One of the engineering sites I go to often just had this come up probably for the same reason Tom posted it. They had some interesting theories as to why the old style ones might have worked. I won't repeat it all because honestly, they are theories and while it is interesting, what benefit is it when there are a number of things available and more easily attainable that increase the octane rating and are known to work.
The most interesting part of the thread was the guy who started it requesting that no one made any jokes on how hard it was to pry their little legs apart.
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