93 Octane

[dannyboy20]

Just wondering how many people run 93 ocatane over the 87. I always here mixed reviews on this topic. Does it make a big difference over the long run for the engine.

[Nytemare]

Just wondering how many people run 93 ocatane over the 87. I always here mixed reviews on this topic. Does it make a big difference over the long run for the engine.

I run 94

Cheaper than running 87...I get more mileage to the tank, and it actually makes up for the cost difference and than some.

[jro909]

Just wondering how many people run 93 ocatane over the 87. I always here mixed reviews on this topic. Does it make a big difference over the long run for the engine.

I run 94

Cheaper than running 87...I get more mileage to the tank, and it actually makes up for the cost difference and than some.

 

 

 

aren't you tuned for that i think he means stock wise, i too have been curious on running a higher grade of octane on the stock tune...

[Nytemare]

Just wondering how many people run 93 ocatane over the 87. I always here mixed reviews on this topic. Does it make a big difference over the long run for the engine.

I run 94

Cheaper than running 87...I get more mileage to the tank, and it actually makes up for the cost difference and than some.

 

 

 

aren't you tuned for that i think he means stock wise, i too have been curious on running a higher grade of octane on the stock tune...

 

Even with a stock tune...the Knock sensors will play with your timing, as long as they don't hear a ping they will advance it. All be it its a very very safe program with a stock tune, and will only advance to a certain point. But it will help fuel economy. I think 89 would be where the price equals out...91 may be a little too much...but it will cost you like 5 bucks more a tank for 91. You cannot judge it on one tank wither...you will need at least 3 tanks. And you would be best off to get on the highway at 65 and get in closed loop mode for a min of 15 min to get things to settle out.

[dannyboy20]

Yeah my truck has no mods. 08 Silverado 5.3. Would there be a noticable difference if a ran a higher octane from here on out.

[Nytemare]

Yeah my truck has no mods. 08 Silverado 5.3. Would there be a noticable difference if a ran a higher octane from here on out.

I would say if you ran 89 it would be worth it...Try both man...see what the display says for fuel economy after about 3 or 4 tanks, than bump up try again and do the calculations. It will be a little trial and error, but in the end you may spend 20 bucks to figure out your best fuel for mileage and your wallet. For me its 94...but like JRO said...I am tuned for it.

I know for me...fuel here in BC is around 1.10 a liter...average, for regular

 

That's 108 bucks for a full tank from dead empty...

For 94 octane its generally 18-20 cents more a liter

so it costs me about 20 bucks extra a tank...but I get the equivalent mileage as 25 bucks more regular fuel...and it has more cleaning agents in there, so it keeps me cleaner longer.

[Badass69]

I think sometimes it really depends on the engine and the tune. My 09 2500HD's 6 litre gets the same crummy mileage on premium ( 91 0ctane) as it does on 87. So did the 06's LQ4 6 litre before.

 

My 97 Monte Carlo's 3.1 on the other hand consistently picked up about 2 mpg on 89 over 87. 91 was no more added benefit so midgrade it was. Maybe there was enough carbon built up in that cars combustion chamber to see a difference in spark advance and knock loss....... who knows. Try it as mentioned, it's not going to hurt anything.

[tanked_darren]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

[Nytemare]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

Thats BS.

 

The ECM will compensate through use of various sensors including the Knock sensor as will your long term fuel trims...

You wont get any more power or mileage out of very high octane levels, but 89 or 91 you may just see an improvement. Not to mention that higher octane fuel usually contains higher amounts of detergents, to keep things clean.

ECM's in newer OBDII vehicles (96 and newer) are pretty smart.

[Badass69]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

 

 

What trash. Okay, explain exactly how a higher grade of octane will burn out an O2 sensor....... You can't because it won't do a damn thing. You may see absolutely no benefit to premium fuel and be throwing your money away but it won't physically damage anything either.

 

I think that Top Tier crap is BS too. I actually work in the petroleum industry and we service the truck load outs for both a Shell and Petro Canada refinery. There is one pipe for each grade of fuel feeding the load racks base stock from the plant( I know, because I added remote pressure monitoring to the lines). Even if they did switch tanks for this supposed better batch you have a whole line that is 1/2 a mile long or more full of fuel to empty anyways. Petro Canada blends for Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, Fas Gas, Race Track gas and so on for Northern Alberta. Not one of them is top tier beyond Petro Can's own product. You know where all the fancy additives are blended........ the load racks. It's the same base stock regardless of the truck, 87 is 87 but their own blend of ethanol/tactrol/dye or whatever else is end user specific. I don't think Petro Canada would jeopardize their top tier rating by contaminating the one line from the plant that feeds the racks. Maybe they do..... if that's the case since that line just stays full and pressurized by pumps at the plant end, you might get an 1/2 mile 8 inch line full of garbage fuel in your top tier tanker........

 

Of course strigency of cleanliness for the end users storage facility may vary from station to station, thus making top tier fuel less likely to have tanks that are half full of water.

[tanked_darren]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

 

 

What trash. Okay, explain exactly how a higher grade of octane will burn out an O2 sensor....... You can't because it won't do a damn thing. You may see absolutely no benefit to premium fuel and be throwing your money away but it won't physically damage anything either.

 

I think that Top Tier crap is BS too. I actually work in the petroleum industry and we service the truck load outs for both a Shell and Petro Canada refinery. There is one pipe for each grade of fuel feeding the load racks base stock from the plant( I know, because I added remote pressure monitoring to the lines). Even if they did switch tanks for this supposed better batch you have a whole line that is 1/2 a mile long or more full of fuel to empty anyways. Petro Canada blends for Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, Fas Gas, Race Track gas and so on for Northern Alberta. Not one of them is top tier beyond Petro Can's own product. You know where all the fancy additives are blended........ the load racks. It's the same base stock regardless of the truck, 87 is 87 but their own blend of ethanol/tactrol/dye or whatever else is end user specific. I don't think Petro Canada would jeopardize their top tier rating by contaminating the one line from the plant that feeds the racks. Maybe they do..... if that's the case since that line just stays full and pressurized by pumps at the plant end, you might get an 1/2 mile 8 inch line full of garbage fuel in your top tier tanker........

 

Of course strigency of cleanliness for the end users storage facility may vary from station to station, thus making top tier fuel less likely to have tanks that are half full of water.

 

Petro Can blends for those companies, Petro Can is Top Tier, so that leads me to believe... well you do the math,

as for the O2 Sensors I've been told and possible witnessed this

and catalytic converter, thats what I've heard I didn't state facts

although I'll state this: I had a 1990 oldsmobile that I started putting higher octane into and a few months down the road O2 failed. Now I can't directly prove it was caused by higher octane, but the new one I put in lasted longer than the factory one, and it was piece of junk napa brand. Sure it probably just failed because it failed. I switched back to lower octane after fixing BTW.

 

I still think that TOP TIER fuel is something worth checking out, I only use chevron gas I never use the stupid junk additive fuel system cleaners, no need. GM says its recomended in the manual to use TOP TIER, I mean it can't hurt.

 

I don't understand you say TOP TIER is BS yet you say TOP TIER are less likely to have water in thier tanks?? I don't want water in my gas.

[jro909]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

 

 

What trash. Okay, explain exactly how a higher grade of octane will burn out an O2 sensor....... You can't because it won't do a damn thing. You may see absolutely no benefit to premium fuel and be throwing your money away but it won't physically damage anything either.

 

I think that Top Tier crap is BS too. I actually work in the petroleum industry and we service the truck load outs for both a Shell and Petro Canada refinery. There is one pipe for each grade of fuel feeding the load racks base stock from the plant( I know, because I added remote pressure monitoring to the lines). Even if they did switch tanks for this supposed better batch you have a whole line that is 1/2 a mile long or more full of fuel to empty anyways. Petro Canada blends for Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, Fas Gas, Race Track gas and so on for Northern Alberta. Not one of them is top tier beyond Petro Can's own product. You know where all the fancy additives are blended........ the load racks. It's the same base stock regardless of the truck, 87 is 87 but their own blend of ethanol/tactrol/dye or whatever else is end user specific. I don't think Petro Canada would jeopardize their top tier rating by contaminating the one line from the plant that feeds the racks. Maybe they do..... if that's the case since that line just stays full and pressurized by pumps at the plant end, you might get an 1/2 mile 8 inch line full of garbage fuel in your top tier tanker........

 

Of course strigency of cleanliness for the end users storage facility may vary from station to station, thus making top tier fuel less likely to have tanks that are half full of water.

 

Petro Can blends for those companies, Petro Can is Top Tier, so that leads me to believe... well you do the math,

as for the O2 Sensors I've been told and possible witnessed this

and catalytic converter, thats what I've heard I didn't state facts

although I'll state this: I had a 1990 oldsmobile that I started putting higher octane into and a few months down the road O2 failed. Now I can't directly prove it was caused by higher octane, but the new one I put in lasted longer than the factory one, and it was piece of junk napa brand. Sure it probably just failed because it failed. I switched back to lower octane after fixing BTW.

 

I still think that TOP TIER fuel is something worth checking out, I only use chevron gas I never use the stupid junk additive fuel system cleaners, no need. GM says its recomended in the manual to use TOP TIER, I mean it can't hurt.

 

I don't understand you say TOP TIER is BS yet you say TOP TIER are less likely to have water in thier tanks?? I don't want water in my gas.

 

 

 

this is 2010 man, not 1990 technology has grown by alot in 20 years...i had a 91 s-10 and i ran 87 in it and guess what it burnt out my o2 sensors your trying too hard to pick an arguement

[Nytemare]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

 

 

What trash. Okay, explain exactly how a higher grade of octane will burn out an O2 sensor....... You can't because it won't do a damn thing. You may see absolutely no benefit to premium fuel and be throwing your money away but it won't physically damage anything either.

 

I think that Top Tier crap is BS too. I actually work in the petroleum industry and we service the truck load outs for both a Shell and Petro Canada refinery. There is one pipe for each grade of fuel feeding the load racks base stock from the plant( I know, because I added remote pressure monitoring to the lines). Even if they did switch tanks for this supposed better batch you have a whole line that is 1/2 a mile long or more full of fuel to empty anyways. Petro Canada blends for Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, Fas Gas, Race Track gas and so on for Northern Alberta. Not one of them is top tier beyond Petro Can's own product. You know where all the fancy additives are blended........ the load racks. It's the same base stock regardless of the truck, 87 is 87 but their own blend of ethanol/tactrol/dye or whatever else is end user specific. I don't think Petro Canada would jeopardize their top tier rating by contaminating the one line from the plant that feeds the racks. Maybe they do..... if that's the case since that line just stays full and pressurized by pumps at the plant end, you might get an 1/2 mile 8 inch line full of garbage fuel in your top tier tanker........

 

Of course strigency of cleanliness for the end users storage facility may vary from station to station, thus making top tier fuel less likely to have tanks that are half full of water.

 

Petro Can blends for those companies, Petro Can is Top Tier, so that leads me to believe... well you do the math,

as for the O2 Sensors I've been told and possible witnessed this

and catalytic converter, thats what I've heard I didn't state facts

although I'll state this: I had a 1990 oldsmobile that I started putting higher octane into and a few months down the road O2 failed. Now I can't directly prove it was caused by higher octane, but the new one I put in lasted longer than the factory one, and it was piece of junk napa brand. Sure it probably just failed because it failed. I switched back to lower octane after fixing BTW.

 

I still think that TOP TIER fuel is something worth checking out, I only use chevron gas I never use the stupid junk additive fuel system cleaners, no need. GM says its recomended in the manual to use TOP TIER, I mean it can't hurt.

 

I don't understand you say TOP TIER is BS yet you say TOP TIER are less likely to have water in thier tanks?? I don't want water in my gas.

 

 

 

this is 2010 man, not 1990 technology has grown by alot in 20 years...i had a 91 s-10 and i ran 87 in it and guess what it burnt out my o2 sensors your trying too hard to pick an arguement

 

I only use chevron too..but thats because its the only company here that has 94 Octane.

And just like Jro said...huge diff in 1990 technology and 2010...as well as 1990 and 1996...when they changed from OBD1 to an OBDII system...installing more sensors, and the like. Way smarter ECM's.

 

I think you've been fed a load of BS like so many other people have. What was true in the 90's is not anymore...do you still listen to Vanilla Ice... and wear parachute pants...the 90's are gone...as are its electronic blunders.

 

If I tune my truck for 94...which it is...and I run nothing but 94...how is that different than running 94 in a truck not tuned for it?

Of course the answer used to be...well its fuel and you get this much fuel and this much air in the chamber and a spark ignites it. if the fuel is of a higher octane than it will not completly burn...leaving carbon deposits and than this would translate to plugged up sensors and cats etc...fast forward to the Knock sensor....now the ECM has a way to continuously listen for pinging...adjusting timing and fuel trims until a ping or fuel knock is heard. once this happens the timing is pulled back until the ping disappears, than the ECM will ramp the timing up a little more and allow it to flutter back and forth to find the exact amount of timing and fuel the engine requires not to knock...thereby increasing your fuel economy. Now...the stock timing tables and fuel trims are very conservative...but through tuning you can get these tables bang on so that your timing and fuel tables are right on the money for every RPM and Throttle position

[Badass69]

Stock vehicle, stock gas (calls for 87 use 87!), higher octane possibly shortens life of some parts, you'll burn out your oxygen sensors, and among other things, I've even heard it can be hard on the catalytic converter.

 

Unless you've specifically tuned your engine to require higher octane, stick with 87, but definately buy your gas from TOP TIER member gas companies, I know that Chevron and Shell are apart of this. Just type in top tier on google to find out more. There are quite a few that sell TOP TIER check it out!

 

 

What trash. Okay, explain exactly how a higher grade of octane will burn out an O2 sensor....... You can't because it won't do a damn thing. You may see absolutely no benefit to premium fuel and be throwing your money away but it won't physically damage anything either.

 

I think that Top Tier crap is BS too. I actually work in the petroleum industry and we service the truck load outs for both a Shell and Petro Canada refinery. There is one pipe for each grade of fuel feeding the load racks base stock from the plant( I know, because I added remote pressure monitoring to the lines). Even if they did switch tanks for this supposed better batch you have a whole line that is 1/2 a mile long or more full of fuel to empty anyways. Petro Canada blends for Husky, Mohawk, Co-op, Fas Gas, Race Track gas and so on for Northern Alberta. Not one of them is top tier beyond Petro Can's own product. You know where all the fancy additives are blended........ the load racks. It's the same base stock regardless of the truck, 87 is 87 but their own blend of ethanol/tactrol/dye or whatever else is end user specific. I don't think Petro Canada would jeopardize their top tier rating by contaminating the one line from the plant that feeds the racks. Maybe they do..... if that's the case since that line just stays full and pressurized by pumps at the plant end, you might get an 1/2 mile 8 inch line full of garbage fuel in your top tier tanker........

 

Of course strigency of cleanliness for the end users storage facility may vary from station to station, thus making top tier fuel less likely to have tanks that are half full of water.

 

Petro Can blends for those companies, Petro Can is Top Tier, so that leads me to believe... well you do the math,

as for the O2 Sensors I've been told and possible witnessed this

and catalytic converter, thats what I've heard I didn't state facts

although I'll state this: I had a 1990 oldsmobile that I started putting higher octane into and a few months down the road O2 failed. Now I can't directly prove it was caused by higher octane, but the new one I put in lasted longer than the factory one, and it was piece of junk napa brand. Sure it probably just failed because it failed. I switched back to lower octane after fixing BTW.

 

I still think that TOP TIER fuel is something worth checking out, I only use chevron gas I never use the stupid junk additive fuel system cleaners, no need. GM says its recomended in the manual to use TOP TIER, I mean it can't hurt.

 

I don't understand you say TOP TIER is BS yet you say TOP TIER are less likely to have water in thier tanks?? I don't want water in my gas.

 

 

 

So you are stating you have no factual basis on your theory besides the fact you owned a car built 20 years ago that had it's O2 go bad? Right.

 

What do you do for a living, anything related to the technical side of the petrochemical industry????, probably not. Do some research, maybe a little first hand experience and see how things are done. Your Top Tier means about as much to me as the companies that pay to have their name assigned to the Better Business Bureau. No I am not trying to attack you personally but you just won the lucky top tier rant lottery. You apparently missed that statement the first time around so I bolded it for you. I have no stake in your life, nor you in mine so don't ever think that I honestly care enough about your comments to "attack" you. I just used your comments for my own doing thanks. That and the water thing is pretty unlikely...... but could happen, even at a top tier station.

 

Both Shell and Petro Canada run similar flawed load control strategies..... it's close enough. The parts might be 20 years out of date but usually get the job done. Then they have random loads of fuel that go out with 30 times the dye they should have, or ethanol, or tactrol, or whatever because some rotten old Asco solenoid stuck open..... Can happen with the latest and greatest so it really doesn't matter I suppose. I mean, hell, BP can drill with BOP's that were apparently known to be non functional in the Gulf Coast so what's a stuck solenoid or failed transmitter here and there among friends.

 

So really your top tier station may be no better than your mom and pop shop ones. There are regulations, as well as standards that have improved regardless of the name on the sign. Most companies have tank monitors, and have long since upgraded to either above ground or enviro tanks. I honestly don't worry too much about what the sign says anymore. It pretty well as has ethanol in it but may have a slightly better detergent package....... maybe. For them in this world why upgrade??????, oil companies are about the cheapest industry out there especially on initial construction cost. I know, I build plants, well pads, whatever.....If they can save 10 cents on construction that costs 50 grand in uneeded maintenance that's okay...... the construction engineer that saved 10 cents got his bonus. Except with manopwer of course on the client, and less extent contractors side the better. The more overpaid retards that got their job as an inspector ( when they were terrible at their original trade and had no business on the tools) because they have a buddy of a buddy whose a somebody, great.

 

Skewed logic is funny too. Current client is building well pads that inject high pressure steam and extract crude with pumpjacks. All the jacks have 150 hp electric motors on them, and as usual include thermistors in the windings to monitor motor overtemp. We give them the logic that includes that overtemp as a basic shutdown to prevent motor damage. Oh no, jumper that out after we leave. Why??? In their mind if that jack goes down while producing that is a loss of production. Okay, I understand that. But the difference is usually a motor that piles up while still pumping anyways and usually ends up completely destroyed ( thus no rebuild). Buying a new one is cheaper I guess. Overspend on useless crap and underspend on necessary things, sounds about right.

 

Now like I said, additive blends are different between companies. Whether the controller blending the load works properly or not, is another story. You can only patch old crap so many times......

[tanked_darren]

Well I joined this site to gain knowledge, and possibly share knowledge I've learned from others, and experiences I've had with my own and with the fleet of GMCS at my work and prior vehicles Ive owned, Im only 26 I have 10 years vehicles knowledge, I didn't invent **** all here, I'm a millwright by trade and I backyard mechanic most of the vehicles I work on except my own. But obviously you guys would prefer to attack, read my comments, just pick words or phrases from it to attack me, I never said I had proof or facts to back anything up I said, READ MY COMMENTS. I just threw my 2 cents in.

 

Anyways, I still stand firm YEP BETTER BELIEVE, 87 for a vehicle that calls for 87 is all you'll ever need, if you think different, go ahead run higher octane and while your at it throw some redline or royal purple for your oils. I was just trying to throw my 2 cents in for the poor soul who got thread jacked here.

 

CALM DOWN WE CAN BE FRIENDS