Octane tester

[Richard Sargent]

>That would be a great addition to the toolkit for your
>state/province weights & measurements compliance
>programs.

>Every so often you hear of people getting shortchanged
>at the pump...

I used Chevron 94 octane exclusively in my '88 5KTQ with an adjustable boost controller, and I usually ran 15 pounds of boost. If I used less than 94 octane, the car would not run well, and would actually stall at stop lights.

There was only one gas station in town with 94 octane available, so that's the only station I visited. On one occasion, after filling up with 94 octane, the car behaved as if I had filled it with regular gas. I checked the receipt to make sure, and returned to the station, and asked the manager if it was possible that the tanker truck had accidentally filled the premium tank with regular, which he denied. The next time I filled up, the performance was back to normal. I sure could have used a portable octane tester, as I had to suffer the miserable performance of regular fuel for the rest of the week.

I actually ran 96 octane in that car, since I would add 2 gallons of toluene (114 octane) to each tank of 94 octane. It was much faster than almost any Mustang in town, with the exception of one with a supercharger. The guys I carpool with still talk about my old car.