[justa6]

Re: MTBE

I think you'll find that MTBE actually does raise octane but not quite as much as Toulene/Xylene. But according to what I've read in 3 different articles it makes the gasoline burn better and produce more energy. Many people think that higher octane fuels are more "powerful" than low octane when it could be argued that low octane is more "explosive" and that is why you need something less volatile to resist detonation. ie harder to self ignite. I'm sure its much more complicated than that though.

In closing this is an important issue for Cobra owners as a lot of the motors used are either right at or over the edge of being able to use normal high octane gas available at filling stations.

Of course, I can't tell if my car "pings" as the side pipes are so loud and from years of flying jets my hearing at the higher ranges is pretty much gone. On the other hand when the Grand National "pings" when on boost it sounds like a baseball bat hitting a drum and a deaf person would hear it.

Regards,