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Recommended Octane?

Old Jun 28, 2005 | 06:26 PM
  #1  
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Default Recommended Octane?

Quoted directly from Manual

OCTANE RATING

Select Octane Raiting 87 (Research Octane Number 91) or higher.

I'm a little confused. If it's 87 or higher, then does this mean that 87 or higher is recommended? Then, don't this mean that it doesn't matter what octane rating you use???

It seems to me that the manual is telling me to not use anything lower than 87 octane. It doesn't specifically state that it's recommended. It doesn't state that higher octanes are recommended either.

What's the deal?
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 06:55 PM
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i ran super in all my hondas no problem with any of them 87 was rec. i dont think it should bother anything mabey a richer burn or somethin might help u out a lil performence wise. this is a good question
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:01 PM
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can you find lower than 87 octane in the US?

I read the manual and run 87 (common, its a camry engine). if you spend alot of time near redline, then I'd run 93 (or 91 for us cali folks).
general rule i follow: the more performance you demand out of your engine (regardless of modifications), the higher octane you should run.
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:04 PM
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higher octane will give you ZERO PERFORMANCE BENEFITS.

higher octane is only required if your engine is knocking, or if you're engine is force injected. Otherwise, stick with what the manual tells you. You will NOT get better gas mileage, your engine will NOT run smoother, and your car will NOT go any faster.

don't believe me? read it from Shell directly: http://www.shell.ca/code/motoring/en...es/octane.html
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:05 PM
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You only need 87. It will run higher octane but won't benefit you any, just costs more. You probably CAN'T find lower unless you go to Mexico or something.
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:08 PM
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Actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer.
I believed, if i remember, Japan has higher octane levels than America, that's why their car last pretty long

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Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:16 PM
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Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
Umm that's like saying that stronger mules make for better coffee. They have nothing to do with each other.

And the link Dieselstation posted is dead on. I think Shell might know what they're talking about.
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:18 PM
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Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
Yeah, and like if you constantly add those 103 octane bottles, your car will last like 700,000 miles at least.
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:19 PM
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Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
NO. Urban legends. Additives will help clean things but the octane rating won't affect it.

Japan has some of the strictest smog laws anywhere. Most engines never see of 50K miles. has nothing to do with the gas. Also, some countries use a different octane rating:

What does 'Octane' mean?

Firstly, keep in mind that a gasoline’s octane rating is simply a measurement of the fuel’s ability to resist engine knocking. It does not refer to a substance or to the quantity of energy or power in the fuel. More correctly, an octane rating is often called an “anti-knock index”.

When unburned gasoline vapours spontaneously explode in the cylinder before the expanding flame in the combustion cylinder reaches them, it actually causes two simultaneous explosions (the other is from the spark plug). This results in a knocking or pinging sound, and when an engine knocks the result is a reduction in the power it delivers.

The higher a fuel's octane number, the higher its resistance to engine knock.

Technically there are three different "octane numbers" associated with every gasoline. The Research Octane Number, or RON, is measured under fairly easy test conditions. The Motor Octane Number, or MON, is a tougher test measured at higher engine speed and temperature.

The value that relates most closely to actual driving conditions is the average of these two values: Road Octane Number = (RON + MON)/2. This Road Octane value is the one referred to in Shell stations: Shell Bronze gasoline has an octane rating of 87, Shell Silver is 89 and Shell V-Power is 91.

Occasionally, less scrupulous Canadian gasoline outlets will use the confusion of these different octane measurements to exaggerate their octane rating claims, by advertising their fuel's Research Octane Number - which will be higher than the Road Octane Number. It is also a common practice in many European countries to advertise the Research Octane Number on their pumps, so you may see unexpectedly high octane values when travelling abroad. In Canada, motorists should always be sure that the octane number a vendor advertises is its Road Octane value, not its RON.

Engines in vehicles built for sale in North America are designed to a specified octane requirement to make sure they don't knock or ping (engine knocking reduces the amount of power it can deliver to turn the wheels). Once that octane level has been met, in normal instances your car will not experience more power or better mileage if you use a higher octane fuel.


In other words, if your Canadian vehicle owner's manual specifies an octane rating of 87, running on gasoline with an octane rating of 89 or 91 or more will normally not make a difference.

However, there are some exceptions to this, and it must be noted that if the owner’s manual specifies using gasoline with an octane rating of 89 or 91, then that’s what you should use because that’s what the engine is designed and tuned for.
http://www.shell.ca/code/motoring/en...es/octane.html
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:20 PM
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Originally Posted by dmikon
Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
Yeah, and like if you constantly add those 103 octane bottles, your car will last like 700,000 miles at least.
x 98749873 bhahahahahaha
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:21 PM
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Originally Posted by raWr215
actually higher octane will benefit you, it burns cleaner so your car will last longer. I believed.. if i remember, japan has higher octane levels than america, that's why their car last pretty long
Octane is a measurement of a fuel's resistance to pre-detonation, that's all. It doesn't burn cleaner and it gives no more power. The reason why the majority of JDM cars run 91 is because of the timing of there engines requires it to keep the gas from predetonating. Explain to me why Japanese cars run for a couple thousand miles in America off of 87 octane.

This topic has been done to death and in the end only one conclusion is made...

It's your money, if you need the placebo to believe you're going faster, then do it.
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:28 PM
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well i live in colorado(high altitude...and we have 85 octane and the dealer said to run it on that....the octanes are different here so our 85 is like your 87 but it is what is recommended here so i dunno
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:29 PM
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" A high octane rating ensures that it takes a REALLY hot ignition source to ignite the fuel (such as a spark plug or the flame-front itself) and not just the rise in pressure & temperature that's a result of normal combustion. Note that the thermal rises in the cylinder are in direct proportion to the compression ratio of the engine (more below). The higher the compression ratio, the higher the octane of the fuel that's needed

Again, if the mixture in a gasoline engine ignites before the spark plug fires, we call that "pre-ignition." Pre-ignition can damage an engine before you finish reading this sentence. To reiterate, what we're really concerned with is called "knock" and that's the spontaneous ignition of the fuel-air mixure ahead of the flame-front as a result of the rise in cylinder pressure caused by the onset of ignition (caused by the firing of the spark plug). "
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:32 PM
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Exactly....which is why the drag cars need higher octane the more you do to it the more it needs to run...which is why you get pre ignition and ping on the hot rods...so i would say unless you do a whole lot to your scion...low grade is fine
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 07:39 PM
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i wouldnt have ever dreamed of puttin "87" in my accord wif a h22 swap + heavy mods
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 08:01 PM
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Originally Posted by Kaoticillusion
well i live in colorado(high altitude...and we have 85 octane and the dealer said to run it on that....the octanes are different here so our 85 is like your 87 but it is what is recommended here so i dunno
I know in Pueblo you used to be able to get 85 octane. I grew up there. :D
Old Jun 28, 2005 | 08:26 PM
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Originally Posted by dieselstation
higher octane will give you ZERO PERFORMANCE BENEFITS.

higher octane is only required if your engine is knocking, or if you're engine is force injected. Otherwise, stick with what the manual tells you. You will NOT get better gas mileage, your engine will NOT run smoother, and your car will NOT go any faster.

don't believe me? read it from Shell directly: http://www.shell.ca/code/motoring/en...es/octane.html
I could not have said it any better
Old Jul 1, 2005 | 07:47 AM
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i throw down 89 in my car only b/c we have upsetting 10% ethenol bull____ gas here in milwaukee thanks to gary indiana. I figure it counteracts the ethenol drawbacks.
Old Jul 1, 2005 | 10:09 AM
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Sunoco,which sells really ____ty gas to begin with,here in Ohio, sells 86...I always thought that it was for lawnmowers. I am and always will be a SHELL man!

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