I'm sure alot of you have tried octane boosters in your trucks, but my question is, does it really work or is it just a waste of money. Lucas has a brand out that I might buy, but not sure on the other ones.

 

waste.

 

Waste of money. I believe running a higher octane won't help performance wise unless tuned for it.

 

Yep, waste of money. I've heard they only make a difference if you pour a bottle in on every tank.($$$) Even then it's marginal improvement. If your truck is not pinging now, there is no reason to increase the octane.

 

Nope, not pinging or any knocks. Thanks for the info.

 

I run a bottle of Lucas gas treatment every 6,000-8,000mi in my VHO and Impala. My 3.8L Impala still currently gets 28.5 mpg on average. It currently has 65,000mi.
It still runs flawlessly and always idles smooth. It may or may not be due to this type of maintenance I do.
GM service departments actually recommend running their BG gas treatment through the tank every 6,000K. Though it's not part of the actual maintenance plan for the vehicle.
I guess this is my form of preventative maintenance.
My friends 03' 4.3L V6 ECSB Silverado had a hesitation and rough idle problem. It had 122,000mi on it.
He replaced the fuel filter, spark plugs and wires, cleaned his K&N drop in filter, used a throttle body cleaner on the MAF and TB, and replaced his PCV valve. None of the above helped.
Two weeks later he ran a bottle of the Lucas gas treatment in the tank with a full tank of 93 oct fuel. About 3/4 of the way through the tank (4 days), the problem went away. The 93oct fuel probably help some, but more importantly, it worked. He always runs the cheapest 87oct he can find usually.
I assume the injectors were really dirty. The Lucas product proved to be a great product for his specific problem.
At least that tells me it does something other than cost you money and being a wasted effort like some gas treatments are.
I know many people who swear by Lucas products, but their gas treatment is the only one I use at this time.

Jim

 

I also have used the Lucas gas treatment in my vehicles.Works wonders if you ask me.On the Octane Boosters....i have used sevral differant types in the past back around 16years old...none ever helped.Since then i realize they are mostly junk and don't waste any money on them.

 

Due to the compression ratio of our engines, it would really not benifit from the use of higher octane points. Only if critically high timing advancement was put into a PCM tune at WOT.
Don't worry about those octane boosters. It's all hype.
People who have high compression built race engines wouldn't rely on octane boosters. They go for race fuels with the proper octane in the fuel so detonation will not occur.
My LQ9 6.0L engine has a 10 to 1 compression ratio. I found it has detonation when using 87 & 89 oct fuels with the stock tune. It may be minimal, but it's there. I use 93oct fuel and have no detonation at all. The LQ9 6.0L is recommended to use 92 oct fuels in it.
I believe the 5.3L engines are either a 9.1 or 9.4 to 1 engine. Therefore, 87 & 89 oct fuels work fine in them.
Just use the Lucas gas treatment in it from time to time. It will keep your injectors and combustion chamber clean.

Jim

 

The lower octane your engine runs on without knock/ping, the better. Use that and don't be concerned about boosters. If you have an engine over 11:1 compression ratio, you'll likely need higher octane. If you aren't able to readily buy race fuel and know you need it, then consider a booster.

I've had to use 93 octane in a 408 w/ 11.4:1 compression and it ran on that, though I wouldn't race it that way. I did, however, add Octane108(32oz.) to about 7gal of 93 and raced it before running the fuel out. It didn't do badly imo.

Treatments like Lucas aren't bad, but they aren't usually needed and when they are, it's not something needed often. The best thing to do is proper maintanence and keep things like your air filter clean and your oil/filter changes done as needed. I've used these products.

Another addative I use is Marvel Mystery Oil(SHORT STORY ATTACHED). This stuff's been around since the 40's or earlier and it does work. You can add it to your crankcase or your fuel tank too. In the early 80's when my dad still owned a small engine sales & repair shop, this guy came in trying to sell MMO and dad said he'd been around long enough to know what it is and wasn't interested that day. But the salesman was persistent and offered to verify just how good it was by any means necessary...

He said he'd buy an engine if he broke it and dad offered up a Honda generator(expensive even in the 80's). The guy quickly agrees and fills the brand new engine with a qrt or so and fires it. It starts and runs fine and all were appeased, but then he did the unthinkable... He removed the oil drain plug and restarted the engine. He said he'd let it run 30 minutes and if it broke, he'd still buy it. It never skipped a beat and we kept it for at least another 5yrs.

 

My gas in my camaro is paid for, but the only stipulation is that I have to run the cheap ****. When I put the nitrous on the car, I did start adding some of the lucas brand booster. Spraying with no pings, so I'm satisfied.