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Hello Peter,
okay, Premium is 95 RON, and Super is 98, this I didn’t know. The statement that 98 is less stable than 95 I still consider as bull-etc, at least not within a reasonable period (I’m not talking about 5 or 10 years). Ask some technical people from Shell of BP, I’m sure that they will tell you nothing else. I doubt that their additive is an octane booster, as thousands of researchers in the petroleum and petrochemical industry are looking for this since 20 years, and such formula would be worth billions!
However, there is a difference between an additive and a component. An additive is used in small quantities, normally less than 1 %; a component can form a vital part of the gasoline itself. As an example take lead resp. TEL, it had been added at 0.15 grams per litre, so clearly an additive. Albeit small percentage, it increases RON for about 5-8 points, depending on basis gasoline. On the other side take Toluene or MTBE, both have RON ratings in the range of 118, so for increasing a RON from 95 to 98 you would need about 15 %, so clearly a component, and no additive.
I don’t know what Miller’s stuff is, but most probably none of the common components, as I do not believe one has to add 5 or 10 litres per tank fill.
I also do not understand why RON 95 plus additive should be better than 98 plus additive, except for commercial reasons. The formula is quite simple, a full tank of 95 plus additive costs the same as a full tank of 98, so they have arguments to sell it! For 98 plus additive there are no commercial arguments, so simple it is!
I know that there are some additives around to replace TEL with concerns to valve seats, most of them on basis sodium. I have no idea whether these additives really protect the valve seats or not, but one thing is absolutely clear: they neither increase the octane rating, nor the performance in general. I’m really surprised that your feeling is that the performance of your car has improved, is this really the case, or only wishful thinking? Physically or chemically there is n o t h i n g in a gasoline which improves directly the performance of an engine, except if the basic gasoline is not suitable for the engine in question. If your engine needs 98 RON, and you use 95 only, of course an increase of octane rating to 98 has positive effects. But if you require only 95, then an increase even to 102 RON has no effect at all – except you change the technical specification of the engine, e.g. increasing the compression ratio. In n o c a s e you should use 95 plus any additive, if the engine requires 98 octanes! There is no additive known to me which can increase octane rating, except TEL or other dangerous or even prohibited substances, or of course components like aromatics or oxygenates.
If they offer their product as substitute for TEL with concerns to valve seats – okay, may be it works, but as octane booster?? Would be interesting to know whether they make such statements only orally and personally, or whether they confirm this somewhere in writing in folders or the like.
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