By:
Tim Wusz
Myth
The
higher the octane, the slower the burn.
Fact
In
many cases, high octane gasoline has faster
burning characteristics than low octane
gasoline.
It is rarely slower.
Myth
Too
much octane reduces horsepower.
Fact
Trying
a higher octane fuel and getting less performance
is usually due to introducing additional
variables with the different gasoline which
can be overcome by re-tuning the engine.
Myth
Too
much octane will burn up my engine.
Fact
The
only time your engine is aware of octane
is when it doesn’t have enough. Using a
higher octane than the engine needs does
not hurt or help.
Myth
Street
gasoline with oxygenates is junk.
Fact
Street
gasolines of today, especially in California,
are the best performance gasolines next
to racing gasoline.
Myth
Leaded
gasoline makes more horsepower than unleaded.
Fact
Leaded
gasoline is legal for “sanctioned off-highway
events only” and does not allow the engine
to make more power unless detonation is
present. More power can be made with a street
legal oxygenated unleaded gasoline than
with leaded gasoline as long as there is
no detonation.
Myth
Adding
nitromethane to gasoline improves power.
Fact
Nitro
knocks the octane number down severely,
and makes the mixture way too lean. Jeff
Smith, formerly of Hot Rod Magazine, tried
this a few years back and destroyed an engine
before he got the Air/Fuel ratio correct.
Myth
Octane
number is power.
Fact
Octane
number is resistance to detonation. Higher
octane will increase power only
if detonation is present.
Myth
The
octane requirement of my engine is always
the same.
Fact
Operating
conditions like air temperature, barometric
pressure, humidity, and coolant temperature
have an impact on engine octane requirement.
Myth
Detonation
and Pre-ignition are the same.
Fact
Detonation
can hurt your engine; Pre-ignition will
destroy it.
Myth
Mixing
regular and premium gasolines is not a good
idea.
Fact
All
gasolines are miscible and no adverse effects
will develop when mixing two or more grades.
It is not really necessary to mix gasolines
since there are three grades of unleaded
gasoline at most service stations.
Myth
Octane
number is simply a ploy by the oil companies
to sell more expensive gasoline.
Fact
Approximately
70% of the cars on the road in the US are
satisfied with 87 octane or lower. The other
30% need a higher octane gasoline. The higher
octane gasolines are available for the people
that have cars that need these products
because of high compression ratio, or high
performance in general. Many automobile
manufacturers recommend the use of premium
grade gasolines in some or all of their
engines. (Cadillac, BMW, Corvette, Mercedes
Benz, Lincoln , etc.) We make Rockett Brand
100 Octane Unleaded Gasoline for people
with high performance cars that want a higher
octane gasoline than what is normally available
at the pump.
Myth
Gasoline
is the same all year in all parts of the
U.S.
Fact
Gasoline
is “seasonally adjusted” based on the temperature
that is anticipated in that particular marketing
area. Changes are made at least six times
per year in all areas of the U.S. except
Hawaii . A “seasonal adjustment” means that
the gasoline is blended to vaporize more
readily in the winter than in the summer.
This feature allows cold starts without
stalls, and good driveability (no hesitations,
stumbles, etc.) while the engine is warming
up.
Myth
My
owner’s manual says to use premium grade
gasoline, but I use 87 octane and don’t
hear any ping.
Fact
Many
engines that have premium fuel recommendations
also have knock sensors. The knock sensor
knows when the engine pings and retards
the spark timing until ping is gone. This
all takes place at a sound level below what
the human ear can detect, so the knock sensor
may be saving your engine even though you
don’t know it. The retarded timing will
reduce horsepower and fuel economy, so it
is best to stay with the car manufacturer
recommendation for gasoline octane.
Myth
I
buy premium grade gasoline because it has
more and better additives to keep my injectors
and valves clean.
Fact
All
gasolines sold in the U.S.
are required by law to contain an additive
that will keep injectors and valves clean.
Tests are required and the additive must
be licensed with EPA before it can be used.
Most companies use the same amount of additive
in all grades of their gasoline.
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