What Octane Fuel Does Your Spyder Drink Most of the Time?

[AZLife]

Trying to keep this poll a bit more on the generalized side, not taking particular Spyder models into consideration:

[03hdjill]

Trying to keep this poll a bit more on the generalized side, not taking particular Spyder models into consideration:

If the station has 91 octane we use it, but most stations near us only sell 87,89, or 93. In that case we buy 93.

[bscrive]

I try to steer away from ethanol when I can. If the high octane is free of ethanol I will put that in. If they all have ethanol than I will just put in regular 87.

[cuznjohn]

mobil or exxon 93

[Dan McNally]

I've discovered a couple places that sell ethanol-free 87 octane, so I mix it and premium, half and half . . . I get higher octane than 87 and less ethanol that way . . .

[Spyder ri]

93 plus Seafoam in every tank.

[eagleeye299]

91 if the station has it, if not then 93. I always try to stick with the big name brand stations. I will use Seafoam if I know I won't be riding for a few weeks.

[Bob Denman]

At the most; it's a four-gallon refuel...
I'll put in 93 every time!

[spydaman60]

89 and no problems!

[jcthorne]

You guys do know BRP specifies 91 Octane minimum. At least they do on the 2013 RT so I assumed it has been the same for others.

[tigerdr]

87 for me and no problem after 66 000 kilometers. BRP specify 87 minimum and 91 recommended.

Once a month, I use 94.


TIGERDR
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[Dan McNally]

You guys do know BRP specifies 91 Octane minimum. At least they do on the 2013 RT so I assumed it has been the same for others.

According to my manual, they recommend 91 octane and list 87 octane as the minimum. By mixing 50/50 with 93 octane and 87 ethanol free, I get 90 octane with half the ethanol . . .

[wftb]

if you are using premium in your bike , car , or boat and it is not recommended by the MFR , all you are doing is gumming up your engine .and wasting money .it is not "better gas " it is designed to take longer to ignite to avoid detonation in high compression /boosted engines .it does not burn clean or completely in an engine that does not need it .my 2009 GS runs great on regular gas . two up riding and towing a trailer would increase the temps inside most engines and then a higher octane is a good idea .our honda pilot gets premium when we are towing the boat .

[WhiteFang]

6300 miles - use 89 octane -- tried 4 tanks of 93 octane(no 91 in upper Illinois/lower Wisc area)-- dropped almost 3 mpg-- average 34-35 with 89 octane , 32-33 with 93 octane -- all driving was the same -- may just be the fuel up here! 2012 RT-S SM5.

[Knarfoh]

You guys do know BRP specifies 91 Octane minimum. At least they do on the 2013 RT so I assumed it has been the same for others.

When you assume.. . you make an ass-u-me. Just kidding! Right out of the owner's manual for the 2012 Can-Am Spyder RT-S SM5.

Things do change, I guess. I understand while we are warned in the manual that gasoline is extremely flammable, that is not the case for the 2013 Models. Ignore those pictures of 2013's going up in flames!

[AZLife]

Very interesting results and comments. I knew this would be a controversial poll. I myself have been using 87 octane the "majority" of the time, but mix it up a bit throughout the month just to give my beautiful Blue Recluse a "treat"....

Keep the comments coming, please!

[03hdjill]

When you assume.. . you make an ass-u-me. Just kidding! Right out of the owner's manual for the 2012 Can-Am Spyder RT-S SM5.

Things do change, I guess. I understand while we are warned in the manual that gasoline is extremely flammable, that is not the case for the 2013 Models. Ignore those pictures of 2013's going up in flames!

Well, the Operator's Guide for the 2013 ST states on page 47 that the recommended octane is 91 with a minimum of 87.

[Knarfoh]

Well, the Operator's Guide for the 2013 ST states on page 47 that the recommended octane is 91 with a minimum of 87.

Yes, I saw that. I looked it up before I responded originally. So what is your point?

The thread is about what octane we are using. Someone said...

You guys do know BRP specifies 91 Octane minimum. At least they do on the 2013 RT so I assumed it has been the same for others.

He said, I ASSUMED IT HAS BEEN THE SAME FOR OTHERS. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

I am not doubting the 2013 manual said what he said....I am just confused how he made the assumption it applied to previous model years?

One reason people might want to know what grade of gas to use is if a 2013 owner wants to UPGRADE his model to a 2012. LOL. They may be wanting to know what grade of fuel is recommended.

GO HERE TO FIND ALL MANUALS ON BRP'S WEBSITE

BRP calls them Operator Guides (must be a Canadian thing). You can bypass sharing your EMAIL address if you want and you will still be taken to the correct page.

[Bob Denman]

.my 2009 GS runs great on regular gas . two up riding and towing a trailer would increase the temps inside most engines and then a higher octane is a good idea

And I believe that the bikes running the 990 series engines were set up to run on 87 as the suggested fuel... The 991 series engines; which were introduced with the RT lineup in 2010, are set up to use the suggested 91 octane fuels...

[Chupaca]

what you can find here. Mostly 91 though for a treat I will get a tank of racing fuel. One place I have found that has it. Back roads hill country may only carry 87 then run some sea foam. She seems very happy..!!

[finless]

My 2011 manual says 91 recommended, 87 minimum.
I am using 87. I tried 93 a few times and to me my spyder seemed to run a little rougher and hotter.

Bob

[BajaRon]

I use 93 when I can get it but 91 is more common. I know there are a lot of people who use 87 or 89 and they are happy with it. Many claim they can't tell any difference and I understand that.

But if you'll notice, the BRP recommendation is MINIMUM 87 which means the Spyder will run on 87, but that at least 91 octane is optimal.

The bigger story is that the computer will compensate for low octane fuels. It does this by retarding the ignition which reduces power and efficiency. But it still 'Runs Fine'. In colder climates, when riding easy or when lightly loaded the effect is probably minimal or nonexistent.

But as temperatures rise, or if you're working the engine a bit more or heavily loaded (2 up or towing a trailer), the computer is probably going to have to do a lot of compromising to keep the lower octane fuel working well in your Spyder.

I use the higher octane fuel because I want the computer to keep my engine tuned at the optimal ignition advance. It would be great to have an indicator which told me how much, if any, the computer was retarding ignition to prevent knock.

In addition, I've proven to myself that I get better fuel mileage with at least 91 octane which partially offsets the additional cost.

[BajaRon]

93 plus Seafoam in every tank.

I used to do the same thing (though I didn't put Seafoam into every tank). Until I discovered that there is quite a bit of alcohol in SeaFoam fuel treatment. Ethanol is a form of alcohol. I certainly didn't want more alcohol in my tank!

So I quit using SeaFoam fuel treatment in my gas tank.

[Bob Denman]

I noticed the same thing; I experimented with 87 several years ago, and there was a noticelable drop in fuel economy... over 2 mpg!

[flaggerphil]

When I first bought my RT I used 87. After a couple of months I started using 93 (91 isn't that common around here). My mileage increased a bit and the engine seemed to run better. Since the tank isn't that big using the recommended octane doesn't hurt me financially at all.