Changed to 87 octane from 93 octane results

OB_Ambush

Registered
Hey fella's
Im not running nothing but the high grade stuff. But if you want to save money on gas check out this site www.carclub.com
sign up. first they give you free gas then you save 10% all year. I have been doing this for about 6 months now and with my 5.0 mustang, isuzu Rodeo, and Hayabusa i save alot.
 
After I lost the cam chain on my '99, I had a chance to see my pistons up close... I was surprised to see a good thick layer of carbon on them w/<10k miles! I had just assumed that the 92 octane was better gas for a high-performance machine. Oops.

Take a look at this link: http://www.factorypro.com/ Go to "Tech" (top menu), then scroll down to "Octane ratings & fuels" for an expert opinion. Bottom line is, use the lowest octane gas you can without making your engine knock, especially on a Hayabusa with it's lower compression ratio. You really have to pinch high octane gas to get it all burned.
 
I did the same thing about four months ago. Aside from saving a few pennies, I found no difference. Johnnycheese told us so anyway!
 
Ambush: GAS WARS www.priceline.com (gas area)
You bid on the gas price. I got 50 gallons @$1.16 a gallon at a station two streets from my house. Priceline has a $3 monthly fee. May not be in your area yet but worth a try.
The carclub.com has a $5.99 monthly charge for me and they sent me "Mastercard" for the prepaid gas.
Both work great and really have cut back my expenses on fuel.
 
CSJ, I recently filled up a couple of times with Chevron unleaded, 87 (min) "pump" octane. I have not observed any problems in my '00 either. Still paying a lot more than in the past for unleaded . . . $1.84/gal, but Chevron Supreme costs about $2.00 or more.

You should chance it and come up to Alices' on Sunday. Weather report sayd it will be a great day for riding. It will be great to meet the local 'busa owners and talk a little shop.

[This message has been edited by dsinned (edited 11 August 2000).]
 
Ditto on Chevron, Dennis. My 'busa runs smoother on 87 I feel. I ran 92 last week and it seemed to run rough and definitely burned richer, based on my sense of smell.

See you on Sunday.
 
There was a good post, now lost forever, on this subject at LABusas...guys like Turbo Rick and Johnycheese have made this obsevation with top speed and dyno runs employed to make thier observations with...few things are as simple as they seem...live and learn...I alawys went for the highest octain available, and flash even uses race gas...but I have bought "87" for the last two tanks with no ill effects and shall do so in the future...they had a really good tech talk where they described octain as basicly being a flame retardent!?
 
I switched from the Union 76 Hi-octane 93 to the lower 87 octane with no change on performance of the bike,no knocks on the engine.I notice a little bit on the back firing when letting off after full out run. The temp gage looks like it's a notch down meaning the bike seems to run a little cooler,I'm not sure if that is because the weather up here in Northern California goes from 55 degress in the morning to 90 in the afternoon. So the bottom line for me is that I will run the 87 octane to save alittle money on gas. Oh ya I'm still getting the same gas mileage about 30-35 miles per gallon in the city/commute and about 40-45 long range riding on freeway and under 90 miles per hour.
 
Octane is simply the resistance to detonation. The lower the number, the less resistance to detonation, therefore less compression is required to squeeze the air fuel mixture before it is ignited. It simply is more ignitable. The higher the number, the more resistance to detonation there is so the more it needs to be "squeezed" or compressed before ignition.
 
CSJ I have been buying the 87 also with no difference! If I heard any knocking like when I put 87 in my car, I would have not done it again. However, it runs fine on the cheaper grade!

-mo money 4 me
 
am i thinking that if you got a "bad" tank of 87 octane gas, it may be in the 80 octane range, where as a "bad" tank of 93 octanre gas would most likely be in the 87 octane range, making it SAFER to run the higher octane? of course, this would be in the not likely to happen category, but what if it did? i did try the lower octane and saw no performance gains, or losses.
 
Reading from the manual (pg32, FUEL, ENGINE OIL AND COOLANT RECOMMENDATIONS) it states...

FUEL
Use unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 91 or higher (Research method). Unleaded gasoline can extend spark plug life and exhaust component life.

(For Canada)
Use only unleaded gasoline of at least 87 pump octane (R+M/2 method) or 91 octane or higher rated by the Research Method.

So 91 octane (or higher) is recommended everywhere using the Research method...

so why the 87??? I'm curious....
 
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