truemagellen

in South Africa they still sell Leaded gas everywhere (and recently they added unleaded)...my cousins all remove the Cat on their new cars...start using leaded and the car runs like u wouldn't believe! Only mod I know that gives major HP/TQ increases while the engine runs far better after removing instead of adding a very expensive part

that begs the questions...what if we used leaded gas on the RX-8's rotary engine?

what would be the impact/damage from this?

would there be a need for ECU changes?

Rontec

It's called lead poisoning.

truemagellen

lets ignore that for a moment

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Lead in gasoline was only used to lubricate the valves. Possibly to increase octane ( I'm not sure about this one). It didn't increase performance. I think it is the removal of the cat and replacing it with a mid pipe that improved performance.
I seem to remember something, from my early rotory days, that lead wasn't good for a rotory engine. Could be that it just isn't neccessary.

priscilla ls1

Lead in your gas? Are you for real! Lead is extremely toxic! I am just saying that over time you can damage your central nervous system. Pre-1970 engines were equipped with "soft" valve seats and leaded gasoline acted as a lubricant to prevent excessive wear of the valve seats. These engines with unleaded fuel in high-speed/high-load situations could result in some valve seat wear. valve seats are usually replaced with at the time an older engine is rebuilt. Also if u are going to remove your cats to save them from getting clogged or damaged, you are going to need a gas mask after. And trust me, if you are going to still do this buy some leaded resistance O2 sensors. What I would do is mix premium unleaded and leaded 50/50, I am sure that this will be better then one on it's own and help prevent pinging and you will get less deposits.

truemagellen

I am not going to do this...this is more of a theoretical question...very curious

zoom44

have you ever actually been anywhere near a car using unleaded?

you know leaded gasoline generally has a higher octane than unleaded? why would we use premium un L in the mix?

truemagellen

thanks for pointing this out, in South Africa the Octane was 96-98 for the leaded gas...granted we must take altitude into account

priscilla ls1

I just told you, less deposits and less pinging. Leaded gas alone will also be more harmfull to the environment. I am just saying that I do not want to get lead poisoning and if other countries want to continue to run this gas in there cars then fine by them, Have you ever heard of hypertension? I am sure gald I am not getting lead poisoning when I step outside.


Yes, My car.

Psylence

The ONLY advantage leaded gas has over unleaded, is its higher octane content. It was the ghetto way to raise octane in fuels back in the day, and it also lubricated valve seats.. Tetraethyl Lead.

But this isn't 1960 anymore.. and your RX8 doesn't have valve seats. If you want to run high octane, which would be of limited benefit in a stock RX8.. for the love of all thats good and holy, get UNLEADED high octane fuel.

Go to www.racegas.com and find your nearest station selling GT100. It's 100 octane, street legal unleaded. I can get it at a pump near my house for $5 a gallon or so.

zoom44

leaded gas would higher octane than the unleade so there wouldnt be any more resistance to pinging. by mixing in the unleade you would be making a fuel that was MORE LIKELY to ping. also octane doesnt tell you anything about how much deposit a fuel will leave behind.


ah sorry that question was supposed to be "have you ever actually been anywhere near a car using leaded gasoline? in response to your gas mask statement.

truemagellen

that is what I thought u meant...I still think he hasn't been near one either

I know Cat-free leaded running cars run superior to their unleaded cat-restricted conterparts...but can anyone tell me how leaded runs on a rotary? I'm just very curious

priscilla ls1

Haha thats what I thought, But yeah my dad has a *****'s and my bro has his 57' chevy and no u can't tell the diff in the smell but lead is one of those basterd poisons that will sneek up on you. The gas mask was just to protect you from the lead.

zoom44

dont mis understand - i agree with psylence's sentiments here. besides where would you get the leade fuel ? legally i mean

zoom44

are they running leaded fuel?

Glyphon

none within ~35 miles of my house or work. granted, that's probably closer than the nearest leaded gas that i could find.

priscilla ls1

Thats what you think, but you see the lead has a plus side and a negitive side. lead gives u more octane but not much more, but lead gives you pinging and harmfull emissions. So it is strange that higher octane is suppost to give you less pinging and better performance but if you try and get this higher octane through your lead ways, well you will just increase your ping.
well I have to go, tell next time boy's :p

zoom44

priscilla seems to have an inability to understand or believe what i write. someone else want to explain this to her?

brightnova

Leaded Gas:

Pros:

Higher Octane - less pinging (possibly more performance if you tune for it)
No CAT - Higher performance.

Cons:

Health risk and damages enviornment

Simple

brightnova

Don't know. Anyone. Where's a rotary guru when you need one

Blue87Sport

Another con is that leaded gas will destroy your catalytic convertor.

Back in the day, leaded gas was a contributing factor to the seal failures on early rotary engines, e.g., RX-2s and 3s. When the first gen Rx-7 came out, the availability of unleaded gas and improved seal material led to the reliability of the 12A and 13B engines. I'm not sure how leaded gas would impact the seals on a Renesis engine but I wouldn't want to test it on mine.

jaguargod

This could be done in Oklahoma. Not only do they sell leaded gasoline, but there are no state inspections or emmissions requirements.

Former A4'er

If you wanted to go to a small airport, avaiation fuel is leaded. Also while you're there buy some jet-a fuel, you can run Jet-A through a diesel if you wanted to.

zoom44

here is your answer anyway- Mazda says dotn use leaded fuel. last line here

truemagellen

it says don't use it for the reasons we stated earlier in this thread:

damage the CAT and oxygen sensors...so lets narrow this down a bit

if you have a straight pipe/catless exhaust and lead compatible O2 sensors what would happen if using leaded gas to the RX-8, specifically referring to a rotary engine?...interesting they did not mention any other problems the cat which is for emission controls....now I'm really really curious :D