I do not believe there are any performance gains in running a higher octane gasoline. 93 will be more resistant to detonating than 87. If we had more compression it would be necessary to combat knocking. If you experience knocking with 87 octane then go to 89. I do not believe it is necessary to run 93. I personally run 89 because sometimes there are longer periods of times between me riding and i have heard that gas loses octane over time (although it is much less in a sealed container). So i just use it as an extra safeguard but there is really no need for 93.

 

Octane is not a rating of "detonation pressure" or something like that. It's a rating of how long the fuel take TO detonate (among other things. yes, I'm simplifying). You're going to get the optimal performance by using the fuel that your engine is currently tuned to use. Now, you can tune your engine to use higher octanes, which of course will give you better performance, but throwing 107 octane fuel into a factory-tuned bike isn't going to do you any good. If you're that interested, ignition advancers are cheap and available for most CBRs, which would get you on your way.

Most gas stations have something like 87 - 93 octane, which is so small of a difference, that the bike can handle the entirety of the range. The only upside to premium used to be that some stations added detergents to the mix, but now all the big names do that with all octane levels, so you can just save your money and throw in the 86. Even if the 93 DOES provide improvement, it's going to be so minimal that you won't even feel it, so what's the point?

Don't confuse all of this with using a better QUALITY of fuel. Octane levels do not denote quality. Just because the pump has a sticker on it that reads "premium," don't believe that it's not full of rat feces and drano. Remember that lawusit Citgo had against it back in the 90's for killing everyone's injectors with their ****ty gas?

This argument is as old as all the other "Who makes the best (random fluid, or part) for my bike?" threads. I have yet to see anyone throw up a dyno printout showing performance gains moving from 86 - 93 octane. 86 to somewhere up in the 100's, absolutely, but nothing in this tiny consumer range.

 

my bike dyno with two diff grades of gas and i get two diff hp numbers... when my bike is tuned to 93 octane i put down a little over 110 to the wheel with the lower octanes such *** 87 im only around 106. same is said for race cars and so on. now the compression of our motors is not high enough to run say 107 that is excess but 93 and 87 there is a hp diff.

 

But your tune changed. Johnnyx is talking about a bike with a factory tune with back to back dyno runs. 1 with 87 and 1 with 93....

 

i understand. i guess my only argument would be , when they dynoed are bike from the factory what gas did they use? i had a g35 coupe that had 300 hp with 93 octane. you could run less octane but less hp would follow. you get what im saying?

 

But I'm guessing your G35 was tuned for 93 octane. If the bikes come factory tuned for 87 or 89 octane and you run 93 you won't feel any performance increase.

My trailblazer SS is tuned for 91 octane and knocks like crazy on anything less.

 

I hate these ****ing threads - there is so much mis-information spewed it degrades the website.

IF you think that higher octane on a vehicle tuned to run on 87 will make more power you are wrong

IF you think you are "saving money" over the course of the year you are wrong (it is a minimal cost throughout the year)

IF you think that a vehicle tuned to run on 87 will run "better" on 93 you are wrong

BOTTOM LINE - if the vehicle calls for 87, or 89, or 91 you are FINE to run that and you are not gaining anything running anything higher.

These threads should be locked the minute they are started.

 

i agre with hat your saying. but does anyone know what grade gas was used when they tuned are bike at the factory? thats the gas i would use and nothing higher cuz that would be a rip off

 

The owners manual says 86 and above.

 

Here's the long and the short of it, literally: the lower the octane, the lower the temperature it burns at. That being said, this is also true: the lower the temperature, the longer it takes to burn. So then: the higher the octane, the higher the temperature, but it burns much quicker, thus the boost in performance. To answer the next question: higher octane is better because while it may burn hotter, it also burns quicker, and therefore also cools quicker because it is not burning as long, and the heat then escapes quicker, and yes you should run premium for exactly those reasons.