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Originally Posted by megavolt121
Don't forget the sticker that says "Powered by 93 Octane". For every 1" of sticker, you get 10hp!... Now seriously, I don't think its worth putting that crap into this engine. I mean its not like you're running 1/4 miles where that little boost might give you an extra .001 second time.
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Thats the thing, there is no extra boost. The only power advantage to using higher octane is if the engine knocks/pings on the lower grade fuel, which robs power. Knocking/pinging happens when the air/fuel mixture burns pre-maturly, while the piston is still moving up on the compression stroke. Advanced timing can cause this, but thats usually not an issue on newer computer controlled cars. You can't adjust the timing. Higher octane fuel simply resists pre-mature burning. Thats it. Theres nothing more to it. Race cars use high octane gas because they usually use very high compression engines. If they used 87 octane in a high compression engine, the fuel would ignite simply by compression and the engine would soon be damaged.
Diesel engines are a different story. The have no spark plugs and rely on heat and compression to ignite the fuel. Thats why they are so noisy.
Also, some more stuff I've learned about gasoline: All gas is the same. Yep, you read right. Doesn't matter if its Chevron, Exxon or gas from the local mom & pop, its the same gas. The only difference is some companies put different additives in their gas and try to convince you that their gas is worth the extra money. Also, the octane rating bears no reflection on the
quality of the gas.