Torco Race Fuel

[A4SlineWA]

Hey Audizine,

I was curious being a rarely new S4 owner and first time having a supercharged vehicle if any of you have tried Torco or some kind of fuel additive. Being previously from Alaska we only had 90oct and a lot of us liked running a more aggressive tune, 93 oct. So a lot of us used Torco and it accomplished it's purpose. Best bang for the buc.

I owned an Sti, Evo, Rs6 and GT-R and I could definitely tell the difference. Got rid of knock and allowed me to run my 93 tune efficiently. Here in WA we only have 92 oct, but the tuner I'm with said I should be fine running it in on my 93 tuned car.

So my questions are, is their a way to tell if I'm knocking? Do you think I'll feel a difference in running a 92 to 93 octane? Any experience with Torco or other fuel additives.

Thanks

[Loe]

Torco will leave an orange rusty residue on the tips, just imagine what it will leave in the combustion chambers, o2 sensors, and plugs...

But yes, torco does work as advertised and may be fine for a tank here and there, but i would not do it on a consistent basis.

[BlownOne]

Logging will tell you if you're knocking and I remember reading some stuff in the caddy boards about torco being garbage...I know it turns your plugs a weird orange color, but I've personally never run it. You could add 2 gallons of e85 per tank of 92 and get knock reduction without discoloration/buildup on the plugs.

Will

[jran76]

I tried it, and logged the car pretty extensively both on the street and drag strip. I had mixed results at best. It was hard to get a good mix in the gas tank to the point I could run a race gas map, and some times it didn't even help with minor knocking on my regular 93 map. It also looked pretty good from time to time on my 93 map. Someone a lot smarter than me basically told me that it was hard to get a consistent mix without mixing outside of the tank, and that seemed to be the case (maybe because you use a relatively small amount).

I ran through 2-3 full tanks with 93 and a pretty heavy mix of Torco (enough for what they said would be 105 octane or so) with the same results. The last time I tried it, I filled up with race gas as the tank was empty, and noticed an immediate improvement. I dropped 0.3 seconds on my ET at the drag strip compared to what I was doing with the 93/Torco mix.

Like I said, I only ran though 2-3 tanks with it, but my plugs looked fine. If you just need a small octane boost, maybe it's worth trying. Although 3-4 gallons of E85 works a lot better for me, and I'd go that route over the Torco.

[jsh139]

Is this like that Toluene stuff?

[onlyaudis]

4 gallons of e85 added to even our weak 91 octane transforms the throttle response on my stage 1 car. (probably about e20 with that mix) The thing just rips when you stab the throttle now. You also have to be more careful with those boost in a can additives and direct injection engines. I'd have some catalytic converter concerns over long term use as well. And cats on our cars are super expensive to replace and suck to change out.

[Loe]

Torco tends to "settle" over time, whereas another similar product Boostane is more consistent over the course of the tank.

[cspcrx]

I am stock now but started mixing in E85 on every fill up. Best we can get is 91 octane so I put 3-4 gal of E85 every time to get me to 93-94 octane. I notice the difference even being stock. Plan is to do Stage 2 next sale and want to run 93 octane tune all of the time so I will continue to mix E85 in. Easy for me as it is available in Phoenix and 2 miles from my house as well.

[mgaman]

I'm just jealous you got out of Alaska to better octane. Every day I get gas I wish I'd magically find a 93 pump. Hell, I'd be happy with getting 92 again like back in the day :(

I haven't run Torco in my car. I had enough experience with it in the WRX and STi - it wasn't super reliable, at least in logging results, and while the MMT residue wasn't terrible, I am too concerned with what impact it might have in a direct injection engine to try it out.

You could always go with a 91 octane tune, or try a 93 on 92 and log it out. Probably wouldn't be that bad.

[mrmomo313]

instead of bothering with torco and if e85 isn't available, water/meth setup might be the call... I'd consider that if you really want to run a higher octane tune

[deadpool7777]

I'm from Washington and have been running 92 octane on a 93 map for the last 9 months with no issues. Just make sure you use top tier fuel. I have no actual data or real world proof, but I've used 93 octane in my car from other states and the 92 in Washington ran better. Could be due to weather and elevation differences, who knows.

[A4SlineWA]

I'm just jealous you got out of Alaska to better octane. Every day I get gas I wish I'd magically find a 93 pump. Hell, I'd be happy with getting 92 again like back in the day :(

I haven't run Torco in my car. I had enough experience with it in the WRX and STi - it wasn't super reliable, at least in logging results, and while the MMT residue wasn't terrible, I am too concerned with what impact it might have in a direct injection engine to try it out.

You could always go with a 91 octane tune, or try a 93 on 92 and log it out. Probably wouldn't be that bad.

Hey Brain! Wow like old times. NASIOC anyone lol. Yeah man don't got that GT-R money right now but having fun with the S4. I just picked up some Torco. I'll see if I can tell on the butt dyno. I don't have a way to data log right now. You got a Ross tech I can borrow lol. Nice to know you're on here. I def miss Alaksa. Bremerton doesn't have a race scene at all. Hope all is well.

[A4SlineWA]

I'm from Washington and have been running 92 octane on a 93 map for the last 9 months with no issues. Just make sure you use top tier fuel. I have no actual data or real world proof, but I've used 93 octane in my car from other states and the 92 in Washington ran better. Could be due to weather and elevation differences, who knows.

Thanks for the info Deadpool. Yeah as far as I can tell the car runs strong on 92. I go to Safeway. I just got some Torco I'll see tomorrow if I can tell on the butt dyno. I researched where e85 is near me and it's like an hour towards Tacoma area. Where in WA are you from?