Posted on 05/19/2016 3:30:52 PM PDT by littlebird
every time I fill up my car, I suspect all the different octane gasoline are exactly the same, 91 octane. The only difference is what it is called (eg. gold) and the price. Gas company puts in the same octane gas, with a little advertising, gets more money by calling it gold or premium plus. It is all marketing. Unsuspecting driver feels better buying higher price gas for their beloved car. Any one likes to comment.
As some others have said, refer to the owner manual of your vehicle. It will tell you the gasoline you should use. Higher octanes are required for certain engines (usually high performance 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder engines). That’s the first thing I check when I am buying a car. If it doesn’t take regular gas, I look for another vehicle.
Interesting.
A FReeper once pointed me to this website, for ethanol free gas.
http://www.buyrealgas.com/Colorado.html
I was in a Wal-Mart back around 1988 and noticed they had model airplane fuel on clearance. It was marked down a huge amount, I think to only 15 cents per pint.
I noticed it said “now with more nitro”. I didn’t really know anything about it but thought that it would maybe help my pickup run well.
I got 12 cans and put six in my 86 F250. The engine was a 460 but I had done several things to improve performance.
Anyway to make a long story short, it really did smooth the engine and it also had more power. I could also smell a sweet sort of smell even in the cab.
The new high horsepower 6 cylinder Mustang and Camaro need a higher octane to avoid hesitation also.
Just my experience with my Toyotas.
Gasoline is, well, complicated. For instance, ethanol has a high octane, but not much energy. That is why you get less mpg on ethanol blended fuels, but the engine would not “knock”, assuming you have a car that does not automatically adjust the timing to ensure no “knocking”.
There are dozens of specifications to gasoline in addition to the octane. Some minimum or maximum specifications are required by law, at different times of the year, in different states. Other specifications are internal to a company and therefore can vary by company. Different companies blend to all of their specifications simultaneously. There are also different additives by company.
I had a ‘54 Chrysler Newport New Yorker Deluxe. A Hemi with a tiny single throat carb. Cool car though!
Not likely. sonoco used to have different colors and mixed the octane at the pump. put some 93 in your prius and see if it doesn’t run better. I have burned 93 in my 97 f150 and i just now had to change the spark plugs.
93 sonoco
I remember a B-25 owner/pilot who was on “The History Channel”.
He was explaining why he could not equal a short takeoff which was done by the Doolittle Raiders. He said they had 115 octane aviation gasoline which is not available now.
First and only time I have heard that but I suppose it is true.>>> used to be able to buy octane and add it to your tank. doubt you can now.
That would be illegal
We’re now at least 47 posts into your thread and you’ve totally disappeared, no further comments. Not exactly an auspicious start, noob.
A friend of mine’s dad had a ‘52 Chrysler.
It was kinda weird. It was an automatic
transmission that still had a clutch!
FWIW, you can visibly see the difference between regular and premium grade unleaded when it comes out of the refinery. The difference in evaporation rates is visible to the naked eye. There is also a noticeable difference in mileage and HP for engines with modern auto-tuning systems. My vehicle gets about 5% more running on premium, but I rarely buy it because the extra cost offsets the added mileage.
There is a difference in octane. Some newer cars’ computers will adjust the engines’ tune to take advantage of it. I know some late model Fords will, as I own one. This will result in better mileage and/or better performance. I also have a 2015 Toyota truck that gets better mileage on 89 than it does on 87. But, it’s not enough of a gain to offset the additional cost of the fuel.
I also have a 1997 Cessna airplane. It requires 100 octane low-lead aviation fuel or higher. But, don’t put this fuel in your late model automobile. It’s lead content will destroy your catalytic converter and O2 sensors.
That was called Fluid Drive and it had a fluid coupling
in series ahead of the tranny. It lasted for just a few years.
Ethanol is not the only possible product of distillation. If you have the right equipment and know what you’re doing, you could distill octane out of gasoline, but it would not be very practical to do at home.
I suspect that Olog-hai knows this and is being facetious, especially given that our new friend littlebird seems to be somewhat of a little bird brain.
The frustrating thing is that if you live in the mountains, you can use lower octane gas, here 87 is mid grade, and they charge the same as 89 octane in the next state over and 85 grade is priced the same as 87 in the next state.
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