Gas question for Baja Ron if you're willing to answer....

[kbwitt]

I like your exsplanation on which gas to use.
I respect your thoughts and experience do to the fact of what your sway bar did for my spyders ride quality.
I have a 2014 RT so whats your thinking of buying lower octane with less ethenol and adding an octane booster. If so do you have a booster you recommend.
Thanks Kenn

 

[pegasus1300]

Obviously I am not Baja Ron. Our premium here in Utah is 91 Octane and 10% ethanol. In rural Utah it is difficult to find anything else. But we do have one station in Mt.Pleasant about 7 miles away that caters to the ATV crowd so they do have an 89 Octane 0% ethanol fuel which I buy every chance I get. I find I get about 2 mpg better mileage with that fuel. I can't say anything else about it. The Spyder (2012 RTL 17000 mi) runs fine either way so I have no problem running that fuel and wish I could find it or something similar more often on the road.

 

[AY4B]

Great Question, waiting for Rons answer. I did a quick search and this was on the top. http://www.royalpurpleconsumer.com/products/max-boost-octane-booster-fuel-stabilizer/

 

[RTL1330]

94 octane

I get my best mileage with Chevron 94 octane with nothing added.

 

[BajaRon]

I am flattered that anyone would actually await my response. I'm just another voice in the crowd! Nothing special here guys and gals.

A great question, to be sure. But to answer it definitively, you'd need a dyno and some time. Unfortunately, I have neither!

But here is my seat-of-the-pants 2 cents.

We know that ethanol reduces the energy potential in fuel. It also wreaks havoc if left sitting very long. Especially in humid environments as ethanol is a sponge! Gasoline will also deteriorate over time but it takes quite a bit longer and doesn't do nearly as much damage if it does go sour. But I am veering off topic here.

So, using a non-ethanol fuel is always a good idea (not factoring in cost). If all I could get was 87 octane pure gasoline I would be inclined to do the octane additive and bring it up to at least 90 octane.

The downside that you have with this approach is that the computer does take some time to adjust. Some say a tank of fuel. Some say several tanks. I'm not sure anyone really knows. Well, the BRP engineers certainly do but I don't know that they are telling anyone. I think this is why a person that has run 87 octane consistently sees no improvement when they run 1 tank of premium. They may even see a reduction in both power and mileage. Same for someone going the other way.

I did a test, some years ago, from East Tennessee to California and back (about 6,000 miles). Mostly in pretty hot weather (high 80's to over 100 degrees). I ran 3-5 tanks of one octane, then 3-5 tanks of another. I kept very close mileage numbers and I am pretty good at getting the tank filled to the same place each time. I never counted the 1st changeover tank of fuel.

I consistently got 2-3 better MPG with 90+ octane over both 87 and 89 octane. Hard to say about increased power because mostly we were tooling down the freeway. But you would have to expect that the additional mileage was due to increased efficiency at the same throttle setting which means more HP.

This was all done with 10% ethanol fuel. I am pretty confident that running a respectable octane, non-ethanol fuel would have further improved my MPG.

During this ride I was with another rider and he set the pace. So there was no throttle or riding bias that would account for the MPG numbers.

One last thing I would add (which I saw that someone else mentioned). If you're going to run premium. You really need to find fuel stations that have a dedicated hose/nozzle for each grade. Or, pull in behind someone that is pumping premium. In a 20 gallon tank the residue is not significant. But in a 6 gallon tank, where you may actually be getting only 4 or 5 gallons, it can make a difference.

 

[jcthorne]

Just an FYI, there is less than a quart of gasoline between the switching valve in the pump and the nozzle in your hand.

 

[Grandpot]

The specifications for the fuel were put in the owners manual by engineers that have the training and measuring equipment to needed to make those kinds of decisions. Why not "go by the book?"

 

[AY4B]

The specifications for the fuel were put in the owners manual by engineers that have the training and measuring equipment to needed to make those kinds of decisions. Why not "go by the book?"

True, The easy way is to let good enough alone and just pump the best gas available. But It makes for good discussion. Lets say I started using a good octane booster like the one I posted. It is in a 16 ounce bottle that is for a 25 gallon tank. I would have to measure out the right amount of booster before I pump. That could get messy and require some thinking. You could probably just guess how much you are going to pump and add just a little over an ounce per gallon by looking at the level in the bottle. A little less is probably better so you dont over do it.. Say just an ounce added to one gallon of mid grade gas.

 

[AY4B]

Keep in mind the first tank you will be treating the whole 6 gallons so add accordingly.
Another question. The octane booster I posted says it removes the alcohol, so if the alcohol was put in to boost the octaine in the first place, wouldn't it be like starting from scratch with the 87 octane?

 

[ingramwc]

When riding near home, I have easy access to Non-ethanol 90 octane that I run in my Spyder and my 4 wheel vehicles with no problems. When not near home I will buy whatever the available Premium gas usually 91 to 93 octane. All these engines run great!!! :thumbup::thumbup:

 

[Devious56]

After keeping track of my gs mileage for over 6,000 miles now I can honestly say that I get better gas mileage using non ethanol fuel, but that isn't why I use it. I'm also a boat owner, and have a 2 acre lot that my house sits on, and have a good bit of grass to mow. Since I started using non-ethanol gas, I haven't had to had a carburetor cleaned, or drain the water out of my gas tanks. I don't have to put additives in my fuel to get proper performance. All of the bad things they say about ethanol fuel is true, why argue with the scentists, ethanol fuel is a water magnet, and if you leave it sit for a month, you can expect big troubles.



David

 

[bmccaffrey]

Ethanol is one in the same they use in dry gas.


Yes it attracts water :hun:

 

[900Dave]

I use high test most of the time, sometimes it is not available and just put low octane (87) and also never had an issue. I have run non ethanol but I was never able to run it 2 tanks in a row. I have had trouble with the high octane. It does get old and suffer from phase separation from the ethanol. Remember probably 95% of cagers pump the cheapest gas they find so the high test can sit in the tanks a long time. IMHO

 

[Jimboregon]

I run premium, only, but I also just bought my RT-S. I have no issues with "old gas", since I burn through a tank a week. However, could someone explain how, on my old Honda ST 1300, I got better mpg when the ambient temperature was above 80 degrees? I would assume the mpg would go down, but in 100 degree weather, two up, we got over 50 mpg!

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