octane rating and engine performance
In Texas, the minimum octane rating is 87. On a recent trip to Glacier, I noticed a lot of the fuel in states like CO, WY and MT, the octane was 85, and you had to buy the mid-grade to get 87 and abov...
Forum Discussion
Yes two points will make a difference depending on the vehicle and the conditions.
I was trying to find the study that was done some time last year where they tested multiple dual fuel vehicles. Some recommended 87 but were able to increases performance with higher octane and some recommended 91 but were able to lower engine performance with lower octane. One of those vehicles was an F150 Ecoboost.
These vehicles were able to adjust their injection timing, valve timing, and ignition timing for different fuels depending on how much knock was detected by the wide band knock sensor. However, they can only adjust them so much and after a certain point they could not do anything to mitigate knock. In normal driving this was not an issue, but the research showed that under hard driving conditions with high load and high engine temps, the slight octane rating difference had a big effect on the engines ability to deter knock and performance.
If I find the research paper I will post it. I posted it here before in a discussion about the F150 ecoboost.
I was trying to find the study that was done some time last year where they tested multiple dual fuel vehicles. Some recommended 87 but were able to increases performance with higher octane and some recommended 91 but were able to lower engine performance with lower octane. One of those vehicles was an F150 Ecoboost.
These vehicles were able to adjust their injection timing, valve timing, and ignition timing for different fuels depending on how much knock was detected by the wide band knock sensor. However, they can only adjust them so much and after a certain point they could not do anything to mitigate knock. In normal driving this was not an issue, but the research showed that under hard driving conditions with high load and high engine temps, the slight octane rating difference had a big effect on the engines ability to deter knock and performance.
If I find the research paper I will post it. I posted it here before in a discussion about the F150 ecoboost.
