Octane rating: Can it be to high

[ron in sc]

Sunoco is selling non leaded gas in I think 5 gallon cans. They have 100 and 110 octane if I'm not mistaken. My car calls for 93 octane and that is what I have been using, that is 100% gasoline, no ethanol.

I was wondering if I would benefit from higher octane? Or would the higher octane be harmful in some way?

Car is Porsche with non-turbo 3.6 L engine with compression ratio of 11.3:1 This is not a track or race car.

 

[exranger06]

Will it hurt anything? No.

Is there any benefit to using it? No.

 

[JDW]

Well I have a supercharged V8 it sure would be a benefit for my engine,Reason for my water/meth injection to lower intake temps & raise octane.

If your not getting any "pinging" , I think it would be a bit overkill for your needs .

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Some engines, while they will function without pinging, will pull timing and play with fuel patterns (DI engines) if the octane is too low. You will never know the difference as they are programmed to prevent pinging as much as possible.

Most modern ECUs should be able to do at least something with somewhat higher octane IF they are retarding timing a bit due to detonation.

However, my Cherokee with a 40+ year old engine design ... higher octane fuel just causes the mileage to get worse. 87 is more than enough.

 

[JDW]

Yep Miller a "tune" makes a difference

 

[datech]

I think you could use it to mix with lower octane gas to bring it up to your requirements.

Where do they sell gas in 5 gal cans?

 

[ron in sc]

Originally Posted By: datech
I think you could use it to mix with lower octane gas to bring it up to your requirements.

Where do they sell gas in 5 gal cans?


Us the link below to find location near you.

http://www.racegas.com/

 

[kr_bitog]

If you intend to install aftermarket ECU to optimize performance then it should be good, for normal day to day, I do not think the performance benefit of high octane can be achieved since most manufacturer will set some buffer to ensure engine durability.

 

[A_Harman]

Yes. I did testing a number of years ago on a high-performance marine engine of 10.8:1 compression ratio. Normally we ran the engine on 93 octane. We did a series of power runs on it where we varied mixtures of 110 octane leaded racing gas with 93 octane Amoco unleaded at 25, 50, 75, and 100%. We found that power did improve by about 2% on the 25% race gas mix, and 3% at 50% mix. There was no additional benefit above that. And don't any of you snicker about 2 or 3% power improvements; the engine we were testing had 1100 HP to start with. The race gas added 22 to 33 HP.

 

[dparm]

I suggest you read up on what octane really means, and it will be very obvious why higher is not necessarily better. I'm still amazed that people don't grasp this concept.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: ron in sc
Originally Posted By: datech
I think you could use it to mix with lower octane gas to bring it up to your requirements.

Where do they sell gas in 5 gal cans?


Us the link below to find location near you.

http://www.racegas.com/


I wouldn't use that on any unmodified street vehicle because of 1) no potential benefits, 2) cost, and 3) potential for damage to the vehicle. However, I would like to have one of those cans pictured in the link.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If you intend to install aftermarket ECU to optimize performance then it should be good, for normal day to day, I do not think the performance benefit of high octane can be achieved since most manufacturer will set some buffer to ensure engine durability.



What?

Where does one buy an aftermarket ecu. I've never seen one. Who makes them.

Why would anyone replace an ecu. That would be a nightmare trying to access it behind the dash or wherever it's hidden.
I'm going out on a limp here,I'm guessing you've got no idea what your talking about and you've cobbled together some info and are now parroting what you thought you read.


I'd l love to get my hands on 110 octane. I'd advance the timing to take advantage of it and see what my car can do.
I've has to use acetone to boost octane when spraying nitrous in my old 2v. This stuff would have been ideal

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If you intend to install aftermarket ECU to optimize performance then it should be good, for normal day to day, I do not think the performance benefit of high octane can be achieved since most manufacturer will set some buffer to ensure engine durability.



What?

Where does one buy an aftermarket ecu. I've never seen one. Who makes them.

Why would anyone replace an ecu. That would be a nightmare trying to access it behind the dash or wherever it's hidden.
I'm going out on a limp here,I'm guessing you've got no idea what your talking about and you've cobbled together some info and are now parroting what you thought you read.


I'd l love to get my hands on 110 octane. I'd advance the timing to take advantage of it and see what my car can do.
I've has to use acetone to boost octane when spraying nitrous in my old 2v. This stuff would have been ideal



There are standalone ECU systems from Motec, AEM, etc, but those are for race cars.

I think he means flashing the existing ECU or adding a piggyback system to boost performance.

 

[ron in sc]

I am going to just stay with 93 octane 100% gasoline, that seem to be fine for my car.

The owner's manual even states car can operate on octane as low as 90 octane since the engine's" Electronic Oktane knock control" will adapt the ignition timing if necessary.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If you intend to install aftermarket ECU to optimize performance then it should be good, for normal day to day, I do not think the performance benefit of high octane can be achieved since most manufacturer will set some buffer to ensure engine durability.



What?

Where does one buy an aftermarket ecu. I've never seen one. Who makes them.

Why would anyone replace an ecu. That would be a nightmare trying to access it behind the dash or wherever it's hidden.
I'm going out on a limp here,I'm guessing you've got no idea what your talking about and you've cobbled together some info and are now parroting what you thought you read.


I'd l love to get my hands on 110 octane. I'd advance the timing to take advantage of it and see what my car can do.
I've has to use acetone to boost octane when spraying nitrous in my old 2v. This stuff would have been ideal



There are standalone ECU systems from Motec, AEM, etc, but those are for race cars.

I think he means flashing the existing ECU or adding a piggyback system to boost performance.


This is what I also understood as his meaning (or buying either a 'mail order' tune, or a whole new reprogrammed with a performance tune already installed, OEM ECU).

There is also; Big Stuff 3, Magneti Marelli, and of course the good ol' Murrican, MSD, Edelbrock, etc. boxes as well in the performance/racing aftermarket engine controller arena .

 

[camelCase]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
If you intend to install aftermarket ECU to optimize performance then it should be good, for normal day to day, I do not think the performance benefit of high octane can be achieved since most manufacturer will set some buffer to ensure engine durability.



What?

Where does one buy an aftermarket ecu. I've never seen one. Who makes them.

Why would anyone replace an ecu. That would be a nightmare trying to access it behind the dash or wherever it's hidden.
I'm going out on a limp here,I'm guessing you've got no idea what your talking about and you've cobbled together some info and are now parroting what you thought you read.


I'd l love to get my hands on 110 octane. I'd advance the timing to take advantage of it and see what my car can do.
I've has to use acetone to boost octane when spraying nitrous in my old 2v. This stuff would have been ideal



Just because you don't know doesn't make him wrong.


Megasquirts, for example, are "home-brew" type ECUs that a few people I know run on highly modified vehicles. They can be self-assembled with mail order parts. There are tons of options for ECUs, whether it's a piggyback, re-flash, or complete replacement.