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Gas has recently changed ...


Wadepenn

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What octane do use? Are you sure? For Columbus and Dayton it's not such a simple answer, especially now.*

Gas all comes to our distribution sites through the pipeline, so in the beginning all gas essentially is the same base product. Each company adds the own additives to make it a trademark blend when we load the truck.*

Now add the EPA and profit and we begin our differences. EPA restrictions in Dayton for cleaner fuels allowed the gas companies to change the octane base fuel of 87 to what is now called sub-grade with an octane of 84 and a lighter 7.8 pound gas per gal versus the dense 9 pound gas in Columbus. Adding the 10% ethanol brings the octane up to a true 87 octane at the pump... So now the Dayton area will make more profit theoretically.*

So what does this mean?*

Columbus pumps say 87=90, 89=92, 91=94

Dayton pumps say 87=87, 89=89, 91=91

So what octane should you use? My GSX-R was made prior to ethanol as the standard when MTBE was the additive. 87 was the recommended for it back then, but find columbus 89=92 seems to work with my fuel injection system best... 91=94 makes her hot and noisy.

Other notes...

Ethanol sucks... Literally sucks water into it.... And the additives you see to rid your fuel add more alcohol, attracting more water. Instead of alcohol additives try startron it is an enzyme that bonds with water so it's caught in the filter.*

Fuel with ethanol begins to oxidize as soon as it's pumped, so using gas from a gas can sitting for a week will not give the same performance as freshly pumped gas.*

Few stations offer ethanol free fuel, but they are out the and with a few google searches you can find a few sites that list them, often you find then near stations near boating sites (boats=water=more ethanol water sucking problems)

Ethanol added to your gas is not for performance and actually reduces fuel economy 20/30% over straight gas... It's for the green movement to sustain fuel sources, ethanol is not your friend.*

And yes premium gas is worth the money, it is denser and your ECM can adjust to burn it correctly... It's density is it's key to better fuel mileage and performance.

Edited by Wadepenn
Na
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i just buy the highest octane available at whatever gas station i'm currently at, sometimes that is 92, sometimes it's 93, and rarely it's 94...

my bike runs fine on all 3, and even ran fine when i put cheap gas in it...

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so much bad info in this thread....not even going to touch this one, i dont have enough time to type out everything i would have to say

i dont think most people actually grasp what different octanes are for

Edited by Steve Butters
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So what octane should you use? My GSX-R was made prior to ethanol as the standard when MTBE was the additive. 87 was the recommended for it back then, but find columbus 89=92 seems to work with my fuel injection system best... 91=94 makes her hot and noisy.

Higher octane wont make a bike "hot and noisy" that is in your head. It just doesnt work like that. It wont thoroughly burn the higher octanes which would not make it hot and noisy, hot and noisy would be a symptom of too little octane

And yes premium gas is worth the money, it is denser and your ECM can adjust to burn it correctly... It's density is it's key to better fuel mileage and performance.

performance is not gained from adding more octane...the reason "93 octane tunes" give more performance is because the timing is bumped...you need the extra octane to compensate for engine ping

the goal is to burn the lowest octane possible without pinging...work your way down if youre not sure, try 91 if it doesnt ping try 87, if it pings go back to 91 if not stay at 87 etc....

heres an article that explains it a little better for you - not that you will listen anyways since you consider yourself a professional fuel hauler

http://www.whatcouldbegreener.com/142/fuel-octane-choosing-the-wrong-octane-will-cost-you/

and that is why my 1998 gsxr is as fast as an s1000rr

best post in this thread

i just buy the highest octane available at whatever gas station i'm currently at, sometimes that is 92, sometimes it's 93, and rarely it's 94...

my bike runs fine on all 3, and even ran fine when i put cheap gas in it...

exactly....it ran fine on cheap gas - which is probably what the manual calls for anyways....not sure on your specific bike - but its worth looking into....if your bike runs fine on 87, no reason to switch

I put the lowest octane possible then use 2 bottles of octane booster.

snake oil

So much bad info? Please do tell, I haul fuel all day long... Please explain where I'm wrong.

ok i have to leave now...i can post more later

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Octane boost is exactly what was described. Snake oil...

If you do not believe the octane theory and run that crappy 100 octane "race fuel" at your local gas station, your wasting money and the bike will only smell different vs running better...

Higher octane isn't always the answer...

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exactly....it ran fine on cheap gas - which is probably what the manual calls for anyways....not sure on your specific bike - but its worth looking into....if your bike runs fine on 87, no reason to switch

requires 87 or higher, reccomends 91 or higher...

I took this to mean that the computer would compensate for lower grades of fuel (as low as 87) by retarding the timing if it detected knocking, but was ideally suited for 91 or better at it's normally advanced timing. :dunno: not sure, but this has been my operating theory for the last 3 years, and the extra $0.60 per tank isn't killing me.

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Wow, the typical jackass personal attacks... I don't consider myself a professional fuel hauler, I am a professional fuel hauler, for Shell no less.

The point of the post to point out how octane between Dayton and Columbus are now different as of last month. Something you didn't know was going on behind the scenes because you are not in the fuel industry.

The point of mentioning my bike was the same as what you stated... Trial of different fuels to pinpoint the best fuel for your bike. Especially if ethanol wasn't the standard when the bike was designed. Hot/noisy are side effects of running cbus premium blends in my bike regardless of the reason, trials of all three gave me that result with my bike, not the same for everyone but that was my result, not from a tank, but from 2 week trials of the same brand... I guess I should have followed up with... Results may vary...

And the site you listed was a green site, so considering the source... It's like watching Fox news without research.

And dense fuel by science alone does contain more energy. That's why diesel is used in locomotives, it contains more energy per gallon, equalling better mileage in cars and offering the power to move vehicles moving freight. Thus higher octane fuels which are denser do offer better performance and mileage. Just because 87 is recommended and it runs "fine" doesn't mean the best performance/mileage. Only trials of your vehicle will decide the octane that works for your driving/riding preferences.

My post isn't to recommend any octane, I'm pointing out the new octane and density changes to gas in Dayton and Columbus fuel that recently took place.

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Wow, the typical jackass personal attacks... I don't consider myself a professional fuel hauler, I am a professional fuel hauler, for Shell no less.

The point of the post to point out how octane between Dayton and Columbus are now different as of last month. Something you didn't know was going on behind the scenes because you are not in the fuel industry.

The point of mentioning my bike was the same as what you stated... Trial of different fuels to pinpoint the best fuel for your bike. Especially if ethanol wasn't the standard when the bike was designed. Hot/noisy are side effects of running cbus premium blends in my bike regardless of the reason, trials of all three gave me that result with my bike, not the same for everyone but that was my result, not from a tank, but from 2 week trials of the same brand... I guess I should have followed up with... Results may vary...

And the site you listed was a green site, so considering the source... It's like watching Fox news without research.

And dense fuel by science alone does contain more energy. That's why diesel is used in locomotives, it contains more energy per gallon, equalling better mileage in cars and offering the power to move vehicles moving freight. Thus higher octane fuels which are denser do offer better performance and mileage. Just because 87 is recommended and it runs "fine" doesn't mean the best performance/mileage. Only trials of your vehicle will decide the octane that works for your driving/riding preferences.

My post isn't to recommend any octane, I'm pointing out the new octane and density changes to gas in Dayton and Columbus fuel that recently took place.

I drive a truck for NASA and thus I am an Astronaut

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Wow, the typical jackass personal attacks... I don't consider myself a professional fuel hauler, I am a professional fuel hauler, for Shell no less.

The point of the post to point out how octane between Dayton and Columbus are now different as of last month. Something you didn't know was going on behind the scenes because you are not in the fuel industry.

The point of mentioning my bike was the same as what you stated... Trial of different fuels to pinpoint the best fuel for your bike. Especially if ethanol wasn't the standard when the bike was designed. Hot/noisy are side effects of running cbus premium blends in my bike regardless of the reason, trials of all three gave me that result with my bike, not the same for everyone but that was my result, not from a tank, but from 2 week trials of the same brand... I guess I should have followed up with... Results may vary...

And the site you listed was a green site, so considering the source... It's like watching Fox news without research.

And dense fuel by science alone does contain more energy. That's why diesel is used in locomotives, it contains more energy per gallon, equalling better mileage in cars and offering the power to move vehicles moving freight. Thus higher octane fuels which are denser do offer better performance and mileage. Just because 87 is recommended and it runs "fine" doesn't mean the best performance/mileage. Only trials of your vehicle will decide the octane that works for your driving/riding preferences.

My post isn't to recommend any octane, I'm pointing out the new octane and density changes to gas in Dayton and Columbus fuel that recently took place.

I believe it's quite the opposite. Higher octane has less energy content per volume hence less likely to pre-ignite which is the whole point of the octane rating. Pinging= pre-ignition of fuel.

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I'd also like to point out that my gas has changed as of recently too. Its become much more pungent to the nose than usual. This new diet must be the culprit for the 100 octane I'm emitting

oh wait...wrong kind of gas? shit

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I believe it's quite the opposite. Higher octane has less energy content per volume hence less likely to pre-ignite which is the whole point of the octane rating. Pinging= pre-ignition of fuel.

Diesel fuel has a higher energy density than gasoline. On average, 1 gallon (3.8 L) of diesel fuel contains approximately 155x106 joules (147,000 BTU), while 1 gallon of gasoline contains 132x106 joules (125,000 BTU). This, combined with the improved efficiency of diesel engines, explains why diesel engines get better mileage than equivalent gasoline engines.

Premium fuel is denser as well therefore containg more energy.

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...EPA restrictions in Dayton for cleaner fuels allowed the gas companies to change the octane base fuel of 87 to what is now called sub-grade with an octane of 84 and a lighter 7.8 pound gas per gal versus the dense 9 pound gas in Columbus. Adding the 10% ethanol brings the octane up to a true 87 octane at the pump... So now the Dayton area will make more profit theoretically.*

So what does this mean?*

Columbus pumps say 87=90, 89=92, 91=94

Dayton pumps say 87=87, 89=89, 91=91...

(not trying to be snarky, although you may take it that way):

Are you saying that EPA restrictions in Dayton and Columbus are not the same? Is this due to some smog-type rule, just as some Ohio counties have a muffler sniffer (e-Check?) requirement but most don't?

I searched the Ohio and Federal EPA sites but could not find any articles relating to octane.

If Columbus pumps say 87=90, and Dayton pumps say 87=87, then what does that mean? Is Dayton not using the (r+m)/2 method for measuring octane?

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The EPA isn't regulating the octane, they are regulating Dayton to 7.8 pound gas as it's base for a fuel producing less emissions which has an 84 octane rating.

It is now illegal for us to transport 9 pound based fuel to our Dayton stores from Columbus.

Prior to this the mix for Dayton and Columbus was

87 was 90% 87 base with 10% ethanol (100 gal = 90g of 87 and 10g eth) actually giving 90 octane

Now the base is Dayton is:

90% 84 base with 10% ethanol resulting in a true 87 octane

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