I gather from various bits of advice that I should not use low-octane fuel in my bus w/ type 1 engine. Words like "no lower than 96 octane" were offered. However, at the gas stations here in San Diego, 91 is the highest octane offered. Is this a SoCal thing? Do you have higher octane available in your area? If so, in what mystical land do you live?
We get 93 here, BUT there's a twist. Up here in the Winterlands, the gasoline changes formula during the winter. We really don't know _what_ we are getting because the companies don't have to disclose it.
Yeah same up here in the "Great White North". I *assume* that in the winter they add methyl hydrate or something similar as a gasline antifreeze. The highest octane we can get is 92 IIRC. When we were in Portugal their lowest octane was 96 and went UP from there. They must have a different way of figuring it out in Portugal/Europe/U.K.? C'mon Jan, Ant, James, etc. fill us in.
there are two ways of figuring out octane, RON and MON. almost everybody else uses RON. You use RON + MON /2... so your 91 is more or less the rest of the worlds 97... lowest down here is 93, like your regular..
"How to make your own octane booster (this is the basic formula of one of the popular octane booster products). To make eight 16 ounce bottles (128 oz = 1 gal):
100 oz of toluene for octane boost
25 oz of mineral spirits (cleaning agent)
3 oz of transmission fluid (lubricating agent)
This product is advertised as "octane booster with cleaning agent *and* lubricating agent!". Diesel fuel or kerosene can be substituted for mineral spirits and light turbine oil can be substituted for transmission fluid. Color can be added with petroleum dyes.
Don't know how accurate it is, but it's worth a try. You can get Toluene at your local paint supply store.
Tops in Seattle area (normal gas stations) is 92. As Eduardo says, however, there are different methods used in different areas for measuring octane. That is why someone will say you should use no lower than 96 (RON method) and somebody else (from the U.S.) says no lower than 91 octane (RON + MON /2 = U.S. measurement) and they are talking about roughly the same thing. I have witnessed significant difference in heat produced by
87 octane vs. the 92 octane I normally use. In the bus, it's so far back to the engine and the stereo is so loud... I cooked a set of heads thanks to somebody's stupid mistake (not me this time!) as I drove just as hard as I normally would. This prompted the addition of a 4 cylinder head-temp gauge, a new sticker at the gas filler that says, "92 octane minimum," (in Oregon, the attendant must pump the gas) and I started hauling a couple bottles of octane booster with me just in case. I used to run 115 Av-Gas in my racing motorcycles - and chainsaw! The chainsaw saw the most significant improvement in my opinion, but it had hogged out intake and exhaust ports, altered port timing, oversize carb and reedvalve, opened up muffler... One hot woodcutter!
99 octane here with lead substitute :) It's disappearing fast though, then we''ll be stuck with 95 and 98 unleaded.
But, we count octanes differently. There are 2-3 different octane rating formulas used around the globe. The US formula produces lower numbers. Your 91 probably goes between our 95 and 98.
Designer gas? They sell racing gas here. Used to be from the pump, but now they drive in a tanker and leave it there all summer. I forget the octane. It has an interesting smell. $3.75 a gallon last year.
I used a petrol-free degreaser that was similar. It desicated your hands and make them feel very cold even when they were not. I swear it also leached out lipids. Very, very bad stuff. I quit using it.
Hi,Rocky.There must be a different way of figuring octane in CA.I know that SoCal is the land of BMWs and they only reccomend 94 I think.Any way,the grade between regular and premium should be safe.I forgot how many ways different countrys measure octane.Steve
yes and the look on their faces when you tell that the higher octane stuff actually combusts WORSE than the low octane "dishwater"....
But hey, if the engine was built and tuned for high octane and the poor broke student insists on driving it with low octane crap... then yes the higher octane would yield better performance.
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