If your engine isn't pinging, the use of high octane fuel is of no benefit, except to the corporate wallets of the Big Oil industry that do their damndest to scam the little guy consumer, so says the Federal Trade Commission! Great link below. Enjoy!


The Low-Down on High Octane Gasoline
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/octane.shtm


Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years.

 

Steve, the use of a higher octane fuel will make your car faster, which is why all of us use it. It also keeps the engine a lot cleaner without having to dump in 3rd party fuel cleaners.

-Sean

 

Hi Sean. If you read the FTC article I posted, you will find they debunk these old myths. High octane fuels actually have less Btu's, (British Thermal Units, a measure of energy content), than lower octane fuels. There are no additional detergents in high octane fuels either. Just please read the article and you will be surprised with what you can learn. I am sick of the Big Oil industry ripping consumers off! High octane fuels, 3,000 mile oil drain intervals...arrggh! I feel sorry for consumers being barraged with this bologna!

Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years.

 

It is proven just by going down the 1/4 that 100 octane will run lower times over 87 octane.

Put a car on a dyno and give it 87 octane and then give it 93 octane and see the HP differences. The numbers are even greater in difference when using a car with force induction.

-Sean

 

Not according to the FTC sean and they have nothing to gain by that advice. They are a consumer protection office of the U.S. government. Timing can be advanced, producing more power and if the fuel can handle this without pinging, then yes there can be a power improvement. But all else being equal, (again per the FTC), high octane fuels are a waste if the engine isn't pinging.

Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years.

 

Per the Federal Trade Commission -

"Will higher octane gasoline clean your engine better?
As a rule, high octane gasoline does not outperform regular octane in preventing engine deposits from forming, in removing them, or in cleaning your car's engine. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires that all octane grades of all brands of gasoline contain engine cleaning detergent additives to protect against the build-up of harmful levels of engine deposits during the expected life of your car."


Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years.

 

Per the Federal Trade Commission -

"What's the right octane level for your car?
Check your owner's manual to determine the right octane level for your car. Regular octane is recommended for most cars. However, some cars with high compression engines, like sports cars and certain luxury cars, need mid-grade or premium gasoline to prevent knock.

How can you tell if you're using the right octane level? Listen to your car's engine. If it doesn't knock when you use the recommended octane, you're using the right grade of gasoline."

Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years

 

Octane effects the temp that the fuel will ignite (resistance to burn). Different octane does effect performance & health of the engine.. yeah we can all run off of 87.. by changing the timing and lower rpms we can do just that. but then why are we adding performance parts and trying to make our engine faster? Actually I'm pretty sure we can all run our stock cars off of 87 with NP

As for cleaning detergents is all up the brand of fuel you buy.. I would assume everyone adds a little bit of something in their fuel..

 

Steve, if you think about it indepth it does not make much sense. Is it the FTC that also rates the MPG rating on cars? If they are the people, than I would REALLY question their information considering they are SO far off when it comes to actual numbers. Take the Prius for example. They state it as getting something like 60+ highway miles whereas the prius really only gets in the mid 30s according to the people that I know that own them. Even the dealerships complain about this rating and say it is way off (of course after you purchase the car so they can use the MPG as a selling point).

 

Our owner's manual recommends using only premium fuel. From other members' experience, using anything lower results in pinging at higher RPM's (above 3K?), so therefore, we use the next higher grade, which is premium.

I haven't tried putting regular or mid-grade in my car because the owner's manual says to avoid it as much as possible. Plus I don't want the hassle of dealing with the consequences of experimenting. In the end, it's ~$100/year. I don't think it's worth risking my engine/warranty to save so little.

 

As a Sport Car Club of America racer, I can pass along that if you want to go faster, use the lowest octane fuel you possibly can without the engine pinging, as lower octane fuels have more energy content. 10 years of logging every single fill up in my daily driver cars also supports that using higher octane fuels than necessary, reduce fuel economy, again, because of the lower energy content of the fuel.

Steve
CEO of Hi-Tech Oil Co.
Distributing industry leading AMSOIL synthetic lubricants for 19 years.

 

New, 2008 EPA estimates are much more accurate. You can check out your new EPA estimates at this site: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorSelectYear.jsp

I found the fuel economy numbers for my 2005 6MT to be very accurate under their new calculation method.

 

I can understand this....but.. Unless you are tuned to use higher octane, doesn't the computer only have a limited range of how it can utilize the higher octane.

On the flip side. Testing octanes in my Mustang GT, the higher octane would yield more MPG than the cheaper octane fuel that seemed to burn faster with the same driving habits.

 

I believe so....and only very marginally.-- I'm gessing only a few degrees..

On the other hand I've read that the computer can reduce octane very substantially if low(er) octane fuel is used -- in the neighbourhood of 10 -15 degrees!!!
-- Wouldn't that be something?

My conclusion is that you should use the proper octane as recommended by the manufacturer, but that you may be able to use a slightly lower octane ( ie mid. or low octane) without loss of power and without pinging.

I heard this many times b4 that regular fuel burns better than premium, is more efficient than premium and will allow the engine to run very well.......
Provided it will run under all conditions without any pinging (which of course can be destructive to the engine).

It's food for thought, and probably worth experimentation (with care).

Colin

 

Steve,

Are there any articles you could point us to that discuss how the energy content of regular and premium grade gas differs?