Octane

[Homeslice]

Regular in mine

Running higher than what the owner's manual specifies can actually REDUCE power.

[tached1000rr]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Regular in mine

Running higher than what the owner's manual specifies can actually REDUCE power.

Truth!

[101lifts2]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

Regular in mine

Running higher than what the owner's manual specifies can actually REDUCE power.

Higher octane does take longer to burn (like another couple of ms), but there is more energy content in higher octane fuel (though the amount is small). Thus overall there is more power.

[Homeslice]

You have to adjust timing to work with the fuel. If you do not do this (or you dont have knock sensors doing it for you), then using higher octane is useless, unless maybe you've got deposits that are causing pinging (premature detonation)

End story: If your ride specifies premium, you will most likely lose power if you don't use it......duh. However, if it specifies regular, then you're wasting your time using premium unless you 1) have modified the engine somehow, or 2) you're trying to reduce pinging (and in that case it would make more sense to clean your intake valves & combustion chambers instead)