Fuel Question
11-15-2005, 03:40 PM
#1
Track Day
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Fuel Question
Hello, I am a new owner of a 2000 Boxster S which I absolutely love. My question is: I know the factory and manual says to use 93 octane minimal but in Oklahoma the highest I can find is 91 octane. There are only two service stations that carry 93 octane and they are a drive for me to get to. Do you know if I continue to use 91 octane instead of 93 will it have any detrimental effects on my engine? The last thing I want to do is hurt my car. Any help is appreciated.
11-15-2005, 05:48 PM
#2
Instructor
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Well maybe but if you drive it to get the 93 stuff every once and a while you would be doing it and you a bit of good! I have a 2000 Boxster and only can find 92 so I will be interested in what you hear on this list.
11-16-2005, 05:32 AM
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AutoX
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Your car's ECU adapts to the lower Octane, this is part of Porsche's specification and all modern cars, so it will not do any harm to the car... If you only use the higher Octane fuel occasionally, your car will not benefit from the extra Octane performance as apparently the ECU take a while to adapt back to higher Octane but when you use a lower Octane it adapt instantly to protect your engine.
However, occasional filling with good quality higher Octane fuel (Shell V-Power, etc) helps as the detergents addative keep your engine internals clean. I have found the higher Octane also gives better mileage...
Unless you are on a race tracks or really pushing your car, most people will not notice any noticeable performance difference when using their Porsches for daily use...
However, occasional filling with good quality higher Octane fuel (Shell V-Power, etc) helps as the detergents addative keep your engine internals clean. I have found the higher Octane also gives better mileage...
Unless you are on a race tracks or really pushing your car, most people will not notice any noticeable performance difference when using their Porsches for daily use...
Last edited by THX911; 11-18-2005 at 09:12 AM.
11-16-2005, 06:01 AM
#6
Burning Brakes
I run my car on mid level petrol all the time and only fill with high octane when I have a competition.
The ECU is perfectly capable of adjusting for different fuel quality - Porsche just say you can't expect the rated maximum power if you are using lower grade fuel.
The ECU is perfectly capable of adjusting for different fuel quality - Porsche just say you can't expect the rated maximum power if you are using lower grade fuel.
11-16-2005, 09:14 AM
#7
Burning Brakes
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No flames please !
I use 87 in my 2000 boxster all the time, and have done so for 2 years now. I throw a tank of 93 in there every once in a while, but I drive the car as my daily driver and at 24 miles each way to work, I just use the 87 and have had no problems. I drive the car fairly reasonably, with some hard runs here and there. I tried 93 for a few tanks and didn't see enough difference in fuel milage to warrent the cost, although it's not that much more $.
I think the big thing is whether or not your gas has the ethenol or alcohol. I know some of the states use the corn produced alcohol, and i'm not so sure that is the best for these cars. (i could be wrong)
Best of luck......
Tom
Columbus, Oh
I use 87 in my 2000 boxster all the time, and have done so for 2 years now. I throw a tank of 93 in there every once in a while, but I drive the car as my daily driver and at 24 miles each way to work, I just use the 87 and have had no problems. I drive the car fairly reasonably, with some hard runs here and there. I tried 93 for a few tanks and didn't see enough difference in fuel milage to warrent the cost, although it's not that much more $.
I think the big thing is whether or not your gas has the ethenol or alcohol. I know some of the states use the corn produced alcohol, and i'm not so sure that is the best for these cars. (i could be wrong)
Best of luck......
Tom
Columbus, Oh
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11-16-2005, 10:56 AM
#8
Track Day
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Thanks for the info. I think I am going to continue to use the 91 and then try to fill up with 93 at least twice a month. I only put about 20 miles on the car each day so I'm not doing any hard core driving from day to day. I will just make it a point to use 93 on the days that I am doing Auto-cross.
"However, occasional filling with good quality higher Octane fuel (Shell V-Power, etc) helps as the detergents addative keep your engine internals clean."
I have heard that if you use detergents more that occasionally it can actually have a negative effect on your engine. Any thoughts?
"However, occasional filling with good quality higher Octane fuel (Shell V-Power, etc) helps as the detergents addative keep your engine internals clean."
I have heard that if you use detergents more that occasionally it can actually have a negative effect on your engine. Any thoughts?
11-16-2005, 04:19 PM
#9
Three Wheelin'
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Chevron with Techron in all of my cars, 93 in the Box, 89 in the 928 and Intrepid. Techron is the best at keeping the system clean and mild enough to not damage the engine.
It's more damaging to leave the junk in there building up.
Take her up in rpm too. Don't baby it or carbon builds up. When my wife drives the Box for a week you hear clacking noises because she keeps the rpms down. I get in and in one drive it's smooth and quiet again because I'm consistently in the 4500-6K rpm range. Moral of the story.....it's a Porsche.
It's more damaging to leave the junk in there building up.
Take her up in rpm too. Don't baby it or carbon builds up. When my wife drives the Box for a week you hear clacking noises because she keeps the rpms down. I get in and in one drive it's smooth and quiet again because I'm consistently in the 4500-6K rpm range. Moral of the story.....it's a Porsche.
11-17-2005, 01:35 PM
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Cleaning the carbon off is my husbands job. I can't quite bring myself to drive it like that. But he can!!!
SO I give him the keys from time to time.
Melissa
SO I give him the keys from time to time.
Melissa
11-17-2005, 03:36 PM
#11
Chevron 91 works great on all my Porsches. I can really feel the difference between 87 and 91 especially in my older cars. One time I put 89 octane ARCO in my 83 911 SC and the car ran as if it was short two pistons. The Southern Cal Dealers tell me that for my 2000 Boxster and 2005 Cayenne, 91 octaine is fine.