92octane for my baby

 

necrophiliac

 

Here's some facts.

'20/20' Takes on Summertime Myths
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/st...=939056&page=2

The Price Is Premium, But 'Gas Is Gas'

When you head out on vacation this summer, you'll probably spend big bucks filling your car's gas tank, while griping about the price. But a lot of you who are complaining could be spending less for your gas.

You have a choice of gas at the pump. The price of 93 octane premium is more than regular 87 octane — about 20 cents more per gallon at many stations. Because premium costs more, a lot of people think it's better for their cars.

People told us premium gasoline gives them better gas mileage, more power and cleaner engines.

Regular gas, one woman told "20/20," "leaves a lot of gunk in your engine … That's what my daddy taught me."

But her daddy — and many of you who buy premium — are wasting your money.

NASCAR driver Joe Nemechek knows this. "Believe me, I've pumped gas in from about every gas station there's been in my personal cars. Whether it's around town or on vacation or wherever, you put the regular in there it keeps on running," he said. The NASCAR drivers, mechanics, and car makers will tell you that for 90 percent of the cars sold today, high octane is no better than regular gas. It won't give you better mileage, more power or a cleaner engine. NASCAR crew member Lisa Smokstad told us what every expert told us.

"It is a myth that cars run better on premium gas," she said.

Some cars do need higher octane — older cars that knock, and cars with high-compression, high-revving engines like Ferraris, Bentleys, Jaguars, Acuras, Mercedes and Corvettes.

But 90 percent of new cars don't need it — check your owner's manual.

The car manufacturers and every car expert we consulted told us that for most cars, high octane is a waste of money. Even the gas companies that sell the high-octane fuel — and make more money off of it — admit most people don't need it. But they don't go out of their way to tell you that.

Once you've figured out which octane to buy, does the brand matter? Are the well-known national brands better than the no-name brands, which are usually cheaper?

People we spoke to gave similar reasons for buying name-brand gasoline that they gave for buying high-octane gas. They believed the national brands were higher quality, and better for their cars.

But they may not know that all the gas, brand name and generic, comes from the same refineries. Brand names do use different additives, but it doesn't make them better for your car.


In 1996, the Federal Trade Commission forced Amoco, which denied any wrongdoing, to stop claiming in its ads that it was better than other brands without scientific evidence to back it up.

"It's a myth that brand-name gas is better than a no-name gas," said mechanic Dave Bowman, co-host of "Two Guys Garage" on cable TV's Speed channel.

"It doesn't make any difference whether you're buying a branded product or a no-name product," he said.

"The only difference is price."

The NASCAR drivers agree about that, too. "It's a myth, you don't need the high-octane gasoline, you don't need the, the name-brand stuff," said driver Jimmie Johnson.

Some of the fans have figured that out.

One man summed it up nicely for us. "The manufacturers and the gasoline dealers, they all want you to buy that expensive stuff. It all runs on the same stuff. Gas is gas."

Minnesota Department of Commerce Gasoline Facts and Myths

http://www.state.mn.us/mn/externalDo...ctaneFacts.pdf

 

Well this topic has been debated in almost every forum whether it be cars, boats, and bikes. And no one can truly say which is better but it doesn't hurt to squeeze out a little more change for better quality gas... Around here everyone use's 91.

 

umm... bikes have high compression engines. 12:1 on my bike. So the article reinforces the statement that we should use higher octane. Thanks.

 

The article also said follow manufactures recommendations, which is 87 octane.

 

nooooooooooo...you gots to read the entire thing too...it's like them people who quote the Bible and use it to their wives "woman, Bible says you have to serve me"...but they don't absorb anything else, which the next few lines says mang...lead by example, serve, etc...but anyway, that's something else...

although, in general, high compression needs higher octane, there are other factors as well...this includes timing, etc. so even if the bike is high compression, but tuned for say...87, running higher won't do much...see what i mean?

so for the above statement...it's a general truth only...therefore it's not to live by...because there are exceptions you know?
so given this article...i would just run what MOM requires...and then go up if i ping...
now if running premium doesn't harm the bike and gives you a peace of mind, then do that...

But by all means...don't say it's better gas and don't say one can feel the performance...cause tests doesn't show that...

someone said their car makes 20 HP more on high octane and tuning...and runs like crap on regular...that's the point of it all...unless you tune it, you don't need it!

T

 

I don't see any performance gains... but I've always followed a simple rule of high compression = needs higher octane. That's the way they are designed. I'm not arguing with anyone.. just stating what I do.

Here's a tought... somewhere on here there is a long write up about this story, but I'll try and shorten it. My car has to run high octane, if I don't I have to take it back to the shop to get the check engine light cleared and they have to clean the injectors. I'm not sure if they have to clean the injectors, but that is what they said. When I bought it and drive it off the lot, the dumbass salesmen filled it up at their garage with 87 octane. I never thought about it and it did fine on the way home. The next day driving to work, it started developing a bad miss and the engine light came on. If you've read me write up about dealing with Hot Bodies Racing, you can imagine what I said when I said when I took it back that evening. They gave me a loaner and kept it over night. Ran a few test and the comuter showed them several miss fires in #2,3 and 4 cylinder. I was impressed that a test would show them this. They replaced the pugs and wires and sent me home. Guess what happen the next day.. same thing. So I took it back with a little more anger. This time with the same test results, they replaced the wires, plugs and new injectors. And again, the same thing. Thrid trip back... I didn't even talk to the service area, I went straight for the general manager. He took me over to the supervisor over service and had a little talk. Blah, blah.... during the discussion, he states, I don't understand what else it could be. We changed blah, blah and he said he's using premium fuel.... Woo. I stopped him and said no one ever asked me that. I'm not using anything.... the salesmen filled it up here before I drove off the lot. Light bulb goes off and they apoligize. Their salesmen are suppose to give fuel vouchers for a station down the road beacuse they only have 87 octane on their lot. Once I filled up with 93 octane... I've never had a problem.

Ok... sorry for the long story. The point is... My car obviously has to have higher octane. It also has a nice label on the fuel gauge and next to the fuel cap stating PREMIUM ONLY. Where is the label at on out bikes? The shop that sold me my bike... made sure to mention several times that I have to run 93 octane and gave me a fuel vocher for the free tank. Kind of funny and really doesn't help this question any.

 

Just for S&G's I put a tank of 87 in my bike, a couple of months ago, seeing as how the manual says something like 86 or above...at any rate, i was riding around on that and noticed a rattle around the 3g mark...wasnt bad enough to be too concerned with, and continued through that tank. Once that tank was done I switched back to premium, and the rattle was not nearly as pronounced....I can still hear it a little bit, but then, all bikes ive been around have some noise around that rpm range...

 

well then there you go! either you got robbed in the octane rating or you needed higher octane.
that's how it should work ya know? say you tuning an engine...you want to tune it for 89 octane.
so you run 89, advance the timing to just where it starts to ping and then you back it out. that's the old school way...now they have all these PCM, ECM, brains, etc...
but to keep it simple and old school.
same with the bike...stock programming and such...run whatever is needed just so it doesn't ping.