what kind of fuel do you run??

[warriorcliff77]

Higher octane is NOT better for any engine in general. Octane is proportionally related to compression ratios and timing.

 

[vestige019]

yeah but what about the fact it runs cleaner??

wouldnt that help with carbon build up?

 

[warriorcliff77]

it only runs cleaner if its buring at the correct time, pressure and temperature.

 

[vestige019]

ahh

guess i never thought about that

 

[dswwarrior350]

Lower octane fuel smells like **** dude. Theres no possible way it runs cleaner or just as clean i want proof. When i redid the head on my warrior it was spotless and although jetting has alot to do with that my quad never saw anything less than 92.

Higher octane fuels run better in every single thing ive put them in right down to all the lawnmowers at my house and my 5 horsepower go cart. I wont even try running anything less than 94 octane in this heat. It pings on 93.... usually if i keep it moving and in the air i can run a mix of 94 and maxima octane booster. But honestly, maybe the reasearch says whatever but i know from my experience higher octane fuels are better. When my quad was stock it ran like **** on 87.

 

[warriorcliff77]

DSW: if that's how you feel then fine, can't argue with personal experience. All i'm saying is there's a lot more science to fuel than just "more is better".

Here's an example for youpersonal experience on my part)
I help out a friend with his Top Dragster(7second rail, small block stroker using Nitrous).
He was running a race fuel rated at 115 octane. Car was running good, but was having detonation issues and the odd melted spark plug. We adjusted EVERTHING and it would still happen.

After consulting with VP Fuels, they suggested thier Nitrous specific fuel, which actually has a lower octane rating. Car runs much better on the newer fuel.

I somewhat agree that some things will run better on higher octane (the difference from 87-93), BUT i don't think you mower will run EVEN better on 110 race gas.

 

[vestige019]

haha my friend pours 110 octane into his lawn mower

it smells good but i think its a waste for something like a lawn mower especialy when its $7 dollars a gallon!!

 

[klutchbuster350]

I ran regular until I started mx, I figured the extra few bucks is worth it being I dont even go through a full tank in two trips to the track.

 

[dave76]

This summer I will run Sunoco 110 mixed with a little 93 in the 446. After calculating the static compression at 11.78:1 I think it would help dearly at keeping the piston top and combustion chamber cooler.

 

[dswwarrior350]

DSW: if that's how you feel then fine, can't argue with personal experience. All i'm saying is there's a lot more science to fuel than just "more is better".

Here's an example for youpersonal experience on my part)
I help out a friend with his Top Dragster(7second rail, small block stroker using Nitrous).
He was running a race fuel rated at 115 octane. Car was running good, but was having detonation issues and the odd melted spark plug. We adjusted EVERTHING and it would still happen.

After consulting with VP Fuels, they suggested thier Nitrous specific fuel, which actually has a lower octane rating. Car runs much better on the newer fuel.

I somewhat agree that some things will run better on higher octane (the difference from 87-93), BUT i don't think you mower will run EVEN better on 110 race gas.

Well there is a diffrence in race fuels and pump gas, theres so many diffrent types. All im saying is that 93 is just a better fuel for the motor... not for power and performance... im talking as in like a cleaner burning fuel. Thats only my opinion that i gained from experience. It just looks(exhaust), smells, and runs cleaner. All i know is when i get behind someone out on the road running cheap gas i can smell it... i dont know if thats good or bad... maybe im just weird.

 

[palerider]

I was in the fuel marketing business for a long time. We loved the line of thinking that higher octane was better. In fact we spent a lot of money in the 80's and 90's reinforcing this idea by the marketing blitz. When you consider that 91 octane only costs 4-6 cents more per gallon to produce than 87 octane but is sold at the pump for 14-20 cents more per gallon you see why they push the higher octane so much.

Octane is just a theoretical rating given to gasoline on it's ability to resist burning. It has absolutely nothing to do with how clean it burns. Here in the U.S. we use the (R+M)/2 method. In Europe they use the Research Octane number, which as a rule of thumb is about 5 points higher then the (R+M)/2 method. 87 research octane (RON) has the same anti-knock ability as 87% isooctane and 13% n-heptane. The Motor octane number (MON)is not quite so straight forward. This number is derived while putting the fuel under a load, like it would be in an engine to arrive at its MON. So take these to numbers and avg them. That is the number posted on the pump.


All pump gasoline is the same. Depending on what time of year it is and what part of the country you are in. It has to meet several different criteria to meet federal/state laws. The difference between brand "a" and brand "b" is the cleaning additive package (DC - Deposit Control additive) that is added to it for that retailer. By law all pump fuels have to have a certain amount of cleaning additives in them (LAC - Lowest-additive concentration).

If you run "race gas" it will actually leave deposits in your engine. "race gas" does not have any deposit control additives. This is not to be confused on how complete of a burn you are getting though.

So no matter what your butt-o-meter says. Higher octane fuel does not have any more potential energy than lower octane fuel and will not gain you that mystery power you have been looking for.

 

[d16warrior]

I run vp u4.1 mixed with c12 and get a really good gain from that being oxygenated after running an oxygenated fuel i won't run anything else