87 vs 94 octane

[bit7er_reali7y]

I was wondering if anyone has noticed a difference in performance with the different grades of gas. Is it worth the extra 12 cents at the pumps for the good stuff?

what do you guys normally put in?

 

[mbb41]

you will gain little or nothing by raising the octane level unless you have a different computer program that accounts for it. Do a you will actually get worse mileage by using a higher octane then recomended as the engine can't take advantge of the detonation. There have been many threads in the past talking about this. Use this rule of thumb. If you are getting knocking and pinging. (older engine.....driving up hills) It may be time to step up to the next grade of gas. Otherwise stick to what the manual recomends.

 

[SVT3Rivieres]

this summer i used a lot of 94 (vs 91) and i noticed that my car seem to have more response... but that maybe all in my head

 

[m4gician]

this summer i used a lot of 94 (vs 91) and i noticed that my car seem to have more response... but that maybe all in my head

you're not crazy, you have more RESPONSE, not more of anything else...

 

[GapBoyPCS]

^x2

If you're also finding sluggish peformance, it might be time to do some hardcore maintenance like the plugs, throttle body/fuel system and upper intake manifold cleaning, and the likes.

 

[Phil Rohtla]

Car and Driver did a test on this a few years ago. No appreciable difference in horsepower, no appreciable difference in fuel economy.

In fact, you are likely to see more carbon buildup from using premium. Octane rating indicates how hard it is to ignite the fuel. If it's harder to burn, you have more stuff left in the combusion chamber after the combustion process. This leads too goonk in your engine.

Best advice is to stick with what it says in the manual.

 

[m4gician]

rule of thumg, if its not tuned for premium (turbo or super charged that need that harder to burn gas for compression) then don't use it. Use regular and regular only, run fuel INJECTOR CLEANER through your plugs (try berrymans and seafoam) and clean your UIM and LIM with plugs + TB cleaning as mentioned above, that'll get you back some of that driveability feeling.