TobyCoulson Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 What are the advantages of running a higher octane fuel ?
TobyCoulson Posted July 14, 2009 Author Posted July 14, 2009 I should say having a Sigma 150 would it damage my car by running a higher octane fuel. Not being the most intelligent of beings does it cause problems?
u01rsb Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 If you run a high compression ratio it prevents pre-ignition which may damage the engine. I think this question has been asked may times before on BC. Try searching under high octane etc... Rob Edited by - u01rsb on 14 Jul 2009 16:19:22
Roger King Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 Assuming you mean higher octane fuel from a normal garage pump, there will be no damage, BUT there may be no advantage either. Turbo engines usually have management systems that allow higher boost if you run higher octane fuel, so you get more power. This normally happens automatically. Non-turbo engines sometimes allow the ignition to advance a bit more if you run higher octane fuel. All this really means is that the engine should have been on the high octane stuff all the time, and the real situation is that using lower octane fuel causes the ignition timing to knock itself back a few degrees in order to prevent detonation damage, if you see what I mean. So you may get a small performance gain on higher octane fuel for non-turbo engines, but in many cases there will be none at all. However, it is always worth using the higher octane stuff on track days simply in order to reduce the risk of detonation.
rj Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 If the engine is properly mapped for 95 octane you'll loose power by using 98 because it simply burns slower.
Myles Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 If you map your car on 97 (as I did, in the pursuit of 180+ bhp), you'll spend the rest of your 7 ownership cursing the decision on certain far-flung tours. Just to be on the safe-side, I'm packing three bottles of chav octane-booster for the continental fortnight starting on Monday... 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 Alcester Racing 7s Ecosse™ 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 🙆🏻 Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com
Z3MCJez Posted July 14, 2009 Posted July 14, 2009 If the engine is properly mapped for 95 octane you'll loose power by using 98 because it simply burns slower. Is that right Whilst I can see it may not make power gains, I've never heard a credible argument that it lowers power. Indeed, the argument that I believe most is that V-Power (say) has a higher calorific content that 95, per litre, and therefore you either get increased power, or more likely, increased fuel efficiency from higher RON stuff. Jez Build Photos
rj Posted July 15, 2009 Posted July 15, 2009 If you want to use the full potential of the higher octane you need to adjust the ignition timing. A lot of modern engines have knock sensors, however not many Caterhams do. Yes, I am dead serious - you'll loose power. Not much, but you'll loose out.
TobyCoulson Posted July 15, 2009 Author Posted July 15, 2009 Thanks for all the advice. I'll stick to the normal fuel for now.
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