My sunoco here in town has 100 octane , but its like $7.00 a gallon, na i never noticed anything. but now that im boosting 9 hg i notice a little difference. not enough for the money though. imo

 

i'm surprised that this turned into a interesting little thread.

 

Here's another thought on brands of gas: F1 fuel is 95% pump gas, 5% semi-exotics (but nothing like they had in the 80s). I have to believe that if there was an appreciable difference in road cars the 95% would make a big difference for F1 and the 5% couldn't make up for it. Teams would logically chose to partner with the best fuel company unless they were receiving signficant sponsorship. Most teams are do not have fuel companies as major sponsors. F1 cars make ~350hp/L whereas the engine in our cars make just under 90hp/L (equiliancy formula applied).

And why is everyone down on Ethanol blends? Yes it's an octane booster, but it also has a cooling effect (see methanol injection). Champ Car engines in ~'99 were making ~1100hp+ out of a non-intercooled 2.65L engine powered by methanol. Your car is designed to accept 10%, why do you question the manufacturer's design/recommendation?

 

Methanol gas is better suited for FI engines.,

 

Ethanol is not used in pump gas to give us benefits. It is used by the gas companies to make more money. Using ethanol allows the gas companies to use cheaper gas and the ethanol brings the octane up. Running a car that was specifically tuned for 100% methanol taking advantage of its cooling affect and higher octane with more boost, more timing, leaner AFR's is hardly a comparison for a normal street car that will accept a variety of fuels.

Also, cars are not "designed" to run ethanol, they are designed to compensate for changes in fuel using their closed loop systems and fuel trims. I've compared the fuel trims after prolonged use on 87 and then on 91 from Shell. With 91, the the computer is taking fuel out with the trims most of the time. With 87, the fuel trims are always positive which means the computer is adding extra fuel to achieve its targets with 87. Manufacturers don't recommend you run fuel with ethanol. They suggest you don't run fuel with more then 10% ethanol as the PCM might not be able to compensate or the car might not run smoothly, even possible engine damage may result. They tolerate up to 10%, doesn't mean its good for them.

As for the formula 1 comment, that really isn't relevant since that was forced upon the teams by FIA and the fuel still isn't really pump gas. It is highly controlled fuel formula's which can vary depending on track and weather conditions. Also, these are cars engineered with billion dollar budgets where everything is optimized as best as the teams can within the rules. Hardly compares to your normal street car where their biggest concern is emissions thanks to our governments and the bottom line on their accounting sheets. Also, some teams have been caught trying to use better fuel and been highly penalized for it.

thewird

 

You're right, it's an octane additive. They can use ethanol or they can use other methods to achieve the desired octane rating. Back before the ethanol mandates were introduced, the oil companies fought against mandating ethanol because they believed they could achieve the desired octane rating at a lower cost with other methods. While it's not a direct comparison it's at least food for thought instead of simply saying "I run X because it doesn't have ethanol" [sic] and a 17 year old kid on the civic forum said it was bad.

Agree, but they in no way discourage <=10%. Lots of fuel contains ethanol, in some places it's in the majority of fuel. If a manufacturer wasn't certain it was fine they would discourage its use. It's an implicit endorsement of the normal amount of ethanol found in pump gas.

95% of the fuel is very close to pump gas. The rules include a list of ~200 compounds found in pump gas which are required. Maximum octane is 102. F1 is about optimizing a car for particular rules/conditions, no different from any other racing series. The point is look at what they achieve with something not entirely dissimilar. This would suggest that the choice between Shell/Sunoco/Petro Canada/Esso/etc. isn't going to matter much in our cars.

A number of the auto manufacturers did create a standard called "top tier gas". Basically they decided they could save money on warranty claims by endorsing gasoline that produced lower deposits. http://www.toptiergas.com/ They make no mention of performance or fuel economy, nor do they state the statistical ramifications of top tier gas.

 

I bought my 8 three weeks ago, service manager suggested I use nothing but Chevron supreme.
Here in Kelowna B.C. Chevron trucks their fuel in, other companies pipe it in, as to what difference that actually makes I have no idea.
My 8 runs smooth as silk, not saying that it wouldn't run as smooth on other brands of fuel, but it sure is smooth.

 

I usually fill up at the Real Canadian Superstore Gas Bar, 91 (not sure where they get their gas from). Occasionally I'll go to Shell for 91 V-Power, when I feel like driving to the other side of town, if they're not uber busy, and if they actually have it. There's been quite a few times I've gone to fill up at Shell and they don't have any V-Power!

But I've noticed on V-Power that my car feels sluggish compared to the Superstore 91.

 

Sunoco 93 down the street!! It's always packed there but the gasis cheap

 

Chevron Supreme Plus 94. I'll go out of my way to find it. Some of the Chevrons don't have the extra pump handle but you can usually see it as you drive by.

Anyone know if "Techron" or PEA is 100% okay for our 8s?

 

They all come off the same damn truck in the middle of the night, stop worrying about it unless you are running aggressive turbo setups.

 

Sunoco Ultra 94 is what I only use. And I get more performance points faster to use towards free gas.

Does anyone here use octane booster?

 

I stopped using octane booster when I saw an older lady putting it in a 86 omega.

 

Octane booster is a waste of time and money. If you want higher octane, buy the higher octane.

thewird

 

Ontario people who use Sunoco 94, enjoy it while it lasts!

http://www.canadiandriver.com/2010/0...or-rebrand.htm

 

Uh oh...

thewird

 

my sunoco points?
I wonder if the others will become upi and such?

 

Chevron mostly! 5 years ago, I always used the cheapest. My fiance always commented that her miata ran so much better with chevron. I was like you are being decieved by commercial interest. So I tried it in my 626 and noticed a difference when I ran with it and not. The car just ran better, PERIOD. I fill my car with chevron, and maybe 76 if I cannot find a chevron.

My first car I put some shell in it and it was never the same! I refuse to use shell for many reasons.

 

I'm not sure we have chevron in canada, 76 either, or luv,and 1 Pilot know of in Tilbury, Ont. BP is still called Britan Petrol no Beyond Petrolium? No ARCO that I am aware of.Mobil, Texaco,Irvin, Citgo, Hess, Cinclair, Speedway are also stops I have not been to in Canada. In Canada I have mostly seen Petro Canada, Sunoco, Shell, Exxon, UPI, BP, Esso, Marathon, Murphy's, Pioneer, Husky, Canalta, and Mohawk, off the top of my head.

 

I thought we already discussed the Sunoco-Petro take over?
Yes, Sunoco will cease to exist, but Petro is being retro fitted to carry 94 octane.
Already the Petro stations around my area have 94 available.
So no worries on the 94 octane fuel.

 

Wow...was just thinking about posting such a thread just this past week. I had been regularly using Sunoco 94 since I got my 8 a few months ago. It seemed to be ok. I filled up on Ultramar 91 on an empty tank and then drove to Montreal (not many Sunoco stations where I am). Anyways, it ran kinda rough on ultramar. When I came back to Ottawa, I thought I'd try Shell 91 VPower - again, on an empty tank fill-up. It seemed to run much better - perhaps even better than the Sunoco 94!

I was thinking of a bake-off between Shell 91 and Sunoco 94 to convince myself which was smoother and more efficient. However, with Sunoco in the toilet, I'm probably just going to cash out my earned points on one more fillup and then go over to Shell (at least I get airmiles..)

 

For the RX-8's its a waste of money to use 94 anyway so the Sunoco news shouldn't affect you hehe.

thewird

 

Superstore Gas.

Do the people in Ontario have Loblaw's Gas?

 

I know Zehrs and Superstore have gas stations so yeah, Bob Loblaw sells gas too.

 

I only use Sunoco 94 Octane on BOTH my Rx-7 and Rx-8, whahahahha~