asus Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 well, there is a 10 cent difference between all the different gases.. and well.. i usually fill er up with regular.. i got a strait 4 Toyota.. corolla 93.. i swear that i get much more pick up when i fill it with mid-grade gas... does this sound right.. or am i dreaming.. because a lot of people say it dont make a difference.. but well. .it seams to me that i accelerate much faster.. lol.. .. i do tend to accelerate very fast anyway.. but it just seams much faster to me.. any ideas.. or am i just wasting my money Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCC10281982B Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 I'hve heard that you should get teh gas that teh car was disigned for. I'd guess that this woud be in the manual. I've also heard that bying a higher grade than you really need is a wast. I AM NOT A CAR PERSON. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CmpFreak88 Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 The higher octane gas would make it burn more efficiently so it wouldn't be weird or a waste of money if you needed that extra pickup. When my dad goes to the track to race his motorcycle he'll buy airplane fuel that has an even higher octane rating than the premium so he can go faster. If you're willing to dish out the extra money, then go for it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykocus Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 (edited) the octane is the mesurement of it's "anti-knock" ability. most cars are made to run on the lowest rating. so unless your engine is heavily modified (increased compression, really advanced timings, FI, etc) then or you have a really high performace factory car you don't need anything higher. Higher octane does not give you increased performance, it does allow you to tune your car more agressively and which in turn would lead to greater perforamce, but the gas does nothing by itself. basically you should know already if your car needs high octane fuel... http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoline#Octane_rating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_knocking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating quote from that last link: Some people believe that adding a higher octane fuel to their engine will increase its performance or lessen its fuel consumption; this is false Edited July 25, 2005 by sykocus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overclocker16 Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 You sure it's airplane fuel or racing fuel? There are slight differences. Anyways, yeah, the higher the octane the more power. And around here mid-grade is about the same price as regular because of the ethanol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Flashstar Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 There was a study at Harvard a while ago that concluded that a higher octane gasoline will not do anything unless it is put in a race car or something of the sort. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overclocker16 Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 All it does is increase the burn time which will make more power. It's noticable, but not needed in a "grocery getter." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 All it does is increase the burn time which will make more power. It's noticable, but not needed in a "grocery getter." 516175[/snapback] Not true... Why oh why do people keep perpetuating this myth? Higher octance != higher power The ONLY reason to go with higher octane in a stock car is if your car is pinging with the lower octance, indicating that you have deposits that are pre-igniting the mixture, or some other problem (it's hard to say definitively because so many things can go wrong). The ONLY reason to go with a higher octane in a modified car is if you have modified it to have higher compression, more advanced timing, forced induction, etc and are tuning it. If it's already been tuned at the octane you normally run, putting higher octane gas in will not help anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 For a regular street car, just use the lowest grade that the car runs well on. If you get pinging or knocking under load, go up a grade. The higher octane probably won't offset it's extra cost in increased efficiency unless your engine has been designed to appreciate it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 You sure it's airplane fuel or racing fuel? There are slight differences. 516168[/snapback] Yep, airplane fuel. We used to run it in our dirt bikes back in NY. I can say it does make a difference in motorcycles, but thats because of the nature of their engines(very high rpms and high compression). With a stock, low compression "economy car" I doubt it will make any difference. It does burn cleaner though(more full burn=less residue), and when used with a hotter spark plug can keep your injecters and valves and stuff from clogging up longer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantonr Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 ok just to clear this up - we did this in A-level chemistry octane number refers to how branched the hydrocarbon molecule of the petrol is, the more branched it is then the higher the octane number. petrols with a low octane number (so straight chain) were found to ignite before the engine was ready due to the pressure created as the pistons were pushing back on the new fuel placed in the piston. This meant that the energy of the fuel was released before the piston was at its most compressed so petrol companies designed more branched chain molecules that would not pre-ignite so to speak. This ignition before the piston is ready thing is called knocking and obviously decreases performance. Cars are often designed to run on a particular octane numbered fuel. By placing a fuel that is higher than this octane number simply means that that fuel will burn even more smoothly - it does not mean you will get any more power, there is not more fuel to burn it is simply that the molecules of the fuel are arranged differently in order for them not to burn all at once and at the wrong time. So by running a car on higher octane fuel than it was designed for i think it would make very little difference, but it certainly doesn't mean that the petrol, when burnt, is producing more power. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoArmistead Posted July 25, 2005 Posted July 25, 2005 Any regular car made within the last 15 years doesn't need anything more than Regular unleaded. The only benefit a stock 10 year-old car will get from a higher octane fuel is ... cleaner fuel injectors. If your car is not modified in any way (and I am not talking about a spoiler on your rice burner or a big loud tail pipe), then regular unleaded is just fine. Some people with older cars can't run regular unleaded in their car just because the engine is old and needs someting that burns cleaner in order to run properly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now