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East or West 91 or 93 Octane?


svtkeith

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Important for anyone tuning SC cars.

With regards to Tom Wilson's article in the January07 5.0 magazine, quote/unquote: "East and West Coast readers are often left wondering about each other's octane. That's because East Coast premium is typically 93 octane, while West Coast premium is only 91 octane. For bolt-on cars such as the one tested here( 06 V6 Mustang), it doesn't matter, but East Coast blower cars can often eke out a few more horsepower on pump gas."

Does anyone have an expert opinion on this? Tuners will tell you, there's a substantial difference in power when tuning for 91 or 93 Octane fuel.

Am I reading this wrong? is he saying that East Coast 91 Octane fuel is equivalent to West Coast 93 Octane fuel?

 

svtkeith

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Am I reading this wrong? is he saying that East Coast 91 Octane fuel is equivalent to West Coast 93 Octane fuel?

 

Nope, he's saying 93 is worth a few more HP, so East coasters have the advantage, if the car has a blower. (others likely won't notice)

 

Odd thing - I live in Indiana, and here in our small town even I can find 87, 89, 91, and 93, depending on which station I go to.

 

(not an expert opinion, just my 2c)

 

- Tony

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here in kansas city the typical premium octane is 91, I think that there are a few bp stations around that offer 92.

 

I could never find it quickly now, but last night I was on a web site for a tuner unit that came with 3 tunes for various octanes. As I recall, there was about a 10-15 hp increase between 91 and 94 octane. Enough to piss me off that I could not get the higher octane around here.

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here in kansas city the typical premium octane is 91, I think that there are a few bp stations around that offer 92.

 

I could never find it quickly now, but last night I was on a web site for a tuner unit that came with 3 tunes for various octanes. As I recall, there was about a 10-15 hp increase between 91 and 94 octane. Enough to piss me off that I could not get the higher octane around here.

 

I live in Los Angeles and have been sing 91 for years. I found a 76 station very close to my home that offers 100 Octane Racing Fuel!! Of course I pump it when ever I need fuel and Im in the area. I filled the Shelby with it today and felt a noticable difference. But funny enough not nearly as uch as I do in my AMG Benz.....Who knows, I'll drive it tomorrow and report back to ya.

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I live in Los Angeles and have been sing 91 for years. I found a 76 station very close to my home that offers 100 Octane Racing Fuel!! Of course I pump it when ever I need fuel and Im in the area. I filled the Shelby with it today and felt a noticable difference. But funny enough not nearly as uch as I do in my AMG Benz.....Who knows, I'll drive it tomorrow and report back to ya.

 

 

 

...I think that the big difference, is with high octane you can get a custom tune with more spark advance that takes advantage of the higher octane. With the shelby, if you know you will always use a very high octane, go ahead and dial in some more spark, and get a little more hp. But you do not ever want to install a tune with more spark advance, and then use a lower octane than the tuner assumed. Any detonation in a supercharged engine is a very bad thing. I read one article that claimed the cylinder pressure doubled when detonation occurred. That is sure to break rods, etc.

 

Your AMG Benz may have a detonation sensor that automatically advances the spark until it senses detonation it starting to occur. I do not think that the shelby has this.

 

 

added later from VMP tuning site

 

Each Custom Shelby X-Cal2 comes shipped from VMP with 3 tunes:

1 - 93 Octane Performance, 55-60RWHP gain

2 - 92 Octane Performance, 50-55RWHP gain

3 - 91 Octane Performance, 40-45RWHP gain

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:banana piano:

 

We have 94 Octane But we have winter !! :cry:

 

 

 

we have winter in kansas city, but certainly not as bad, or for as long. Should I rub in our 75 degree high today :doh:

 

..but without a shelby yet, its just hard to fully enjoy the nice days. Driving my 4 cylinder minvan with 200K is just not the same :hysterical:

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Important for anyone tuning SC cars.

With regards to Tom Wilson's article in the January07 5.0 magazine, quote/unquote: "East and West Coast readers are often left wondering about each other's octane. That's because East Coast premium is typically 93 octane, while West Coast premium is only 91 octane. For bolt-on cars such as the one tested here( 06 V6 Mustang), it doesn't matter, but East Coast blower cars can often eke out a few more horsepower on pump gas."

Does anyone have an expert opinion on this? Tuners will tell you, there's a substantial difference in power when tuning for 91 or 93 Octane fuel.

Am I reading this wrong? is he saying that East Coast 91 Octane fuel is equivalent to West Coast 93 Octane fuel?

 

svtkeith

 

 

All of the Chevron stations on the West Coast of Canada have Premium Plus = 94Octane

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Sure they do.

 

 

 

sounds like some waste, fraud, and abuse goin on :hysterical:

 

I have heard at various times in the past, that it is somewhat hit and miss on what gas goes into what storage tank from the delivery truck, and that most stations actually get their gas from just one or two major terminals in any one area. I presume this is what you mean?????

 

If fraud on octane is an industrial wide practice, I guess I am somewhat surprised that 60 minutes hasn't jumped right on it :banghead:

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Here in Hawaii all we can get is 92 octane E-10 (10% ethanol)

 

.... thanks to our wonderful :censored: ing govenor Linda Lingle :rant:

 

What's next? E-20, then E-50 and eventually E-85??

 

That's what she would like to throw at us in the coming years!

 

 

 

maybe pineapple juice in your future?? :hysterical: Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

There are many forces out there that will make it very uncomfortable to obtain and keep a car like this in the future. Be prepared for some challenges, if nothing else, think about the pain in the rear it is for you to just get an air filter. The shelby requires many unique and expensive parts (also the clutch system, about 2K) and requires high quality gas that is just going to get more and more expensive.

 

and then there are the tree huggers who are doing everything they can to make gas too expensive for folks to actually drive.

 

Have you gotten your wife's mustang fixed up yet, or was there really any damage. The last you posted, it was not clear how bad it was. Sorry that happened to you, and hopefully things are starting to settle down

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Sic Dawg the Bounty Hunter on her :hysterical:

 

YEA I'd like too!! ha ha

 

maybe pineapple juice in your future?? :hysterical: Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

There are many forces out there that will make it very uncomfortable to obtain and keep a car like this in the future. Be prepared for some challenges, if nothing else, think about the pain in the rear it is for you to just get an air filter. The shelby requires many unique and expensive parts (also the clutch system, about 2K) and requires high quality gas that is just going to get more and more expensive.

 

and then there are the tree huggers who are doing everything they can to make gas too expensive for folks to actually drive.

 

Have you gotten your wife's mustang fixed up yet, or was there really any damage. The last you posted, it was not clear how bad it was. Sorry that happened to you, and hopefully things are starting to settle down

 

 

Yea you're right KCMO-GT500 I realize the challenges ahead and the costs involved in operating this car for years to come.... that's why I am trying to get transfered closer to home so I don't have to drive 20,000 miles a year (even though I enjoy the drive it is getting very expensive and I don't want too many miles on my car too soon).

 

My wife's car has not been repaired yet since it only suffered a few dents on one side and the GT/CS stripe is scratched on the same side.

 

I was going to wait a little while before making the claim with my insurance co. so I don't have to worry about the possiblilty of the old .... "Sorry we don't cover damages resulting from earthquake while your car was parked at your home in your garage... try your homeowner's insurance." (I don't want to take ANY chances and I don't need the added stress right now).

 

Hmmmmmm ....... pineapple juice....... have'nt tried that one yet, you might be onto something! Maybe I can save the industry.

 

Sugar and the thousands of jobs that it provided went out years ago (except on Kauai) and now that they went to E-10 we have to import almost all of our Ethanol (which is produced from sugar). Isn't that ironic?

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Myself, I don't mess with anything less than 94 octane. I have the timing jacked up on the '89, and the other half's '95 is running 10 psi...............both of those cars get the good stuff.

 

My '95, on the other hand, runs best on 100 unleaded. The last time I fueled up, it was $4.75 a gallon. To me, it's worth it. That car craves high timing, and believe it or not, I did notice that the 6 points made a difference.

 

I have a friend who claims that the octane ratings are all hype. He's shown me the so-called scientific evidence. I'm a person who LOVES to get the last word, but I'm certainly not going to go buy a full tank of 87 just to show him how it compromises the performance of my car.

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Nope, he's saying 93 is worth a few more HP, so East coasters have the advantage, if the car has a blower. (others likely won't notice)

 

Odd thing - I live in Indiana, and here in our small town even I can find 87, 89, 91, and 93, depending on which station I go to.

 

(not an expert opinion, just my 2c)

 

- Tony

 

Tony, where in Indiana? I'm in Columbus. We have mostly 92 octane here, but I can find 93 at a couple stations.

 

Edit - More info on octane here in post #12.

http://www.stangsunleashed.com/forums/inde...?showtopic=4046

 

Dave

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