89 octane

[digglesworth]

Is 89 octane readily available across the country? I've heard 89 is considered premium in the mountain states....

 

[Highatop]

Here in Co, 89 is midgrade. 87, 89, and 91

 

[skeptic]

85, 87 and 91 around here - Ogden/Layton UT area.

 

[Kyle]

Here in California i read that if you go to a 76 station you can buy 100 octane! i wanna try it out!

 

[jakesz28]

A 100 octane won't do anything unless you add some timing. But even then you won't pick up much.

Growing up I remember the places you could drive up to a pump and get 110 octane if you needed it.

Maybe if you want to run some 100 octane add a hundred shot of NOS with it. Then you will feel it.

Actually running a higher octane then needed can lower the horsepower, if your not tuned for it. The benefit of higher octane is do to the slower burn rate and preventing detonation. I have seen a motor on an engine dyno put down more power with pump gas then 112 octane. I'm sure if we wanted to tune it to the 112 it may have picked up but it was a 730 hp Pump Gas Combo On 90 octane.

 

[3Hummers]

89 is pretty common. You should be able to find it most anywhere.

 

[deserth3]

85octane is for higher elevations. Salt Lake Utah is above 4000 feet and 85works just fine

 

[Neo]

going on eight years of running 85 in the I5 and V8 pickups. works fine and a little cheaper 4,000' in Moab.

 

[digglesworth]

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on getting a pcm tune next week and I'm up in the air about which octane I should select. They say the higher octane allows them to pull a little more out of the tune. I just don't wanna ever find myself not able to find 89 out on road trips and remote areas. I may just stick with 87. Can't be a huge difference in the time for 89 vs the tune for 87.

 

[skeptic]

Thanks everyone. I'm planning on getting a pcm tune next week and I'm up in the air about which octane I should select. They say the higher octane allows them to pull a little more out of the tune. I just don't wanna ever find myself not able to find 89 out on road trips and remote areas. I may just stick with 87. Can't be a huge difference in the time for 89 vs the tune for 87.

Even if you can't find 89 (midgrade in most areas), you should always be able to find 91/93/etc. In the areas where midgrade is actually 87, like here, you should still be fine because you can safely run a bit lower octane in higher elevations - or just buy super/premium.

 

[ProjektH3]

89 is pretty common or something close to keep your tune in check 93 at the pumps here. You could also just keep a few cans of octane boost in the rig for the rare times you run into needing it.

 

[LagunaH1]

When I moved from NY to CA I brought with me a 2003 Infiniti FX45. It required a minimum of 91 octane gas. In NY it had been running just fine on 93 octane. When I filled it up the first time with 91 here in CA, it started pinging and knocking real bad. The car never drove the same again and I ended up trading it in a year later. I think that 4.5 liter V8 was a bit too sophisticated for tis own good. It also had a thing where it would leak engine oil in to the intake manifold so whenever I went to start it, it would give a big puff of smoke. Supposedly the leak was "within spec" so Infiniti refused to replace or repair the engine.

 

[ProjektH3]

My RSX-S ran on 93 out here till we moved to Cali. Then I ran 91 and it was ok

 

[2010H3TAlpha]

I've been all over the mountain states in high compression and big turbo cars, never had an issue buying premium. Northern NV is probably the most desolate but your issue there is finding a gas station at all.