If DOC and the Southern bretheren would just get going on making some hi-octane "shine" wouldn't we be smilin! I believe the challenge is for us to beat the corporate plunderers by getting more inventive. Look at the creativity and knowledge on this board...
I saw an article in a Cad restorers magazine a number of years back , written by a retired GM engineer. It told the story of engine development in the early 50,s. Cad had built several V8 motors with compression ratios as high as 25 -30:1 . They were using fuel (gasoline) special made for the tests that was as high as 300 octane. This fuel would have been only about 20-25 % more costly than the std fuel of the day had it been brought to market. The engine , in a full size Caddy, was getting 80 -100 MPG with the standard carburation of the time. He stated that they had to abandon the whole project when the oil companies said that NO WAY would they ever market a fuel that would provide that kind of milage . One has to pretty much believe him --he sure had the credientials -- 30 plus years with GM-- to make him credible.
Here is a standard octane molecule: Reflecting as an engineer, it would have to be a very "energy dense" fuel in order to have 4-5X the work-capacity, of gasoline.
The Jalopy Journal
