MARK SALEM on OCTANE . . . . .
V8Supercoupe said:
I am sure someone here is more knowledgable on the subject ......
This is quoting Mark Salem :
"AAA says only 5 % of the cars on the road today absolutely need super unleaded and I agree. I use the cheapest gas I can find in my Corvette. In tests we ran, the zero to 60 time was 1/10 of a second slower with regular when compared to super. Not much reason to pay .35 -.50 cents more per gallon.
Here's the difference. Regular burns fast, one molecule ignite ten and ten ignite a thousand and they ignite a million. The explosion is similar to a balloon popping. We measure the explosion in milli-seconds. Super burns slower, more like a someone letting a balloon go and fly around the room. One molecule ignites 10, 10 ignite 20, and 20 ignite 30. Now don't start writing me and telling me I'm over simplifying this, I already know it!
So super, because it burns longer, should give you more power, better performance and better mpgs. However, the difference between the two different burn times may only be .8 to 1.2 milliseconds of time and I am quite sure no one I know can feel that. Yes, we can measure that on our dyno in 0-60 mph runs and other tests, but unless you can FEEL the difference, there is no difference.
Are there any other benefits to using super, like cleaner injectors or a cleaner engine? No. If you use the cheapest gas you can find, you will save lots of money and when you need to replace, repair, clean your injectors, you'll have plenty of $$ to do that. I can't tell you how many times I bid injector repairs (some as high as $1300 for 6 new injectors on a V-6 Nissan) and the customer says, "But I use super, doesn't that eliminate this repair?" and of course the answer is no."