just a thought...
Anyone tried using 91 octane instead of the recommended 87? I have noticed a 2-4 mpg jump with the a/c on.
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I have run straight 89 in the summer months "to help compensate for the 100*+ weather we have here then" w/no noticable improvement in either performance or mileage. I have also tried a mix of 87/93 with the same results. 91 should not be necessary in your car. It doesn't have the fuel map to adjust for it and is probably sending more hydrocarbons down to the catylitic converter making that work harder and get hotter (= early burn-out.) |
Unless your car engine is designed for the higher octane, it won't help you. Just stick with the 87 octane regular. Higher octane won't gives more better mpg, only burn the fuel more efficient which resulted in more hp output. And if your car is only recommended for 87 and you try 91, in the long run it will most likely damage your engine instead because they are not design to burn 91 octane. Not to mention a waste of gas money that can adds up over time.
Yes I used to pump a lot of 91 on my old 99 Protege, that was a stupid mistake. I really did not notice the increase in mpg, only more power. A/C turn on/off will change your mpg regardless of 87 or 91. Probably not so much on the newer cars these days, but I still think it does. I highly doubt is the result of 91 octane gas. |
i also thought that it would not make a difference, however, i checked the mileage on a tank of 87 (miles driven divided by gallons used) came up with about 22.5 mpg. checked again with 91 and came up with 25mpg. that's with the a/c on both times. And if the cat burns out i guess I will put a high flow cat on it. :D
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Originally Posted by lnwlf
(Post 111313)
i also thought that it would not make a difference, however, i checked the mileage on a tank of 87 (miles driven divided by gallons used) came up with about 22.5 mpg. checked again with 91 and came up with 25mpg. that's with the a/c on both times. And if the cat burns out i guess I will put a high flow cat on it. :D
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The only way I can think of in a modern car that extra octane would help, is if somehow the initial factory ignition timing is set way too high or to go advanced way too early, which would likely be a function of the ECU's software. Using 87 the anti-knock sensor would come in to override the timing advance to keep ping down to a minimum. Using a higher octane, the engine would not get to that point, or get to it at a much higher load level, and the anti-knock would not come into play meaning more power from the engine. But that's a pretty far fetched scenario even imo. Everything is controlled by carefully written software these days and to have one ECU sneak through w/advanced performance maps is not very likely. |
Even if the ECU was reprogrammed to advance the timing for higher octane fuel, there is absolutely no way a Mazda5 will get even a half of a mile per gallon improvement much less the two to four mpg improvement claimed by the original poster.
lnwlf, like it or not, believe it or not, higher octane fuel has exactly zero extra power per unit of measure than does good old fashioned "Regular". |
Now Dale, I have to say here that you are quite right, and quite wrong too. Higher octane, by itself will not afford better power or mpg. But add a few other things and it might be a necessary evil in order to achieve that extra power... or mpg. Case in point, my 1980 Civic (Inga.) 1500 CVCC engine. 5-speed. Carburetted. Basic computer control (VERY basic by today's stds.) Before the mods, +/-28mpg. After the mods, AND 91-93 oct fuel, 32mpg... @ 70+ mph EVERYWHERE!!! Here's what I did to her: 1) A mild "street" cam, purchased from AT Engineering, Ct. Not far from Lime Rock Raceway. 2) Distributor modifications based on what I had learned. MUCH quicker advance (lighter springs, full advance @ 1750rpm) and limited advance (to an overall max of 17*,) and advanced static timing +12* over OE. 3) Drilling the STOCK carb jets in the otherwise STOCK carb, both air and fuel, out by one numbered drill bit. 4) Running higher oct fuel, because anything else and she would ping, ping, ping. I LOVED that car and wish to this day that I still had her. Blame that on Pennsylvania winters and road salt. |
Originally Posted by virgin1
(Post 111328)
Now Dale, I have to say here that you are quite right, and quite wrong too. Higher octane, by itself will not afford better power or mpg. But add a few other things and it might be a necessary evil in order to achieve that extra power... or mpg. Case in point, my 1980 Civic (Inga.) 1500 CVCC engine. 5-speed. Carburetted. Basic computer control (VERY basic by today's stds.) Before the mods, +/-28mpg. After the mods, AND 91-93 oct fuel, 32mpg... @ 70+ mph EVERYWHERE!!! Here's what I did to her: 1) A mild "street" cam, purchased from AT Engineering, Ct. Not far from Lime Rock Raceway. 2) Distributor modifications based on what I had learned. MUCH quicker advance (lighter springs, full advance @ 1750rpm) and limited advance (to an overall max of 17*,) and advanced static timing +12* over OE. 3) Drilling the STOCK carb jets in the otherwise STOCK carb, both air and fuel, out by one numbered drill bit. 4) Running higher oct fuel, because anything else and she would ping, ping, ping. I LOVED that car and wish to this day that I still had her. Blame that on Pennsylvania winters and road salt. Back to the claim of the OP; he states that his stock Mazda5 is returning better fuel economy simply by running a fuel with a higher AKI. To that I say, "Ain't never going to happen." So, what part of my post is "wrong"? :) |
How many time is this topic gonna come up?
Octane is a rating at what temp, and pressure, the fuel will ignite. You put a higher octane in than what your car is designed for and you will only burn what your engine can, and like Virgin said, throw the rest out your exhuast. They do research on this $hit, just do what the book tells you and you'll be alright. |
so I guess the extra 30-35 miles per tank is just my imagination. oh well... as long as my imagination saves me money
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Originally Posted by lnwlf
(Post 111341)
so I guess the extra 30-35 miles per tank is just my imagination. oh well... as long as my imagination saves me money
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Originally Posted by shipo
(Post 111343)
Yup, absolute imagination. The fact remains that by spending the extra money on a higher AKI rated fuel you are WASTING money, not saving it.
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Originally Posted by lnwlf
(Post 111345)
correct me if I'm wrong, the higher the octane rating the more compression it can handle before detonation? I believe what your saying, but numbers never lie
So, while you claim that the numbers don't lie, I submit that they do. Why? Because there is no way on this earth that you (or anybody else for that matter) are a good enough driver to determine from one tank to the next that you drove under the exact same conditions and demanded the exact same amount of power from your engine in those conditions. Said another way, your anecdotal numbers of mileage improvement are statistically and scientifically irrelevant. FWIW, I drive a Mazda3 and use Regular fuel 100% of the time. I've tracked my mileage religiously for the 31,000 miles that I've owned the car and have seen tanks of gasoline run low after as few as 250 miles and after as many as 475 miles. Given that I've seen a 225 mile swing in a single tank of gas, your "30-35" extra miles is completely within expected variance for any given tank of fuel. My bet is that if you were to put your car on a dynamometer and have the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BFSC) calculated, it wouldn't vary even 1% between tanks of fuel, regardless of which fuel you put in your car. Long story short, save yourself some money and go back to Regular fuel. Not only will your wallet thank you, your engine will too. |
will do, will let you know how it goes in a week or two. If all is as you say, then I stand corrected. One more question... the wheelbase on the M5 is a little over 4 inches longer than the M3... do you know if an aftermarket cat-back for the three will fit underneath the 5?
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Originally Posted by lnwlf
(Post 111348)
will do, will let you know how it goes in a week or two. If all is as you say, then I stand corrected. One more question... the wheelbase on the M5 is a little over 4 inches longer than the M3... do you know if an aftermarket cat-back for the three will fit underneath the 5?
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that's the usual response, lol, trying to gain a little more power, not much, especially with the family in the "vagon". tossed the resonator for the intake last week and noticed a much needed improvement, 3 inch pvc slips right on the factory filter box. now that air has little restriction getting in, a little less restriction going out will help as well
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Originally Posted by shipo
(Post 111350)
While I don't know for sure, I rather doubt a Mazda3 exhaust will fit on a Mazda5. Of course you can probably guess my next question... Why would you want to put a cat-back on your Mazda5?
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I'd be willing to bet the variance is more reliant on another variable than your fuel's octane: your right foot's pressure. And where you're driving. And what the environmental conditions are.
I've seen up to 38MPG highway on low-tread tires along the flat Jersey shore in the middle of July without my AC. And I've seen as low as 14MPG in the dead of February with the heater on 3/4 'cause it was colder than a witch's tit. You'd be surprised how often the many variables that go into driving are forgotten, and someone automatically assumes it's their octane. And even then...not all fuels of the same "grade" are created equal. I'd take Sunoco 87 over some no-name's "regular" any day. |
Originally Posted by lnwlf
(Post 111345)
correct me if I'm wrong, the higher the octane rating the more compression it can handle before detonation? I believe what your saying, but numbers never lie
Originally Posted by shipo
(Post 111346)
Yes, the higher the AKI rating (we don't use a direct "octane" rating to grade fuel here in North America), the more compression the higher AKI rating necessary to prevent detonation. That said, once fuel that contains the proper detonation resistance is identified, using fuel with a higher AKI rating will do nothing but waste money. In your case, your car is designed and built to use fuel with an AKI rating of 89, and using anything beyond that is simply a waste of money unless you somehow modify your engine so that it requires a higher AKI fuel to prevent detonation (something you have apparently not done).
So, while you claim that the numbers don't lie, I submit that they do. Why? Because there is no way on this earth that you (or anybody else for that matter) are a good enough driver to determine from one tank to the next that you drove under the exact same conditions and demanded the exact same amount of power from your engine in those conditions. Said another way, your anecdotal numbers of mileage improvement are statistically and scientifically irrelevant. FWIW, I drive a Mazda3 and use Regular fuel 100% of the time. I've tracked my mileage religiously for the 31,000 miles that I've owned the car and have seen tanks of gasoline run low after as few as 250 miles and after as many as 475 miles. Given that I've seen a 225 mile swing in a single tank of gas, your "30-35" extra miles is completely within expected variance for any given tank of fuel. My bet is that if you were to put your car on a dynamometer and have the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BFSC) calculated, it wouldn't vary even 1% between tanks of fuel, regardless of which fuel you put in your car. Long story short, save yourself some money and go back to Regular fuel. Not only will your wallet thank you, your engine will too. even if there is no difference here, you are paying more money for gas. that may not be much more, but it will be in the long run. even old gearheads will tell you that too much octane will cost you power. |
well, as yall stated... very little difference in milage going from 91 to 87. and as i said... i stand corrected and thanks for your input and advice.
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