93 octane worth it?
 

Just curious if the 370z would run better/faster on 93 octane fuel. In nevada we only have 91 here but there is a place not to far from home that has 100. Figured I could occasionally mix the two to get roughly 93 octane if it was worth it. I know the STI's are meant to run on 93 so west coast STI's see slightly decreased performance due to 91 octane fuel. Just wondering if the Z is similar in that it would benefit from 93 or not. By the way this is in regards to stock trim. Thanks

93 isn't nessassary, don't waste your time looking for it. We have alot places with 93 around but I don't go out of my way to go find it. From 91 to 93, the increase in performance would be marginal at best. 91 will work fine in the Z.

I miss 93 octane. It definitely made a performance difference. In the 350Z (last car to try 93 octane), throttle response was awesome and it was easy to spin out of 2nd while making a turn. When the tank gets close to empty it starts feeling a tad weak until I fill it up again.

I wonder what it feels like with the 370Z.

Anyhow, most of the gas stations here contain 10% Ethanol.

Exactly.

I think that most gas stations in the US carry 10% ethanol.

Answer: the same as 91 octane.

Also, what you experienced with your 350z and 93 octane was placebo, short of you having done something to the engine to "require" it - such as an ECU tune. Bolt-ons will not change octane requirements, but forced induction may.


My 370z, with it's 7AT, will roast 1st entirely, chirp 2nd pretty good, and sometimes chirp 3rd. I'ev also gotten it to trigger the slip light in 4th.

All of that while going in a straight line. Knowing how quickly this car will whip around when it breaks traction while turning (VDC is a good thing...lol) - I don't try the whole "while turning" bit.

If mine had an open diff, I might still be able to get away with powersliding and so on...but not with my Z's VSLD...

+2, I have felt no increase at all between the 2. 91 octane is the only premium offered in some states/provinces and runs just as well in the Z as 93 Octane.

cool guys. thanks

Fill up my Z with 91 or 93 but don't let me know.

$1000 says I can tell you the difference.

unless you change your compression ratio you won't realize any advantages to higher octanes. Remember octane is not a measurement of energy potential -- it measures a fuel's resistance to premature detonation. Higher octanes mean you can safely compress the gas further. But you can't take advantage of that just by filling up with higher octane

Does your engine ping on 91? No? Then don't bother.

Make it $5000 and I'll take that bet.

:iagree: I'd take that bet in a heart beat.

Ya I should make it ten grand.

Just don't bet crab kitteh

91 its ok.
Wont feel any difference and either wont hurt your cars.

[shrugs] I thought our ECUs have a more aggressive map for 93 octane. Even my dad feels a difference with his Z32-TT. It just seems like there's plenty more throttle response.

I feel a difference when I got from 93 to 100 but i dont know if id know the difference from 91 - 93.. I know that if you dyno tuning you can tune about 20-30hp more with 93 on a turbo car.

eh, here in dallas, i fill up at costco and their premium is 93, so thats what i go with...definitely working out so far. dont know if i'd see a performance difference if i went to a station with 91 though...

With my previous turbo'd car, I could tell..but I was running a chipped ECU that was tuned for 93. The 91 caused it to pull timing (1 degree of timing is ~5hp).

With the Z, I had a tank of 91 once but can't say that I could tell. Maybe at the track once heat causes the knock sensors to start to come into play......I might tell the difference. But for street use on a stock tune....I would hard pressed to say I would notice a difference on a NA car.

91 and 93 will perform identically in our cars. Fill up with 100 octane and you notice a difference, but not because of the higher octane, it's because 100 octane is oxygenated.

91 octane is actually technically oxygenated as well as the 10% ethanol content allows the companies to sell it as such. there is a marginal performance difference between 91 and 93 due to the alcohol content (alcohol is a cheap easy way to boost 87 up to 91 without adding the nice petroleum distillates, and fuel additives you get with 93, while at the same time reducing specific energy output by 1-2% due to that same alcohol) 91 is the gasoline equivalent of E85 and shares it's same fault only smaller, and doesn't carry the 100+ octane rating of an alcohol base blend. The 91 octane sold in the state of California is even worse dues to it's requirement to further reduce emissions. Gasoline mixes also vary by region, and time of year as well as by brand. You may like shell in spring, B.P. in summer, Mobil in fall, because each company varies the amount of additives in they specific blend they order, and many companies actually sell the exact same gas purchased from the local oil distributor, some times you can even watch a tanker pull in to one station unload fuel, cross the street and put the same gas in the competitors tanks. This time of year i have to be careful with roadtrips to no-snow states because on the drive home if i have that fuel left in the tank there isn't enough antifreeze in it once you get back into sub 10degree weather.

Edit:Many places now also sell a 10% ethanol blend in 93 octane rating as well so that is something to look for because in many states companies are not required to actually state what is in the fuel so long is it is in quantities less than 10% and meets the advertised octane rating

You guys are *******.

Me, Im running JP-5. I definitely noticed a performance difference, on the stock tune.

Our only choices here are 87, 89, & 93 octanes. I have filled it the first 3 times with 93, but what about 89? Would you use it? :confused:

Definitely not. The car is tuned for 91 octane - any lower, and you better be pretty soft on the throttle, and never take it to "oh ****" RPM's. Otherwise, knocking is almost inevitable.

yeah 89 is a for sure no-go especially since most companies stoop to a mid tier gas that is almost always blended, for everything except premium(some stations screw that up too as i said)

Edit: oh and bobo we can get 110 oxy unleaded here

I'll stick with my JP-5. You know what JP-5 is used in, right? Its exclusive! "High" rollers, only!

yeah yeah you use your aviation grades the rest of use will stick to our 93, painthinner, and race gas

110+tolulene = 130octane of pure FTMFW

Look up JP-5 specifically :)

Well.......That's not entirely true. With today's adaptive ECU's, the knock sensor will allow the advance of timing up to the point of detonation then back off slightly for maximum power and efficiencies. Higher octane allows more timing to be advanced with a result in slightly more performance. Cooler Intake temps also allow this advance. I've posted numerous charts and graphs on this in the past so I'll spare you that. The 370 ECU has proven to be very adaptive which is one reason it responds so well to mods without re-tuning and will respond to higher octanes as well, at least up to the max adjustment range within the ECU programming. . As an example from the Audi camp, the difference between a 93 octane program and a 100 octane program on a 1.8T motor is roughly 15-20 hp. The differences between the programs are are primarily timing advances...

ok but only cuz you didn't tear me a new hole about how it is clearly superior just cuz it says aviation grade or AVSMO;)

http://pix.motivatedphotos.com/2008/...000-rollin.jpg

:icon17:

ok so it's carrier grade high flashpoint kerosine turbine fuel. It's still a heavy oil do you ever have injector fouling problems? run anything with it like a can of seafoam to prevent that, and do you use it regularly or track only. I'm interested because kerosine does have a higher specific energy and it may offer a power boost but i would be worried about fouling. The motor is 11-1 so i wouldn't be to worried about getting it to run though.

Its used for this, specifically:

http://www.jamesshuggins.com/i/u-2a/misc/u-2_beale.jpg

Get it? "HIGH" ROLLERS?! Harrrrrrrr

From 87 to 93, definitely!; from 91 to 93...?

:bs:

93 is all we get around here for super unleaded... So that's what I use in my Z.

Still Investigating
 

I'm only on my second tank and I put 89 octane in it because some guy who worked as a fuel delivery driver told me that there wasn't really any difference in the plus vs. premium, but some difference in 87 standard. I don't think I have noticed anything yet, but the car's pcm would take the timming down to compensate. You don't notice it as much in a GM LT1 350 V8 as much as you will in the Nissan 3.7 V6. I'm still experimenting.:tiphat::driving:

there are noticeable differences between fuels but usually only if you are comparing a good premium to a lesser grade fuel even of the same octane. It's more about the gas than it is the octane number.

as for the JP-5 apparently it is the naval standard for at sea operations so every plane on an aircraft carrier uses it

Makes sense - its high flashpoint is crucial to...oh, I dont know...not killing the crew if it ignites, and its extremely low freezing point is crucial to the U2's ability to fly extremely high without its fuel freezing.