A gas station near my house in south Chicago just started vending 100 octane race gas at 6 dollars a gallon. I usually fill up with 93 for 4.50 a gallon (damn city prices) but today I decided "what the hell" and paid $75 for a tank of the stuff.

It might be the placebo effect but I did feel a difference. It seemed to rev faster and more smoothly. Usually up at 9,000 it shakes around and roars at me with a throatier, choppier sound. This time it seemed more...focused.

You know, remember that fat kid from grade school? Well he had a really big mouth, and he chewed really fast, but not all of the food ever actually made it in. This time, it all seemed to make it in.

Anyways, treat your car to 100 some time and than tell me if you know what I mean.

 

unless your tune is setup to make use of the extra octane, you're not going to get any gain. Whatever you felt, was in your mind. Higher octane doesn't have magical powers. It is just harder to ignite.

 

You mean slightly earlier ignition? Yep.

 

You waisted your money

We have a couple places in town that have it. I researched it a bit and found out that unless you are HEAVILY boosted with all supporting mods . . . . . the stuff is useless.



edit - but I do like the advertisements on this thread.

 

Throw in some octane booster too!!!

 

i could see on a FI application to run 100 octane but no point on a NA car

 

let's think about it? octane reduces the explosiveness of gas.
Octane will not make the gas more powerful.

 

I used octane booster at the track on time, felt no difference at all. Waste of $$

 

Can I have some of your money since you hate it so much?

Lesson learned. You know better next time.

 

I believe StealthTL did some research with the higher octane gases and found no gains whatsoever. Maybe he will chime in with a link to his thread.

 

Race gas is insurance against detonation. You're not necessarily going pick up power unless you tune for it.

 

No, he really should give his money to me since I'm closer.

 

10:1 compression! 180 whp! He needs it!

I bet a blind study showing the extra $20 being spent on beer instead of octane would show just as much gain in throttle response and smoothness from the vehicle.

Now, we just need to spread the word about how great Budweiser is for RX-8 performance.

 

Budweiser! Are you ******' kidden me? I ain't puttin Budweiser in my 8! Maybe I'll premix with Chimay Blau 'though.

 

Maybe PBR.

 

i pump in a few gallons of 100 octane at track days. i just use it as extra insurance since most of my track days are in socal summer heat. in my wrx there is a noticable difference but the rx-8 (all stock) felt the same. the only upside? i did get +3 mpg on the way home, nearly 21mpg which is a huge accomplishment for this car. lol .

 

I usually get 21 MPG in my mixed driving...

 

I get 22 mpg on 50% Interstate driving. Maybe I'd have a Prius with 100 octane.

 

my 1000$ 1980 milk box civic gets better gas milage than the 8, about 35

and you know what?!?!? its probably faster too!!! you know why? it doesnt have back seats....it doesn't have anything lawl

 

Damn, $6/gallon. Cool!

 

Octane higher then 93 won't do much in itself.

Some high quality race fuels have a few special ingredients blended in that can halp with a noticable effect. Toluene boosts octane and has more BTU content. Add some MBTE or even alcohol and it can gan a few percent. The cooling effect of evaporation (heat of transformation) can add a couple more percentage points. Totally mineral free gas adds another point or two. So yes it's very possible for a top shelf race fuel to bump the power by 6-7%.

 

race gas in stock rx8=fail

I confirmed this myself expecting some miraculous gain

 

I think your close except I don't think race gas has any alcohol in it. Our pump gas in this state is required to have a higher level of alcohol mixed in it to get the state farm lobby vote. And alcohol has less power than gas. It just has a higher octane.

 

LOL!!! That's awesome.
But then you'll have folks starting threads "can I use Natural Light instead of Budweiser for my performance perception enhancement? I'm spending $500 a month on Budweiser, and my manual says I can use Natty Light."