Originally Posted By: amargill19
Originally Posted By: wemay
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I have read reports of owners having problems with the Kia Sportage SX. These have a 2.0 liter TGDI engine. The reports involved cracked spark plugs and I could sense that LSPI was the cause. One forum discovered that
running premium gasoline averted the problem.
I ran 87 octane 50% of the time during the Santa Fe 2.0T's (same basic engine as the Sportage SX) first 20K miles but have since settled on 93 exclusively after seeing how fouled my spark plugs were during the first change at 40K.
on a turbocharged engine why would you run anything less than premium fuel?
what's the vehicle manufacturer's octane spec?
Because octane become less important as the event duration lessens (higher revs). I run plain old regular in my 2.3T Saab, but if I want power I downshift to get into an appropriate engine speed (5,000+) and then lean on the turbo
Since it has a very advanced knock sensor/pre-ignition analysis system that measures ionization across the plug gap before sending the spark signal, you can get near full power from lower octane fuel, you just need R's to do it.
Anyone who lugs a turbo motor (other than diesel) should be shot. That is the easiest way to kill a motor there is. High piston and rod loads for longer duration on thin oils. Yeah, I really want to go there