Nissan 350Z - Fact Or Fiction

Stumbling along the shelves of our local Walmart late one night, we were immediately drawn to a bottle of 0 to 60 Octane Booster. Not because of its bright orange color (that did more to help it blend in with its competitors than stand apart from them); not even because of the "Street Legal" advertisement around its neck, as if to suggest it would give its user a leg up at the stop lights...We were captivated solely by its claim to "increase octane by up to 10 points"; more precisely, by the asterisk that immediately followed.

Will This Product Increase Power?
Reading on, we learned that an "octane point"-as the marketing guys use it-really only means one tenth of an octane rating; 10 "octane points" would elevate the octane rating of fuel by one. A seemingly small increase, but according to information regarding the product on their official site: "Higher octane levels help restore power and acceleration lost when the engine timing is retarded under knock conditions." This means that adding the product to cars equipped with knock sensors that automatically retard ignition timing to ward off pre-ignition (knock) could improve power in instances of heightened engine load, where increased octane would be beneficial.

The Test:
According to its label, 0 to 60 is formulated to deliver its "10 point" octane increase when added to 15 gallons of regular unleaded gasoline. So, we procured a Nissan 350Z test car and hit the rollers of our local tuning shop's dyno, where we powered through several Fourth gear runs, first with the car filled with 87 octane regular unleaded, then with the addition of 0 to 60. If knock became an issue with the lower-octane 87 gasoline, timing would be automatically retarded by the 350Z's ECu, ending in decreased power output. If adding 0 to 60 increased fuel's octane as claimed, timing would be advanced, and power improvements noted. After several runs, we had established our baseline numbers. After adding 0 to 60 Octane Booster to the mix, we re-tested, and found that not much had changed. Draining the car's tank, re-filling it with 93 octane gas and re-testing, however, did result in notable improvement.

The Verdict:
By the numbers, 0 to 60 Octane Booster did add .3 whp and .1 lb-ft of torque-a difference that could more easily be attributed to falling ambient temperatures, among other variables. Since Nissan specifies the 350Z be filled with premium unleaded at all times, our guess is that the 87 octane pump gas, and the "88 octane" 0 to 60 mixture were both low enough to prompt its ECu to retard timing, which decreased power. With the 93 octane gas-to no surprise-power and torque both increased more. So, without saying that 0 to 60 Octane Booster doesn't increase the octane rating of gasoline like it claims-because it certainly might-we wouldn't recommend paying 9 to bump 87 octane unleaded up to 88, when premium gasoline offering four full ratings or better is available at pumps for a fraction of the price.