octane booster

[szymonsta]

im looking at getting a mugen n1 ecu for my dc2r. since this is tuned to japanese fuel i was thinking that i may need to use octane booster with the 98octane BP petrol i use, particularly at the next track day..

does anyone here have experience using the mugen n1 ecu? and did u find u needed to use octane booster? if so was it all the time or only on track days?

do any of u guys use octane booster? if so, which brand would you recommend? any suggestions? also any disadvantages to its use? eg. is there any chance it will have a negative effect on the life of the fuel pump/fuel lines/injectors etc?

-sz

[andrew84tran]

don't you fellas in brisbane have shell optimax extreme?

[00dc2]

not sure if they have optimax extreme here in Adelaide where szymonsta lives...

[rG`]

I use Vortex 98 w/ that ECU & also tried it in friends dc2r - no problems

If you're just getting the octane booster to use with the Mugen N1 I'd say skip it.

[noodleman]

dont the jap's tune there car with 105 octane?

i ran 98 and 100 with mugne ecu before...no problems at all

[szymonsta]

aah ok. noodleman and rG, how did u find the mugen ecu in terms of gains? also did u upgrade the valvesprings?
i was going to use octane booster as a safety measure if i got the mugen N1 ecu, esp. on track days..

[rG`]

I posted this earlier on crsx, not sure if it's still there anyway:



As you can see from the graph, better throttle response, more power sooner - growing gradually as opposed to the sudden kick of VTEC on the stock ECU. (Mugen N1 VTEC engagment is set at 4750 rpm).

Better front wheel traction at WOT and the distinct smell of petrol from the injectors doing their job (my research indicates that the N1 makes the R run rich). Strangely, with the stock ECU the R makes more engine/exhaust noise than the Mugen ECU. As sound is just wasted energy I guess that translates into more power?

With the Mugen ECU, there are sections on the track where I find myself shifting into the next gear earlier than I used to when using the stock ECU (again, because N1 VTEC engages 1000 rpm earlier).

I think you'll need the rest of Mugen's goodies to take full advantage of this ECU, and I'm sure that octane booster you mentioned would also do it's part but when you start adding up the cost...well I hope you run a mint.

Is there any particular reason you want to choose this option over a programmable ECU tuned specifically to your car?

[Noel]

The increase octane will destroy the 02 sensors. You'd need to run a test pipe and bypass using the sensors if you don't want that to happen. I'm sure you already know about the preventative cooling mods and valve springs.

Apart from the higher fuel consumption, the use of Octane Boost at every fill-up is an expensive solution. I used to buy boxes in storage for use and would have a few bottles in the boot. 1 OB for 1 full tank fill-up. The Nulon Pro-Strength off road use version is what you need to get the octane ratings up.

If you want to be a tightass and don't use OB, you might get lucky and not ping in colder weather. However when it's warm, you'd very much be pinging at heavy track/competition usage. Great ECU if you've completed all NA bolt-on modifications, pointless if you haven't done proper I/H/E work.

FYI - There are a few Mugen ECU versions for the DC2 with different fuel/map ratio tuning and redline/VTEC engagement differences. There is AC and non-AC versions (N1), Verno version (One Make Race) non-AC and GT/Taikyu version non-AC (Black ECU Box). You can denote the difference by part numbers. The Verno and GT versions are impossible to find these days. The US boys will have the AC / non-AC versions though.

[szymonsta]

thanks!
yes definitely interested in getting one..

[szymonsta]

thankx noel very informative. yes i was worried about detonation/pinging on the track in warmer weather, which is why i thought octane booster would b a solution..
re: the 02 sensors, i have the jdm cat but the 02 sensor is removed as there was no 02 sensor on the stock aus cat..so that shouldnt be a problem? (or is there other 02 sensors i need to worry about?)

[no_torq]

i have been told that octane booster can foul up your plugs.

[szymonsta]

apparently Nulon Pro strength octane booster provides the best gains in RON, according to an article i read in which 10 brands were tested. it increased the RON of PULP by 1.2 - 1.6 RON which is pretty good..

[Noel]

Szy - Even with OB, you may still ping if the fuel is shit ... I'm not kidding (With Shell + OB, I ping at over 9000 RPM, BP Ultimate + OB, NP at the way). You'd need to rely on your sensitive ears to detect it. Even then it's almost too late.

The Mugen ECU disables the knock sensors and does not do any retard control. Hence the power increase attribute. More of the power is made from turning of sensors and keeping it that way vs. a super magical fuel mapping/af ratio.

You don't really need to worry about the 02 sensors, the Mugen ECU disables them. So it's simply an item hanging off your car really. Just don't cut off the factory 02 sensors, tie it to somewhere under the frame of the car, free from the exhaust flow outside the exhaust pipe.

NoT - Yes, that'd be classified as part of preventative maintenance. You are expected to run colder specification plugs if you want to run higher octane. Otherwise, be expected to replace plugs as often as you need to.

[szymonsta]

"The Mugen ECU disables the knock sensors and does not do any retard control. Hence the power increase attribute. More of the power is made from turning of sensors and keeping it that way vs. a super magical fuel mapping/af ratio."

can anyone confirm this? this worries me a bit if i am to buy a mugen N1 ecu..
so it makes more power by alowing the car to lean out or ping or get very close to doing so? i thought it ran more rich than the stock ecu? which should reduce the chance of pinging etc? ..

[Noel]

Not speaking about other tuners, I current have 3 Mugen ECUs, N1 (AC) - EK9, GT - DC2, N1 (AC) - AP1 ... All 3 of them on their paperwork indicates so. Apart from that, I've experienced pinging before on using all 3 ECUs with cars on severe high end spec I/H/E work. Apart from using correct fuel to control, there isn't any other "preventative measure".

Unless I've been sniffing too much petrol all this time. The Mugen N1 ECUs don't run rich, they run lean (but not very lean to the point where it's dangerous) while it is definitely close if not very close to the limits (full adjustable ECUs can break this barrier easily). And you don't make more power by running it rich, you make power when you lean out the fuel map/aggressive advanced ignition timing. The excessive fuel dump attributes to the safety measure Mugen sorta puts in place but it's not enough and dangerous if you've gone pass the N1 tuning level.