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A word about octane --

HayRog

HayRog

New member
I'm re-posting this from the FJR1300 forum (from a friend there) -- I thought it was interesting.
He copied it from a "car column" in his local newspaper and was a reply to a lady who wanted to know "what octane fuel to put in her Lexus"
Read away :D

"People mistakenly think of gasoline grades as 'good, better, best.' That's because gasoline companies have done a masterful job of marketing. By calling the highter-octane fuels 'Premium,' they've convinced people that higher octane is somehow better. It's not.

"Instead, think of octane like your shoe size. If you wear a size 9, would you buy a size 13 because it has a higher number and therefore, has to be better? Of course not. You'd end up with blisters. And maybe get some extra money by working as a birthday party clown.


"The octane rating is a measure of the temperature at which the fuel will detonate inside the cylinder. Every engine is designed to be used with fuel of a specific octane.

"You don't want fuel with a lower octane than is required (because you can get pinging, pr pre-ignition, which can damage the engine), but you don't want fuel with a higher octane either (because you'll be throwing away your money). And since Lexus (read: "Yamaha") says in the owner's manual that your car is designed to run on 87-octane fuel, that's what you should get.

"In the old days you used to hear that using higher-octane fuel had all kinds of beneficial properties: it would clean out your carburetor, it would remove carbon from your pistons, it contained special detergents to clean your fuel injectors, it would regrow hair.

"All of those are false. Cars don't have carburetors anymore. Carbon doesn't build up on pistons. And fuels of all grades contain detergents.

"Save your money, Dee. Buy the grade of fuel recommended by your manufacturer, and wear the right size shoe, too."
 
IMO another reality, is in the case of my BMW, it says Premium only, but as someone on the BMW forum pointed out, they are sold all over the world and in 3rd world countries, good luck getting decent gas. The computer in all modern cars adjust the timing/whatever to match the fuel. I'm been burning 87 in my BMW for awhile now and no pinging or power loss, and maybe I'm getting a mile or 2 fewer miles to the gallon. Of course, since we aren't paying $4+ per gallon, Premium prices aren't that big of a deal.

When in a tourist area and the gas is way up there, I've put 87 in the Spyder and notice no difference in performance. I usually get 30 MPG no matter what I do, so IMO burn what you want, keep good records and that will tell you if it makes a difference.
 
There are some good points out there. IMHO I have driven many rental cars and testing the difference betweeen the 87 octane fuel, 89 octane fuel and the 91 octane fuel from Hanford, CA to San Diego, Ca (Approximately 5 hour drive). The result from different cars with a 4 cylinder the 91 octane fuel burns slower than the 87 octane fuel. When using the 87 octane fuel; it took me one in Los Angles, Ca to refuel one way to San Diego. When I utilize the 91 octane fuel it took me one re-fill at San Diego. The conclusion the 91 octane fuel burns slower than than the 87. By the way, California gases are freaking expensive. Therefore, I got my gas on a military base.
 
ussoldier said:
There are some good points out there. IMHO I have driven many rental cars and testing the difference betweeen the 87 octane fuel, 89 octane fuel and the 91 octane fuel from Hanford, CA to San Diego, Ca (Approximately 5 hour drive). The result from different cars with a 4 cylinder the 91 octane fuel burns slower than the 87 octane fuel. When using the 87 octane fuel; it took me one in Los Angles, Ca to refuel one way to San Diego. When I utilize the 91 octane fuel it took me one re-fill at San Diego. The conclusion the 91 octane fuel burns slower than than the 87. By the way, California gases are freaking expensive. Therefore, I got my gas on a military base.
Click to expand...

but there is good news coming for you. I have been reading that California may vote to leave the Union. :yes: Then everybody would be happy.

Joe
 
pitzerwm said:
The computer in all modern cars adjust the timing/whatever to match the fuel.
Click to expand...

That's a common misconception; it's only partly true.

There is no computer that samples the fuel to see what it's octane is.

The knock detector will only retard the timing, it will not increase it for a fuel of higher octane than what it was designed for.
AND if the octane is so low that it pre-ignites before the spark hits, changing the spark timing does nothing for that.

Varying the valve timing might help with that but I don't think any fuel management systems are that sophisticated.
 
"Save your money, Dee. Buy the grade of fuel recommended by your manufacturer, and wear the right size shoe, too."[/QUOTE]


True. BRP Requires the use of 91 Octane or higher in all 2013 and newer Spyders.
 
As I see it...

back when the range in octanes was 66 to 105 with lead and no ethenol it made a lot of sense. Now-a-days your normal choices are 87 to 95 with ethenol mostly and you will find that most engines do fine with any of them. Someday they will narrow it down to one :dontknow: nonetheless good points made and according to the piece we should all be using the highest if our manual says so. I run 91 and seafoam every few tankfuls and the engine is happy but mostly because the difference on a six gallon tank is not even a dollar here...
 
I use what the manual tells me - 91 -- makes sense if the engine was built for that.

On our recent trip in 8 or 9 of the States we rode through, the highest octane available was 87 -- Spyder ran just wonderfully.
Did it affect my mileage ? Who knows ?

Maybe if I'd been able to get 91 octane the whole trip the Spyder would have burned through 164 gallons instead of 166 :roflblack:
 
In all our travels, I have only had one station in a small nowhere NM town that did not have premium gas available. Any town with a population larger than about 500 has a name brand gas station with at least two grades. Its mostly been a non-issue for us.

I have paid a pretty high price for it on occasion. South Fork Colorado Conoco is my personal high point at 4.79 when gas back home was 3 something.
 
Out here in Ohio, I guess I need to try to find 91 octane. Most stations in my area have only 87, 89, and 93.

So I mix 89 and 93 alternately. I know that is not really 91 octane but it makes me happy to think so.
 
KosherKid said:
Out here in Ohio, I guess I need to try to find 91 octane. Most stations in my area have only 87, 89, and 93.

So I mix 89 and 93 alternately. I know that is not really 91 octane but it makes me happy to think so.
Click to expand...

Chitina AK, you get some kind of gas from a 150 gallon or so tank with a hose attached. :thumbup: It worked okay in our Spyders.

 
Last edited:
91 Octane

During the rally in Valcourt, we were in the Can Am testing facility. The tech who was demonstrating their dyno said the bike is built for 91 octane. Lower you get knocking, which is mitigated by the engine retarding its ignition point. Higher contributes nothing.
 
Easy Rider said:
Pretty sure that it's been pointed out once already in this thread that "requires" is not the right word.
"Recommended" but not required.
Click to expand...

You are correct. Page 56 of my 2014 owners manual says "Recommended Fuel". Further on in bold lettering it says "NOTICE. NEVER EXPERIMENT WITH OTHER FUELS. ENGINE OR FUEL SYSTEM DAMAGES MAY OCCUR WITH THE USE OF AN INADEQUATE FUEL.

NOTICE. DO NOT USE FUEL FROM FUEL PUMPS LABELLED E85.

Re-check your manual and read the whole article. Don't stop when you find it convenient.
 
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