Ian Lehn is the founder of BOOSTane, a sophisticated fuel additive that increases the octane rating of pump gasoline, and he reports that it can take 93 octane [RON+MON/ 2] up to as high as 116 octane. Primarily it is used to increase the octane rating of regular pump fuel, and in the case of E85 Lehn says, “It can also stabilise the fuel a little bit from that phase separation that it goes through.
“The difficulty is that E85, being 85%, alcohol; it inherently has some shortcomings. Differences in quality between winter and summer blends results in substantial variability of performance. So we have customers who blend our product with E85 in order to create some cheap insurance; a bit of a buffer zone when the quality of the ethanol is unknown.”
These days BOOSTane is partnered with Driven Racing Oil, “in order to expand and offer not only the highest quality fuel solutions but lubricants as well”. Lehn adds the story of how he helped prove BOOSTane “as a true race fuel alternative. That was using it in a fully built Pro Class 8 race truck, and racing it in the 2017 Baja 1000.
“We wanted to prove that our product could allow us to run 1100 miles in the most gruelling race in the world, all on Mexican pump fuel!
BOOSTane founder Ian Lehn proved his product on the 2017 Baja 1000
“The engine was tuned for 103 octane, and the alternative would have been to figure out logistically how to bring such race fuel into the country and spread it along 1100 miles of the course. Using local pump fuel with our product achieved the same performance without the headache of buying and transporting expensive race fuel. All we had to do was find a local gas station.
“We’re not the plastic bottle octane booster that you’re going to find at your gas station. If used properly, BOOSTane is very much a race fuel alternative.” In an event that saw only 205 of the 404 starters finish, with Jay Crouch as co-driver Lehn took fourth in class, the F-150 completing the 1134.5 mile race in 47 hours and 52 minutes.
Interestingly, Lehn notes that the Mexican fuel cost about $3 per gallon and with BOOSTane the total cost was about $7.50 per gallon – about half the cost of 103 octane race fuel. That was a significant cost saving, given that the truck consumed more than 200 gallons over the course of the event.