which octane gas?
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New User
Joined: Jun 2008
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which octane gas?
hey all. any suggestions on which octane gas to use? i understand that the higher the better, but does it really matter that much? i've always used regular unleaded but i'm thinking about going to a higher octane for my truck. could the higher octane possibly increase fuel efficiency? thanks
Laughing Gas
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,058
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From: South Jersey
High octane fuel is mostly for engines with high compression and increased ignition timming. Some engines with high miles can benifit from increased octane to combat pinging in the motor, but other then that, there is no benifit or increased fuel milage. If you tow, high octane can be benificial to help with high load pre-ignition.
Sick 'n Tired
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,969
Likes: 47
From: League City, TX
Yup...Our trucks don't have the compression or the timing for high octane with the stock tune. Basically, the higher octane will not fully combust and you could end up with unspent fuel blowing into the converters. Stick with the regular gas or get a tuner to adjust the timing to run the expensive stuff.
Higher octane will not get better mileage without or with a tuner...I've tried everything under the sun to improve it...only thing that will work would be to lighten the load.
Higher octane will not get better mileage without or with a tuner...I've tried everything under the sun to improve it...only thing that will work would be to lighten the load.
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 559
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From: On a farm.
My Edge tuner in level 2 delivers about 1 mpg better on 87 octane, a skosh more if I bump the timing in the custom tune by about 1 degree. No ping on Shell 87 octane but it will ping lightly on certain wee-water fuels that way. I ran level 1 in custom tune with the timing at 3 degrees advanced but really didn't see much improvement... under 1 mpg. I was just on a trip and broke the 19 mpg barrier on one flat stretch, averaging about 17.2 for the trip. That's with some mods.
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Elder User
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: On a farm.
No, but I probably should, Ken. I haven't driven far with that extra degree, just as an experiment. I bet I'd hear it more on a hot day. The Shell 87 Octane seems pretty ping resitent on straight level 2, however. I guess the data log will tell me better than my ears, huh?