booster, which could cause issues long term such as prematurely eroding your spark plugs.

This is where you’ll have to find out what your octane booster’s true rating is. Products are often misleading, and those for example that claim to raise octane levels by 3 points, often do so in tenths. There are some products that raise octane levels substantially, but these are rarely street legal. One product on the market, from BOOSTane, actually has a smartphone app that will help you determine the right mixture to reach your desired octane level.

Once you’ve determined the blend you need, pour the octane booster into your tank before filling it up with fuel.

4. Give Your Vehicle Some Time to Adjust

Some owners may notice an immediate change in performance after adding octane booster and filling up the fuel tank. But as we mentioned before, it’s important to give your vehicle’s computer system some time to adjust. If you’re looking to boost performance for a track event, start using octane booster several days before, if not weeks.

December 13, 2022: Removed Turbo 108 (N/A); updated product links.

April 21, 2022: Removed Picks section; updated product links. Removed Mag 1 from recommendations.

March 1, 2021: Updated with a promoted product recommendation.

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