rlinger

where do i go to try out the racing gas? - i live outside of pasadena, ca
thanks
charley

EBMCS03

By Pasadena? then try this one.

Arroyo Parkway 76 *
155 E. Glenarm
Pasadena (626) 441-3392

* Also carry leaded racing gasoline

http://www.osbornauto.com/racing/100locations.htm

Try out the 100 octane and report back if theres any difference.

norham

Unleaded which is 93 and always at Tesco's its the cleanest and in relation to higher octane unless your running an F1 car its vertually impossible to tell the difference so its all in the mind folks and remember the enviroment!!!

robg

Iceman -

Not trying to be difficlut here, but can you point me to something that indicates higher than recommended octane improves performace. I have searched before, and searched again, but find nothing. Even the gasoline sellers say that there is no benefit to higher octane, and they havea real incentive to sell the more expensive stuff. http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/GFM/Produ...asoline_FAQ.asp
http://www.arcogas.com/gas/faqs.php

For those whoe may be interested, here are some links that explain octane and its impact.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/octane.htm


BTW, I agree that there is no harm to using higher than recommended octane, I just always thought it a waste of money.

slowdog

Actually, lower octane fuel has more energy potential than high octane in a moderate-compression engine. High octane is required to delay the combustion of fuel under compression, so you can have a higher compression ratio. Using higher than recommended octane will result in less than optimum mileage, as the engine doesn't make the compression that requires it.

By the way, these are facts, not opinions. Additives are required to produce octane ratings and this is science, not conjecture.

rlinger

well, i put in half a tank of 100 octane today at the pasadena gas station.
acceleration is much faster with the high-octane gas. (it is noticeably faster revving to the redline)

however, after doing fast starts off redlights driving home, i backed off and reset my mpg computer. i only got 14 mpg (mile per gallon for our international readers) going home on side streets.
I normally am about 18 mpg in stop and go traffic. (the i-210 was too slow today to take home from pasadena)

I will find out tomorrow if the trend continues tomorrow with lower MPG.
I am not sure if I really am burning lots more gas since it is high-octane or the engine/computer just learned the behavior from earlier fast starts from the red-lights. more to come.....

charley

EBMCS03

Cool not exactlly proof but higher octane does "make the car go faster." You usually get 18 mpg on city driving? ARE YOU SERIOUS??? WOW that sounds high... but reguardless Clear your MPG tomorrow morning and drive it normally and see if you can monitor it and see what mpg you get. Hoping you can control that right foot.

BTW how much was the 100 octane?

Iceman

It's definately no waste of money if you want high performance.

Shell V Power guarantees the max acceleration and can lead to an increased performance, longer engine life and better fuel consumption.
Just filling up once doesn't help much, you have to use it on a regular basis, what I do. I could demonstrate it on my car...

I tried a quick search for the official statements, but everything I've found was German...

robg

It's definately no waste of money if you want high performance.

Shell V Power guarantees the max acceleration and can lead to an increased performance, longer engine life and better fuel consumption.
Just filling up once doesn't help much, you have to use it on a regular basis, what I do. I could demonstrate it on my car...
..
[/quote]

I do not know about other places, but in the US, some oil companies got in trouble for claiming that higher octane was better for engines, e.g., longer life, cleaner burning, etc.

As for performance, if higher than recommended octane resulted in better performance, it would be very easy to prove. Run a dyno test for HP and torque, and the 1/4 mile for speed with the recommended and repeat with higher octane. If the higher octane had higher performance the numbers would prove it. If this was true, you can be sure that the gas companies would heavily promote this. I have never seen any empirical evidence that this is true.

Can any of the "believers" point me to any published data that backs up your position?

HughH

This is from an expert who has been in the industry for a long time.

Posted on Thu, Sep. 22, 2005


Ed Wallace


Wheels


By Ed Wallace

Special to the Star-Telegram


What Dealers Can?t Tell You
The question I most often receive goes like this.

"I am a regular listener of your show. In the last couple of weeks, I heard a show in which you were discussing the use of regular vs. premium unleaded in high performance cars.

I was interested to find out that you were certain any car after a certain model year could burn regular unleaded just fine. My niece has a 2003 Land Rover discovery that she was told must use premium unleaded."

Here we go. The modern computerized automobile is quite capable of running on any grade of fuel; it will sense the octane of what you put into the tank and kick in the anti-knock sensors automatically. Car dealers must insist that only premium gasoline can be used in products so designated because they would be violating numerous federal laws if they said anything else.

Why? Because these vehicles? posted horsepower ratings and fuel economy figures from the EPA are based on their using premium fuel. Should one use a lower grade of fuel, the car will still run just fine; it won?t do any damage to the engine ? but your horsepower will drop slightly, and you may lose a mile or two of gas mileage. But who cares about that now, when using regular gas will save you a young fortune? A couple cars with computerized transmissions, which learn their owners? driving habits, may experience a hiccup or two when shifting in lower gears.

Ed Wallace is a recipient of the Gerald R. Loeb Award for business journalism, given by the Anderson School of Business at UCLA. He reviews new cars every Friday morning at 7:15 on Fox Four?s Good Day and hosts the talk show Wheels Saturdays from 8:00 to 1:00 on 570 KLIF. Available on the Internet.