Racing Fuel??
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Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 34
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From: south wales
450 BHP Saab 9000 Aero
Racing Fuel??
Does anyone use it in their AMG's or do you make up some cocktails instead? Or just stick to the super unleaded from the pump and put some octane booster in now and again?
A few of the guys back here have been using thinners mixed in with Shell V Power on their turbocharged Saabs and its given some really decent performance gains. You need to get the right stuff though...get it wrong and it'll end in tears! From what I've read (double check this though incase I'm wrong!) its thinners with xylene, acetone and toluene and costs around £8 for 5 litres. Seems like a much cheaper alternative to the expensive race fuels I've tried in the past (coolblue 76...£80/£90 for 25 litres) and a bit cheaper than getting 100% toluene which is around £40 for 5 litres! But I've been advised against getting anything with a high methanol content as it eats through the rubber fuel hoses!!! One of the guys tried a 5% mix but found no difference, then tried 10% and noticed a decent hike in performance.
I'm organising another Rolling Road day in 2 weeks and a few of them will be running identical set ups (around 340bhp) but a couple are going to try this new cocktail out and see how they compare! We'll see if its worth it!!
A few of the guys back here have been using thinners mixed in with Shell V Power on their turbocharged Saabs and its given some really decent performance gains. You need to get the right stuff though...get it wrong and it'll end in tears! From what I've read (double check this though incase I'm wrong!) its thinners with xylene, acetone and toluene and costs around £8 for 5 litres. Seems like a much cheaper alternative to the expensive race fuels I've tried in the past (coolblue 76...£80/£90 for 25 litres) and a bit cheaper than getting 100% toluene which is around £40 for 5 litres! But I've been advised against getting anything with a high methanol content as it eats through the rubber fuel hoses!!! One of the guys tried a 5% mix but found no difference, then tried 10% and noticed a decent hike in performance.
I'm organising another Rolling Road day in 2 weeks and a few of them will be running identical set ups (around 340bhp) but a couple are going to try this new cocktail out and see how they compare! We'll see if its worth it!!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: south wales
450 BHP Saab 9000 Aero
I forgot to update this with my findings....well basically yes it works 
I added 8% standard thinners to 1/2 tank of Shell V-Power (99 ron super back here in the UK) pulled the battery to reset the ECU and after a quick adaption run the increase in performance was very noticeable.
The turbo I've got fitted is pretty laggy (GT3076R) and there's not much life below 60 unless I'm caning it in 2nd gear, so low down performance wasn't far off standard time with me struggling to get under 6 secs 0-60 & 0-100 was around 11.5 secs. With this stuff I've got the 0-60 down to 5 secs dead and 0-100 in 10.3
For a FWD car that's not bad at all (my old E55 AMG used to get to 60 in 5.3)
60-100 has also been reduced a decent amount from 4.3 secs to 3.9 (hoping to get this down to under 3.5 secs this year with further mods and and extra 50-70 bhp) The AMG was around 5.5 secs.
70-120 used to be 8.9 and is now 7 secs flat.
I'm not sure how much this will effect an N/A car tbh or a SC powered car but on a turbocharged engine its made a hell of a difference!!! Just make sure you get the correct stuff...or it could end in tears!!
I added 8% standard thinners to 1/2 tank of Shell V-Power (99 ron super back here in the UK) pulled the battery to reset the ECU and after a quick adaption run the increase in performance was very noticeable.
The turbo I've got fitted is pretty laggy (GT3076R) and there's not much life below 60 unless I'm caning it in 2nd gear, so low down performance wasn't far off standard time with me struggling to get under 6 secs 0-60 & 0-100 was around 11.5 secs. With this stuff I've got the 0-60 down to 5 secs dead and 0-100 in 10.3
For a FWD car that's not bad at all (my old E55 AMG used to get to 60 in 5.3)60-100 has also been reduced a decent amount from 4.3 secs to 3.9 (hoping to get this down to under 3.5 secs this year with further mods and and extra 50-70 bhp) The AMG was around 5.5 secs.
70-120 used to be 8.9 and is now 7 secs flat.
I'm not sure how much this will effect an N/A car tbh or a SC powered car but on a turbocharged engine its made a hell of a difference!!! Just make sure you get the correct stuff...or it could end in tears!!
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Joined: Feb 2009
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From: Central WI (BFE)
SL55, ML500 & Acura TL
I usually run a mix of 50 50 shell premium and unleaded racing fuel on track days. I do it mostly for extra knock protection the racing fuel provides. Some say the only way to take full advantage of racing fuel is to have a tune specifically for it.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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From: Charleston, SC
GL450
Turbo cars benefit much more from higher octane than N/A cars. A turbo car should benefit even if it's not tuned for it. It will benefit a lot more if it is tuned. An N/A car will not see a huge power increase regardless (small increase if tuned, not much increase if not tuned). As Cal said, the biggest use on an N/A car would be for knock protection.
