harm done by using 87 verse 93 octane
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,362
Likes: 8
From: Sackville, Nova Scotia
This may be a dumb question, but if I'm using 92 Octane AND add octane boost, will that hurt the car? I'm guessing that higher octane is better, right? How much octane boost is to much?
Do any other people here use 92 AND add octane boost?? Is this a good idea? Fill me with info on this - I love learning new things!
Do any other people here use 92 AND add octane boost?? Is this a good idea? Fill me with info on this - I love learning new things!
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 14,075
Likes: 4
From: Santa Barbara, CA
Typically, if your car doesn't ping/knock using pump-gas, additional octane won't do anything for you. Chevron got busted big time several years ago for their ads with the subtle implication that higher-octane gasoline was somehow 'better' than the other stuff. Truth of the matter is that higher-octane fuel contains exactly the same number of hydrocarbons as lower-octane fuels, and therefore, contains the exact energy content.
If your car runs fine on 89 octane, going up to 92 won't do much for you. The benefit comes when you TUNE the car specifically for higher-octane. Such as using higher-compression pistons and advancing the timing on an NA car or turn up the boost on a turbo.
For example, my car on 91-octane pump gas maxes out at the ping/knock limit using 13-14psi of boost for about 290rwhp. Then when I go to the track, I dump in 4-gallons of toluene with 10-gallons of 91-octane pump gas for a tank of 97.6 octane. Then I turn up the boost to 18-19psi and adjust the ARC2 for more fuel. This is good for about another 35-40rwhp. But there's no way I can go back to 91-octane pump gas in this configuration; I gotta turn down the boost first.
BTW- those little bottles of 104+ and other octane boosters you get in the auto-parts stores are worthless. They advertise boosting 2-5 octane 'points', but those are 0.1 octane numbers. So you get 91 -> 91.5 ; not very cost effective because you gotta dump in 10+ bottles of that stuff per tank to really make a difference.
"Fill me with info on this - "
Check out the FUEL-FAQ section of my <a href="http://members.rennlist.com/951_racerx" target="_blank">951 RacerX website</a>. It contains a compilation of great fuel-related articles such as the "Gasoline FAQ", "F1 Rocket Fuel", and "DYI home-brew Octane Boosters".
If your car runs fine on 89 octane, going up to 92 won't do much for you. The benefit comes when you TUNE the car specifically for higher-octane. Such as using higher-compression pistons and advancing the timing on an NA car or turn up the boost on a turbo.
For example, my car on 91-octane pump gas maxes out at the ping/knock limit using 13-14psi of boost for about 290rwhp. Then when I go to the track, I dump in 4-gallons of toluene with 10-gallons of 91-octane pump gas for a tank of 97.6 octane. Then I turn up the boost to 18-19psi and adjust the ARC2 for more fuel. This is good for about another 35-40rwhp. But there's no way I can go back to 91-octane pump gas in this configuration; I gotta turn down the boost first.
BTW- those little bottles of 104+ and other octane boosters you get in the auto-parts stores are worthless. They advertise boosting 2-5 octane 'points', but those are 0.1 octane numbers. So you get 91 -> 91.5 ; not very cost effective because you gotta dump in 10+ bottles of that stuff per tank to really make a difference.
"Fill me with info on this - "
Check out the FUEL-FAQ section of my <a href="http://members.rennlist.com/951_racerx" target="_blank">951 RacerX website</a>. It contains a compilation of great fuel-related articles such as the "Gasoline FAQ", "F1 Rocket Fuel", and "DYI home-brew Octane Boosters".
