Myth's about Premium Gasoline

[SpankyPop]

Originally posted by 2000_EBP_civic
Do you have dyno charts to prove that or are you just using the butt dyno?

He dosen't

moolman, I was under the impression that they added a few tea spoons per gallon or per tank or per however amount of an addative to raise the octane rating of the gasoline. My question is, if they do not add in addatives, how do they raise the octane rating? Do they just boil off the curde oil at a higher temp (forgive me, I am not well versed in how they crack the oil into diffrent forms of gasoline) ......?

thanks.

[mrdetailer]

Originally posted by moolman
If you get a chip installed, you have to run premium because the chip is advancing the timing just like the 2003 accord V6 I was talking about before. So yes, you have to use premium or you might get knocking.

If you're using an old car that states in the manual to use regular but now that it's like 10 years old will only run good on premium, that is because of build up or some other problem in the engine, the premium is only masking the problem of the engine but in this case I would use premium until the car died because at this point for an old car it's not worth the expense of fixing the engine. Now for a newer car that is suppose to run on regular and starts pinging/knocking you better have a mechanic check it out cause by using premium to hide the knocking your just putting off a repair until later when you'll probably have to pay more for it.

Alex

I had a 12 year old car that had to have premium, then my mechanic indicated that it needed a fuel injection cleaning. No the bottle kind, but putting it on a special machine for about 45 minutes. Was about a year ago, and haven't needed premium since. They recommend it every 45-60 K. The engine runs smoother too

[moolman]

Originally posted by SpankyPop
He dosen't

moolman, I was under the impression that they added a few tea spoons per gallon or per tank or per however amount of an addative to raise the octane rating of the gasoline. My question is, if they do not add in addatives, how do they raise the octane rating? Do they just boil off the curde oil at a higher temp (forgive me, I am not well versed in how they crack the oil into diffrent forms of gasoline) ......?

thanks.

Hi,
They do add an additive for the higher octane, I have to look up the chemical compound because my memory sucks but they just add more for the premium to increase octane only. Only octane which only affects the burning point of the gas.

My point before was that they do not add any extra detergents or other additives that may benefit your car from regular to premium. Gas companies only advertise their detergents for their premium gas to fool people into thinking it's only in the premium. Such as when you see a Chevron commerical, they talk about Techron in their premium gasoline but guess what, the same amount of techron is in the regular and mid grade gas.

Also I don't think you'd be able to tell the difference between 91 and 93 octane, if you think it feels better, use it but it's all in your head. The only Honda's that require premium is the old Prelude, unless you're talking about Acura but even those the difference would be in your head because last time I check BUTT DYNO's had an error of + or - 100%.

Alex

[ryeh2o]

Here in canada, and maybe in northern states i'm not really sure, we have sunoco gas that has 6-8% ethanol in it. It helps the engine run cleaner, cooler, and is a natural gas line anti-freeze.

Just a different spin on the fuel conversations!

Cheers

[SpankyPop]

Yeah ok, I thought they added something to raise the octane. I believe civic si's need premium too, most DOHC VTEC engines have such high compression they they require it. Though I am not sure. And all GS-R's Type- R's need premium, as does the NSX, RSX (Type-S) and probably the Type-S versions of the CL and TL.

[Neb]

Originally posted by 2000_EBP_civic
Do you have dyno charts to prove that or are you just using the butt dyno?

i remember there being a dyno chart, but I can't find it, so it might just be in my head but i can tell you personally that the car most definatly runs smoother with 100 octane. I need to buy the timing adjustment addon for my ignition to advance it to get some gains next time i use 100octane at the track.

oh yea, i ran 89 all the way on my trip up north, and my goodness was my car a sloth

[caddyman]

On my Northstar Cadillacs, premium is "required" (was changed to reccomended) I can run all grades. I usually use 89-93. I do get about 1 mpg better with premum.

The intank "cleaner" are a joke they eat up the netting and filters in your fuel pick-up, only good ones are wherer you hok up a compressed cylinder with a special cleaning mixture, and run until the engine conks out.

I have NEVER used and fuel syste, cleaners of ANY type, and have yet to have a problem.

The gasolines of today are cleaner, and have more detergents and cleaning agents, that will do well when used in conjunction with the recccomended fuel.

[moolman]

I don't want to start an arguement but just so everyone reading this realizes, premium will not give you better gas mileage. If you think it gives you better gas mileage fine. When you calculate mileage and it came out that premium gave you better mileage, it was just coincidence. Different driving style, more highway driving, etc. There has never been scientific proof that premium gives better mileage.

Think about it. Don't you think the gas companies would advertise like crazy about getting better mileage if premium did give better mileage. But they never do because it's not true and the FTC would be all over them.

ALex

[dboat]

Originally posted by DavidB
by David W. Bynon

Many people believe that “premium” gas is the best gas. Not true. Premium simply means “premium price” for higher octane. Octane is a simple measurement for a gasoline’s ability to resist engine knock, a rattling or pinging sound that results from premature ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture in one or more cylinders.

Most gas stations offer three octane grades: regular (usually 87 octane), mid-grade (usually 89 octane) and premium (usually 92 or 93). The ratings must be posted on bright yellow stickers on each gasoline pump. The misnomer about octane is that the higher the rating, the better or more smoothly your car will run. In fact, premium gas can be bad for your engine if it was not designed to run at a high-octane level.

Although it may seem that the term “premium” or “high octane” implies that more energy is available, premium gas does not produce more energy than regular or mid-grade fuel. The octane grades are designed to accommodate engines with different compression ratios. High compression engines, found in most performance cars, require a fuel that burns efficiently at a higher temperature. That’s what premium fuel does, it burns hot under high compression. In a normal engine, premium fuel does not burn completely, resulting in excess carbon build-up and carbon fouling of the spark plugs. The end result is a less efficient engine that requires tune-ups more frequently. Oh, yeah, did I mention it also wastes money?

The only time you might need to switch to a higher octane fuel is if your car engine knocks when you use the recommended fuel. This happens to a small percentage of cars. Check your owner’s manual to determine the right octane level for your car. Regular octane is recommended for most cars. However, some cars with high compression engines, like sports cars and certain luxury cars, need mid-grade or premium gasoline to prevent knock.

Having said this, David what do you run in your Porshce? I have a '02 Ford Lightning and I have to run premium, even when I drive like a grandma.. so what say you?
Dana

[AkronSi]

SpankyPop, as far as the current gen. Civic Si/Sir, premium is not needed. I know that some people have posted measurable gains in hp on a dyno with premium gas. However, many people, myself included, have noticed a sulfur smell when using premium gas. I can't speak for the other Honda/Acuras, although I assume that the RSX would also use regular since it shares it's engine with the Si.

[mrdetailer]

I would experiment. My Subaru recommends premium. I took a long trip and drove over 1000 miles on high octane premium. There was absolutely no difference in gas mileage when I switched back to my regular midgrade.

However, year before I had tried regular and that made a huge difference. Horsepower went way down, and the engine ran rough.

[Dom]

All you ever wanted to know about gasoline (but were afraid to ask):

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part1/


Dom
1991 Alfa 164S
1975 Ferrari 308 GT4