Fuel Octane Used

[jali-p5]

Just wanted to find out what everyone puts into their cars cause I was reading the Sport Compact Car magazine and found an article on the 350Z (nice car!! ) and it had a snippit on fuel octane used.  The result was the higher octane produced 5 more HPs for the car.  Here's the dyno chart:

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/roadtests/0210scc_350znissan09_zoom.jpg

Here's the link (http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/features/0210scc_350znissan/) to the article.

I plan on advancing my time a little for a few more ponies, so that's one advantage to 92+; besides, the extra detergents, and additives can't hurt...

[Bumble G]

this car was designed to run on high octane gas. It did benefit. But that's not to say the protege will.

Unless someone gets a protege and proves it on the dyno that different octane provides more power, then I'll stick to 87.

[ENVD P5]

Unless the car is designed for hight octane... there is no need or use for spending 10c/L more...

[markque]

As previously discussed, WHERE you buy gas also affects the cars' inards.
I believe Sunoco 87 octane is all the Protege needs. Esso will lead to hardening of the arteries from all the sulphur...not to mention the rotten egg smell.
Sometimes I think when I do put in 93 octane the car is giving me extra pep or mileage. However, let's not forget WE have something to do with it. On days when we are relaxed and don't expect the car to impress us, it does. When we are rushed or stressed, pushing the car hard sometimes results in it laughing at us.
Do I make sense?

Mark http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Orange]

There was a post a while back on the same topic. I believe the conclusion was that if the engine is not designed to use high octane fuel, using anything other than the regular 87 will make matters worse. (Either the performance will be worse or it won't last as long; I forgot.)

I use Sunoco Ultra94 on my MP3 as it says premium fuel recommended.

[MP5Navy]

I doubt many of us fill up at a Husky...

If you 'tank' at Husky you most likely buy your groceries in a General Store just yonder the parking lot of that petrol station. In that general store you might also find yourself reaching for live bait and tackle and tossing it into your basket of groceries. On the way out do you get hunger pains? You never worry though cause there is always a 'chip truck' parked outside.

Country folk life is swell.

Well, like I said, I'm hoping to tune my car, so I'll be needing the added knock protection of high octane fuel. I mentioned this in another topic. I'd be glad to rent out a dyno with some people, to do some tinkering(ignition/cam timing, intake experiments)..

[Jika]

Unless I'm in the middle of nowhere running on fumes and the closest gas station is a Petro Canada (shudder), or ESSO (double shudder), I ALWAYS fill up at Sunoco. It's amazing how people will switch brands of gas for as little as a third of a cent per litre, but I do believe Sunoco has the lowest sulphur content of all gasoline suppliers. Only makes sense to get the cleanest gas you can get.

As far as the octane rating goes, I put in whatever I feel like putting in one that particular day. Usually I will get regular and put in Ultra 94 either when the price is down to the point where regular usually is, or I feel like "treating my car" lol. In winter however, that Ultra 94 button gets pushed every time. Cleanest gas around during the whole winter and it eliminates the need for gas line antifreeze thanks to the ethanol.

And yes markque, I've noticed the increased mileage as well. I got I think around 700 K out of a tank, although I'm not sure of how hard I was driving the car. IF this is the case, I've been thinking about always getting Ultra 94, since the difference in mileage would make up the difference in price anyway, with the benefit of running on cleaner gas, correct me if I'm wrong?

94 Octane is worth it, just for the psychosomatic effects http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif ie, treat your body good, and your mind thinks it works better

[Eds mp5]

Yeah, your body and mind may think it's good, but your pocket book hates it!
Ed

[jali-p5]

seems like people fall into both ends of the extremes and i'm wondering if you own a P5 or sedan (the ones which don't say put premium) whether filling up with high octane gas really makes matters worse?? anyone know anything about this? just trying to validate Orange's comment.........

[feedb4ck]

I'm gonna get flack here...

I'm running a P5, no performance enhancing equipment... and I shop my gas at Petro Canada and keep it at regular. I know SunOCo is the cleanest, and higher octane might improve milage and performance, but who am I kidding, I don't drive the thing like a maniac too often... The PetroCanada full serve at Jarvis and Wellesley is usually the cheapest station around, sometimes as much as 5 cents below most other self serve stations, and as much as the car was made for regular fuel, my wallet was most definitely made for regular.

I'd like to treat my car like a baby, but alas, to me, it's main purpose is to get me from a to b - and to make me look better than anyone driving a civic. (of course, I look better than civic drivers even if I'm on the bus.)

[Protege5 Kid]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (madshrapnomuffin @ Sep. 18 2002,10:02)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The PetroCanada full serve at Jarvis and Wellesley is usually the cheapest station around, sometimes as much as 5 cents below most other self serve stations,[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
And while your at Jarvis and Wellesley you may as well
pick your self up a Tranny(a girl with a dick!http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
i think they come free with every fill up!

[cruisinblackp5]

I just spilled my drink when I read that..

[Jika]

You want 2 talk psychosomatic?

My gf seems to think her 2001 Kia Rio is &quot;addicted&quot; to Ultra 94 now. I got her hooked on using Sunoco over Petro (even when she puts Regular Sunoco gas in), since whenever she got Petro Canada, her car would smell like an aborted chicken fetus topped with a sprinkle of sundried fecal chips.

BTW Sunoco claims that using Ultra 94 can actually repair/ cleanse emission systems or some other technicality as such, I don't remember or care right now, gf needs some lovin, duty calls http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[markque]

Now THAT was funny! The chicks with dicks comment wasn't...nor does it have anything to do with gasoline.
Much more interesting way of saying the car smells like rotten eggs. And if her car is that bad with Petro, ESSO would be...?
I must go and work on my poetic devices now...

Mark http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[mronions]

Just wondering how much flak I can get by posting that I've been filling up at SHELL,....... just the last 2 months mind you,.... well after the &quot;incident&quot;. I'm in love with Air Miles.
I've been using their &quot;high grade&quot;.

Just a side note:
I just filled up today coming home from the mini-meet in &quot;sauga&quot;,... drifting down Bayview on fumes I pull into the SHELL at Bayview 'n Eglington and squeezed in 56.155 litres. The fuel capacity for our cars is only rated at 55L,...

[Jika]

Next to Sunoco, Shell is the place to go.

[Orange]

This is the thread that discusses whether P5 needs premium fuel. If the link does not work, try search for Octane &amp; look for the one dated back to early June.

http://msg.toprotege.com/cgi-bin....=octane (http://msg.toprotege.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=11;t=604;hl=octane)

Also, I will say this again ... be careful about Shell gas. There was a recall back in June on Chrysler vehicles that use Shell gas. I believe some additives clogged up some parts, and it was dangerous enough for Chrysler to recall those vehicles.

[rowan]

P5 does not need premium.
The MP3 definitely benefits but it seems to like 91 better than 94.
I've been getting the new Shell 91 formula and that seems to perform better than the Sunoco 94 but I haven't compared Sunoco 91 back to back with the Shell stuff.

If there was a Sunoco gas station within 5 miles of my apartment then maybe I would fill up with it more often. But Sunoco also has ethanol in it and I think there was a thread on one of the American Protege boards about our engines not liking high levels of Ethanol.

[red-i]

I did a search and only came up with one thread dated with last post in June and it was regarding nitrous

anyway when I was at the dealership on saturday I brought this up to the guy I was dealing with. He said basically is that engines are designed to use a specific grade of fuel. he said that the protege's engine isn't designed to burn high octane fuel and you aren't doing yourself any good. He did say that high octane fuel does burn cleaner. I asked if it was a good idea to throw high octane in every so often to help clean the engine out and he said that wasn't a bad idea.

I've had other people tell me that once your car gets used to high octane fuel, going back to regular fuel would cause some knocking? This doesn't really sound right to me but I'm just passin along what I've heard.

I'm not saying that the guy at the dealership knows alot about cars from a mechanical point of view but it does make sense to me. If i'm gonna drive a pretty much stock p5, why bother using supreme gas if i'm not really gonna see any real gains?

I want to read that other thread but cant' seem to find it.

[Logan]

wtf?
Sept 2002 post to rowans sept 2003 post?
I was reading this and wondering who all the people are I've never seen before... hahah!

Rowan is FIZZ!!!

Anyway, I've been trying to find out recently who's fuel uses the most sulphur, and the consensus seems to be sunoco is the best. There is some governmental change for 2004 though where all fuels need to meet a sulphur restriction which (I think) only sunoco does so far.
I don't usually put sunono in my car, it's been petro canada because it's so convenient, and there is only one sunoco here in Peterborough (and a 24/7 pioneer, which I think sells sunoco 94 as pioneer 93). I'm going to make my life more inconvenient for the next few fill-ups and see what the car is like.

[2003 Mazdaspeed]

I usually go to shell for 91, when the price is high i will go for the 89..

Anyone know which octane should the MSP use?

[jali-p5]

i think that the manual says you should use 91 octane....

[KDawgONE]

Ive been using Sunnoco(or Co-Op) for a while now as my car is constantly running 'closed-loop' (rich)...we cant figure mout why this is but my car seems to run better on the ethanol-blend. Now that ive switched to 94, my car doesnt stutter at all and even smeels like its running more lean...

[midnightblue97lx]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Logan @ Sep. 22 2003,1:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">wtf?
Sept 2002 post to rowans sept 2003 post?
I was reading this and wondering who all the people are I've never seen before... hahah!

Rowan is FIZZ!!!

Anyway, I've been trying to find out recently who's fuel uses the most sulphur, and the consensus seems to be sunoco is the best. There is some governmental change for 2004 though where all fuels need to meet a sulphur restriction which (I think) only sunoco does so far.
I don't usually put sunono in my car, it's been petro canada because it's so convenient, and there is only one sunoco here in Peterborough (and a 24/7 pioneer, which I think sells sunoco 94 as pioneer 93). I'm going to make my life more inconvenient for the next few fill-ups and see what the car is like.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
UPI also sells sunoco gas. If there are any in Peterborough.
I found out by accident when I was going to school in Lindsay. I was looking for Sunoco and was driving down HWY 35 and couldn't find the one that I swore I saw. THen I saw the Ultra 94 sign at the UPI.
I've been using Sunoco gas exclusively for months now. I can't even remember the last time I had anything else in my tank.
I didn't notice anything as far as increased fuel economy, or performance but I guess the gas burns cleaner so...............

[KDawgONE]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (midnightblue97lx @ Sep. 22 2003,7:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Logan @ Sep. 22 2003,1:56)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">wtf?
Sept 2002 post to rowans sept 2003 post?
I was reading this and wondering who all the people are I've never seen before... hahah!

Rowan is FIZZ!!!

Anyway, I've been trying to find out recently who's fuel uses the most sulphur, and the consensus seems to be sunoco is the best.  There is some governmental change for 2004 though where all fuels need to meet a sulphur restriction which (I think) only sunoco does so far.
I don't usually put sunono in my car, it's been petro canada because it's so convenient, and there is only one sunoco here in Peterborough (and a 24/7 pioneer, which I think sells sunoco 94 as pioneer 93).  I'm going to make my life more inconvenient for the next few fill-ups and see what the car is like.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
UPI also sells sunoco gas. If there are any in Peterborough.
I found out by accident when I was going to school in Lindsay. I was looking for Sunoco and was driving down HWY 35 and couldn't find the one that I swore I saw. THen I saw the Ultra 94 sign at the UPI.
I've been using Sunoco gas exclusively for months now. I can't even remember the last time I had anything else in my tank.
I didn't notice anything as  far as increased fuel economy, or performance but I guess the gas burns cleaner so...............[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
UPI=FS=Co-op!!!
http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Clappy]

in my protege i usually go with 94 sunoco.. the odd time i'll go with 87 if i can't get to a sunoco..

the chrysler recall true? this is funny cause Katz Pharmacy (the company i work for) lease about 200 cars from them, and we have shell commercial cards.. hahahahha... great..

[red-i]

seriously what's the deal with premium v.s. regular.. some say don't use premium, some say do.. i'm tempted to just use silver http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[np5]

I've been filling 89 Octane since I bought the car a year ago from day one.... doesn't seem to be too popular with the group.... any one heard anying BAD about 89 (Silver)?

Quick question: Since my car's been fed on this for over a year now... switching up or down a grade will I cause any problems to the car..... I presume I might notice some negative mileage/performance.

Any thoughts?

[jali-p5]

i think you'll get two extremes when it comes to gas and usually nothing inbetween cause that's just the way things seem to fall here......i'm not sure if putting 94 in an engine made for 87 is supposed to be better or worse, but sunoco does say it's better for your car.......hehehe.....then again, they say that older cars are better off w/ the higher octane stuff......beats me..... http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/dontgetit.gif

[rowan]

Wait wtf? This was showing up with new posts before I replied to it .. lol
Maybe someone voted without replying ... d'oh !! http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif

[redfyre]

I know it's recommended that our cars take 87 octane fuel but I have been experimenting for the last year and a half with different types of fuel. Here's my 2 cents...

Usually I use 91 octane in my tank. I do mostly highway driving at a moderate speed (about 120). With that I can usually get between 610-620km to a tank before the light comes on.

Over the summer I switched to 87 octane after reading some articles. I found that my fuel economy typically fell between 580-600 km per tank before the light comes on. Also, the engine seems to be slightly less smooth. I'm not sure if this was my imagination or not. If not, one theory I'm throwing around is that with my wires and iridium plugs might warrant the use of a higher octane.

[MS MSP]

In winter however, that Ultra 94 button gets pushed every time.  Cleanest gas around during the whole winter and it eliminates the need for gas line antifreeze thanks to the ethanol.(/quote]

Running 94 in the winter is useless. In cold weather, the higher octane doesn't get burnt, so it's a waste of money. I read that somewhere, can't remember where.
With the MSP, I have no choice but to run 91 year round, as per the owners manual.  
With my last cars, i ran 91 in the hot weather, then 87 or 89 all winter.
I found that in summer momnths, i would get better mileage with the higher octane, so it would make up for the higher price.

[Platinumtom]

If you can afford it, try using the higher octanes. I use 91 from Sunoco, sometimes the 94. It does burn cleaner, less stink, and I feel that I get better mileage. Someone said earlier that using premium is actually bad for our car, I find this hard to believe. All of the car mags, shows that I have seen state that it does not harm to our car if our car was designed for regular and we use premium. We may not get the gains as cars that are designed for premium get, but it can't hurt to have the gas burn cleaner and leave less shit in the tank, etc.

[Darmando]

i only use 94 octane for my speed, i end up spending more money but it is better for the car.

[jsywong]

I think we should all investigate what octane actually does to your car. From my preliminary research, the octane amount in car gasoline is max out at 120, and effect of octane is to prevent pre-ignition. Meaning, higher octane will prevent the gas and air mix to ignite before the spark goes off. Therefore, high octane are designed for cars with high compression ratio like Mazda Speed, cause turbo engine generate a much high compression ratio. Therefore, useless you hear knocking in your engine, then you do not need to switch to a higher octane level than the one stated in the manual. But in term of it being a cleaner and more powerful gasoline, it is just a myth.

But I must say, I was a believer of the myth as well, thx to jali, now i have done my research and conclude that I will be going back down to 87 and start saving my money.

just my 2 cents

[Logan]

Higher octane is cleaner, but the octane number just represents how it stands up to pre-ignition, or detonation.

You're correct, unless you are running high compression, or forced induction, regular should be just fine for you!

In fact, high octane in an engine designed for regular octane can cause a small loss in performance.
Your engine is designed to ignite the fuel at a certain time, and if you run high octane it may delay the ignition of the mixture, not giving you optimal combustion any longer.

[jsywong]

why is high octane cleaner?? unless they put addictive only in high octane fuel which i don't know of, the octane level itself does not make the fuel cleaner. and from what i know, most brand have addictive in their fuels to prevent build up within engines.

[leungwingkei]

Higher octane is DIRTIER no cleaner, for cars designed to run with regular gas.

high octane= resistance to burn completely= more carbon deposits and other unburned or partially burned crap deposits inside the engine.

[redfyre]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (leungwingkei @ Nov. 19 2003,3:19)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Higher octane is DIRTIER not cleaner, for cars designed to run with regular gas.

high octane= resistance to burn completely= more carbon deposits and other unburned or partially burned crap deposits inside the engine.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Makes sense...

[Gen1GT]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (leungwingkei @ Nov. 19 2003,3:18)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Higher octane is DIRTIER no cleaner, for cars designed to run with regular gas.

high octane= resistance to burn completely= more carbon deposits and other unburned or partially burned crap deposits inside the engine.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/baaa.gif High octane fuel doesn't resist complete burning. It burns it up nicely. Octane is actually a type of fuel, and it's what the octane rating is based on. High octane resists spontaneous detonation.

[IceDragon]

I hate to say it but gen1 gt is correct on this one. Higher rated octane only resists pre-detonation in the cylinders. Regular forced detonation is still normal.

Gen1 gt is wrong about the &quot;Octane is actually a type of fuel&quot; statement though. It's not a type of fuel. It's an addative added to the gas to resit the pre-det.

And why bother buying higher than nessecary ocatane ratings?? It just costs more. Unless your running a high performance motor the fuels the cunsumer has access to typicaly are not going to do much at all.

[red-i]

Find a sunoco (shell if no sunoco around), throw some regular in and that's it.

My girl's best friend has a sunflower and she puts nothing but supreme gas in it because &quot;someone told her it's best to use the best gas all the time&quot;. She was also told that shell is the worst gas you can use. http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/withstupid.gif

[Mike_Moss]

Shell is a POS. It's been proven. http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/baaa.gif

[IceDragon]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (red-i @ Feb. 12 2004,4:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My girl's best friend has a sunflower and she puts nothing but supreme gas in it because &quot;someone told her it's best to use the best gas all the time&quot;.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I hate to say this but that someone is some what correct. If you use a fuel with more or better detergents in it, it will last longer in the end because it keeps the internals cleaner.