Octane/station???
 

I was filling up my Z yesterday and I bumped in to my friend at the station. He was just finishing up his 2012 M3coupe and he asked me what octane I was using. Told him that I used what the manual tells me to use. Then he told me to get it tuned for 94octane, it's much better. I don't know much about the octane stuff but I know if I use lower octane than I'm supposed to the engine will misfire or sum thing. Also I saw on the pump there's like a 10% ethenhol or something. So getting it tuned for 94 is better for the car long term or it doesn't matter? It's only 3 cents different from what I use.

shell 91 octane! best gas

If you have access to the higher octane gas, you do get an improvement with a proper tune. The manual recommends 91 or higher, so don't use anything below that or you could get knocks and pings. I always use 93 or higher, but availability varied depending on where you live.

I don't have a tune for 94but I use 91. What happens if I use 94 without a tune?

You may see a slight improvement in performance because your timing may advance a bit. The higher the octane the more timing advance up to a limit. For the extra couple bucks per tank full I'd keep using the 94 octane. I wish we had it. The best available here is 91.

In B.C. alot but not all Chevrons have 94 with no ethanol.

I'm tuned for 94 octane @ 27psi and 25psi on 91 octane. Both from Petro Canada.

Double check with teh gas companies - but in Ontario Shell V Power gold is the only one with no ethanol. Sunoco/ Husky / Petro Can 94 does have some ethanol - nit so good for cars that see limited use or sit in storage as it can attract moisture. Really do not believe you will see a difference in running 91 vs 94 octance - as it is up to so many setting on the cars computers to adjust how it runs on the fuel. Manual and Nissan call for 91 so use that - ideally Shell.

What does that 10% ethanol do?

You should the run the engine at the recommended octane for max performance benefit. Higher won't hurt (but unless your tuned for it - a waste of money and zero benefit), lower will hurt your engine.

Eberything You Ever Wanted To Know About Octane

I'm with Spitfiretr7 - Shell is the best. I believe the 370 manual even says to stay away from ethanol fuels. It's just an additive to make gas cheaper but in the end, not as good as pure gas. I know Shell's V power is pure, I thought Petro Can was too.

Biofuel additive that cuts down emmisions.

Also cuts down my lawnmower and snoblowers carbs (eats thru the floats). local small engine repair guy loves the ethanol. Seen a news report on how the EPA wants to up it to 15%. A rep from the oil industry was saying how that percentage will hurt engines. Cars are not engineered to handle 15%.

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Lol 15% will kill most of the old cars!

94 octane can be a benefit if there are times when the engine is under a load like going up a grade and it starts to ping. Well, you won't hear it because the anti-knock sensor will detect the ping and retard the timing a few degrees or so. That is a decrease in performance. The 94 octane may not make the engine ping and hence the engine timing will not retard. There is nothing wrong with using 94 octane but it may not be worth it as others have mentioned unless you change the timing map in the ecu using something like Uprev if the timing map can in fact be altered. My 'vette would benefit a great deal because I can alter the timing curve relatively easy.

our wonderful government subsidizes corn growers and between politicians and the epa, they know more than the car manufactures what is best for our cars! NOT!

As Dizzy said, Shell 91 is the best. Too bad they don't offer 94 for those who tuned for it :(

And yes the snowblower (Briggs & Stratton), lawnmower (Honda), and stihl hedge trimmer all spec Do Not Use Ethanol fuel.....

Yup, and here on Long Island Ny
ethanol is required by law. Nice to know I have no choice but to use gas that harms my equiptment. Fuel Stabil somewhat helps I'm told. The EPA blows.
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When i go to the track i use petro can 94 + lucas octain booster.

The guy who tuned my car said to use any gas except for shell. I wonder why?

So ethanol can destroy your motor and he can offer to fix it for you at a hooked up buddy price?

I been using 94 octane for years now and it never harmed the engine. It only contains 10% ethanol so i dont know why people are so scared of it.

I was at Petro Can filling up today and I noticed they don't have the "contains ethanol" sticker on the pump. Maybe it's clean too. They also have 94.

All gas in Canada has at least 5 percent ethanol. (Government mandated.) Most companies went one better...10 percent. I believe there are a few companies that have not yet made the change to the (new) law. But they must after September 2012.

Edit: I might have that date wrong.

it contains 10%. We just got a few places in edmonton and with it and i got right excited. Decided to check the petro can website and it says it contains 10%. One of my buddies that is tuned on 94 Octane from Huskys said he tried 94 from Petro and got a bunch of knock. I'm tuned for 94 huskys but been using 94 petrocan for awhile but havent been going WOT since my clutch was toast. Once i get my car back from the dealership tomorrow and break the new clutch in ill do some datalogs with 94 from Petro and see if there is any difference.

It was my understand that shell is the only company with premium fuel @ 0% ethanol (only in there 91 though) This was a hot topic for Z32 guys because we didn't want anything in there to damage our FI systems.....

If what 6MT says is true, I will be very disappointed in our government, but this down;t surprise me I am disappointed on a daily basis :rofl2:

should also note in my Z cars I have only been using shell 91 for past 5 seasons (last 2 I had with z32, and the past 3 with my z34 I have had no problems with either car!

From what I can tell from my work bulletins announcements is that Shell 91 is ethanol free and Shell 89 has up to 5% and 87 octane has up to 10%, which is government mandated. Great deal for the oil companies ...cheap volume additive.


That being said: between product cross contamination, E&S not really telling us what is really going on; I reserve the right to be wrong and corrected later. From my research and inquiries; there is no ethanol additive in Shell 91 fuel.

The government has mandated that all fuel that contains ethanol, must have a sign that says so, on the fuel pump. But really, what does that mean?

Anyone have any good info on the PetroCan 94 octane?

I consistently run 93, for some reason I was under the impression I was supposed to and that is the highest available in my area...unless there is a good reason not to (feedback please) I will continue along that path.

List here of ethanol free gas stations in Canada and the US. List is maintained by the members so it could be out of date in some instances but it gives some pretty good data.

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

Nice I added a couple of the shells from our area!

Trillium we still need to hook up! I still have a clutch spring for you if you want it!

I thought Petro-Can did have ethanol free premium as well but I see they are no longer on the website, doing a little google searching I found they recently changed. Shell it is then.

^I know, I do still want the spring, it's been crazy with moving houses trying to find free time these days. This weekend sometime looks like it should work if you are around.

I was wondering about petro-can thought the same thing when not seeing them on the list... O well thats ok ever since I have owned a Z (back to my Z32) I have always and only used shell 91 in both of them.


As for meeting up, I'll PM you my Cell# again in case you don't have it. We can meet up I'll try to remember to keep an extra spring in the car. I will be in town all weekend so let me know.

Petro Can 94 does have 10% ethanol, it's on their official website, question 5 under ultra 94.
FAQs — Questions, Answers, Gasoline Products — Petro-Canada

I have always used shell 91 ever since i got my car, but i'm considering switching to 94 since my car is FIed, interested in seeing if there is any solid conclusion that can come of this

I did my first data logs with 94 from petrocan with my evo...i got a **** load of knock between 6400-6800rpm's. I'm going to run the tank pretty much dry and put 94 from huskey's back in and log again.

Interested in knowing the results, I am assuming that the Husky has 0% ethanol.

no, husky has 10% as well. But my buddy was tuned on 94 huskey as well and then switched to 94 from petro and same thing, knock in the rpm band. Like i said im going to put husky back in and log it. My tune is abit funky right now. Before my clutch started slipping i was at 423hp 382trq on 29psi by 4100rpm. Now im 408hp 402trq on 29psi by 4400rpm. The loss in spool is caused by the afr being abit rich. So i gotta get my tuner to adjust the afr and MIVEC to get the spool back. I also want him to give me more hp but back the torque back down to ~380....400 is the mark where rods start bending. I'm assuming my torque is up because of my ligher flywheel. If thats the case i might leave it because by that point its not putting more stress on the rods, just less drivetrain loss.

Makes sense, hope all goes well for you with the husky gas. Would yo not prefer to use the Shell 91 though so then you have the 0% ethanol?

Also that's crazy boost your a getting out of your Evo! I could only have dreamed of having my Z32 that high! I ran 10psi a lot and a couple times i pushed it up to 12 and 13 psi scared I would blow it up, but I never did. But Holy F*ck 29 psi! I could only imagine the push it gives you when you start boosting! And to think I thought going up 4 pounds was big lol!

I have 2 tunes. one on 94 octane @ 29psi and one on 91 octane @ 25psi (91 i use for the winter and long road trips where stations dont have 94)

Dont forget the compression ratio of the engine determines what psi is good for your car. Hence why most 370z's are only running ~5psi. If/when i build the engine ill probably put it up to 35psi..lol.

I am aware of the compression factor affecting the overall top end PSI just didn't know that the evo could take so much!

I always wanted to build up my Z32, I saw one guy at a meet in rochester, NY running 20-22psi on his z32 (fully built block though) that thing would have been insane to go for a drive in!

Yea i just did a WOT pull through 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear and god damn this car freaks me out. Spikes at 29.2psi and tapers to 27psi by redline. I'm heading to the drag strip on friday to see what she does so im hoping my tuner gets back to me.

Damn!:tup: Post up your track results next weekend