Octane Levels

[dimitrinassis001]

Well on this rainy cold boring Sunday I decided to sit and read my owners manual and for the first time i noticed that the owners manual says use a minimum 95 octane. Well here in Canada we have 87,89,91,94 octane. I have been reading around the net and the forum and I believe the 95 octane referred to in the booklet is what they use in Europe and is equivalent to 89 octane in North America. I was wondering what do you guys run in your bike. I use a 91 right now with no ethanol additive. Seems like there is no right answer with different places using varying amounts of ethanol and octane being measured differently in North America and Europe.

[rafaelbrandao]

Originally Posted by dimitrinassis001

Well on this rainy cold boring Sunday I decided to sit and read my owners manual and for the first time i noticed that the owners manual says use a minimum 95 octane. Well here in Canada we have 87,89,91,94 octane. I have been reading around the net and the forum and I believe the 95 octane referred to in the booklet is what they use in Europe and is equivalent to 89 octane in North America. I was wondering what do you guys run in your bike. I use a 91 right now with no ethanol additive. Seems like there is no right answer with different places using varying amounts of ethanol and octane being measured differently in North America and Europe.

Same doubt here, in Brazil we have 87 to 91 octanes, both with 25% ethanol.

[MTScott2]

In Canada our fuel is sold based on AKI which is the RON + MON / 2. Because gasoline in Canada is sold based on AKI, RON and MON can fluctuate based on a number of variables, however, typically the Silver fuel (mid grade) is approximately 93 RON.

Shell Canada follows Provincial and Federal legislation regarding Ethanol in gasoline. Currently some provinces require an average of 5% ethanol content in gasoline. This allows refiners and the marketplace to determine where it will be sold. V-Power, our premium grade gasoline, will not contain any ethanol. Where Shell markets ethanol-blended gasolines, Silver will contain approximately 5% fuel ethanol and Bronze will contain approximately 10% fuel ethanol.




That is the answer I got from writing SHELL CANADA....

Shell is the only gas without ethanol ( PREMIUM GOLD)
If when filling a gas can and the gas foams up then it will have ethanol in it ...
I try to use shell exclusively GOLD...

[freezer16801]

Originally Posted by rafaelbrandao

Same doubt here, in Brazil we have 87 to 91 octanes, both with 25% ethanol.

brazil is leading the way. 25% ethanol in the fuel and more presence of E85 is part of the reason why your country is not dependent on foreign oil.

I use US 89 (silver or mid grade). I use the highest octane in my WRX and track bike.

[Decreasing Dave]

I use 89 Octane as well. You get the most performance out of the lowest octane that your bike can run without predetonation. In my case, at least for now, that's 89 Octane.

Dave

[willysmb]

Originally Posted by Decreasing Dave

I use 89 Octane as well. You get the most performance out of the lowest octane that your bike can run without predetonation. In my case, at least for now, that's 89 Octane.

Dave

agreed.To me its strange to require high octane with such low compression ratio on the hyper,isnt it like 10.5-1? my drz 400sm when it was stock had a 11.3-1 ratio and it ran on 87 octane fine.

[MTScott2]

I may be misguided but I go with the ethanol factor and like to stay away from it if at all possible...You won't do any harm running Premium ,correct???
The Jury is still out on the effects of ethanol on certain rubbers and plastics???

[DemonTweaks]

The reason for higher octane requirements on a Hyper compared to the DRZ above is the 'lack' of cooling. Aircooled engines have a lower detonation resistance than liquid cooled. That also results in slightly higher adiabatic efficency. Which I have noticed on mine with 25mpg...

I've been running premium in mine, the dealer been super slow with getting me my manuals so I didn't know and all my other bikes usually been requiering it. Will try lower octane to see how it runs. But it will probably not be any noticable differance.

Modern pumpgas is very poor quality... Addition of ethanol is mainly for lowering emissions BUT at higher precentages like in E85 its a really good alternative to dedicated racing fuels! E85 is the equalent of ~105 octane! But to utualize it obviusly compression have to be bumped and fuel system capacity incressed quite a bit since it have lower avaiable energy/volume.

[willysmb]

Originally Posted by DemonTweaks

The reason for higher octane requirements on a Hyper compared to the DRZ above is the 'lack' of cooling. Aircooled engines have a lower detonation resistance than liquid cooled. That also results in slightly higher adiabatic efficency. Which I have noticed on mine with 25mpg...

I've been running premium in mine, the dealer been super slow with getting me my manuals so I didn't know and all my other bikes usually been requiering it. Will try lower octane to see how it runs. But it will probably not be any noticable differance.

Modern pumpgas is very poor quality... Addition of ethanol is mainly for lowering emissions BUT at higher precentages like in E85 its a really good alternative to dedicated racing fuels! E85 is the equalent of ~105 octane! But to utualize it obviusly compression have to be bumped and fuel system capacity incressed quite a bit since it have lower avaiable energy/volume.

makes sense,Thanks for the info....

[freezer16801]

I've read of a subaru WRX owner who gained over 100 hp from E85. This was a heavily modified 600 hp car. But, with a turbo car, detonation is very harmful. You can really increase boost and advance the timing because the E85 has such great detonation resistance.

I tried a half tank out in my bike. My oil temps were much cooler. I noticed about 15 degrees cooler on the ride home compared to the ride to the pump.