Quote:
Originally Posted by semtex
And how do you know this definitively? How can you be 100% certain that higher octane didn't account for at least some of that 14whp gain? Understand, I'm not saying you're wrong. What I'm saying is that I don't know for sure one way or the other, because I have yet to see any proof. I just see a bunch of people making claims, but I see no tests to verify one way or another. What I'd like to see is a video similar to the one IP did, showing someone dumping in non-oxygenated 100-octane fuel in. If the dyno reads 0 gain, then I'll be convinced that higher octane doesn't do anything, because that's actual evidence/proof. Let me put it this way. I wouldn't accept someone's claims that mod xyz produces huge gains without seeing proof in the form of dyno results. I doubt many of us would, right? So likewise, I'm not going to accept anyone's claim that xyz produces zero gains without the same kind of proof. As far as I'm concerned, until there is proof one way or the other, the question hasn't been definitively answered and all positions are conjectural. Also, just to be clear, I did not post that video with the intent of offering it as proof that higher octane produces gains. We obviously can't say that because the fuel they used was oxygenated. My intent was only to refute the claim that race fuel in general will produce no gains in the 370Z unless the car is modified for it.
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Oxygenated fuels increase the burn rate. It's like adding a (weak) supercharger, and because the ECU is reading off the Air Flow Sensor on what's coming in, and is reading the o2 levels going out, I'm sure it's trying to enrichen the A/F ratio, which would in turn add more fuel and oxy-fuel, making the problem "worse" - I'm sure after a certain point the ECU wouldn't know what do to and just use it's default (rich) map to protect the engine...it's basically as if the fuel injectors are shooting in pure o2 out of a tank into the chamber, in a sense.
You get the same result by using nitro-methane...though, don't go buying R/C gas and sticking it in your Z.