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A Tread About Carbon Buildup, Seafoam, And High Octane


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IPB Image Many people use premium gasoline thinking that it’s better for engines than regular. That can be a costly misconception.

 

Regular gas typically has an octane rating of 87, while premium is rated at 91 to 93. But octane grades don't represent "good, better, best"; they simply measure a fuel's resistance to pre-ignition (pinging or knocking), a condition in which gasoline burns uncontrollably in the engine’s combustion chambers, possibly leading to engine damage. The higher the octane rating, the more resistance it provides.

 

Most engines are designed to run fine on regular gas. Using premium in them doesn’t improve performance; it only costs more money.

 

Even many cars for which premium is recommended can use regular gas without a problem. That’s because most modern engines can detect the presence of pre-ignition (which usually occurs under high-load conditions) and automatically make adjustments to eliminate it. The tradeoff when that happens is a slight decrease in power and gas mileage, but most people probably won’t notice it.

 

Generally, if your owner’s manual says "premium recommended," you can safely use regular gas.

 

Some engines do require premium gas. They’re typically more powerful ones used in sports and luxury cars. Those engines use a higher compression ratio, which can make them run hotter and make them more vulnerable to pinging. The high octane fuel helps them resist the condition. 10:1 IS NOT HIGH COMPRESSION....

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apparently the millenia was more like a black project and only referred to as the ZX on a need to know basis.

 

:clapping:

 

yesterday i was cruising along when i saw a decidedly evil shape lurking in the background, for some reason i didnt immediately recognise it, but it was a dark green 95 S, it suddenly accelerated and went around me and i gave chase, what a glorious sight that must have been to watch

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IPB Image Many people use premium gasoline thinking that it's better for engines than regular. That can be a costly misconception.

 

Regular gas typically has an octane rating of 87, while premium is rated at 91 to 93. But octane grades don't represent "good, better, best"; they simply measure a fuel's resistance to pre-ignition (pinging or knocking), a condition in which gasoline burns uncontrollably in the engine's combustion chambers, possibly leading to engine damage. The higher the octane rating, the more resistance it provides.

 

Most engines are designed to run fine on regular gas. Using premium in them doesn't improve performance; it only costs more money.

 

Even many cars for which premium is recommended can use regular gas without a problem. That's because most modern engines can detect the presence of pre-ignition (which usually occurs under high-load conditions) and automatically make adjustments to eliminate it. The tradeoff when that happens is a slight decrease in power and gas mileage, but most people probably won't notice it.

 

Generally, if your owner's manual says "premium recommended," you can safely use regular gas.

 

Some engines do require premium gas. They're typically more powerful ones used in sports and luxury cars. Those engines use a higher compression ratio, which can make them run hotter and make them more vulnerable to pinging. The high octane fuel helps them resist the condition. 10:1 IS NOT HIGH COMPRESSION....

 

Miller compression ratio is even 8:1

 

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"measure a fuel's resistance to pre-ignition (pinging or knocking), a condition in which gasoline burns uncontrollably in the engine's combustion chambers, possibly leading to engine damage. The higher the octane rating, the more resistance it provides."

 

umm yesh, and in a boosted engine, and in modern engines where things are very precisly controlled it makes a huge difference, you think that power lose is because there isn't as much energy in the fuel, wrong.

 

if it were another car I wouldn't care that your all ruining them, but these are millenia's and we all need to do our part to keep them around

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That compression ratio is no longer a good definition for MCE. The effective ratio (from intake valves closed to TDC) is 8:1 which is more important when it comes to octane. Read about MCE or you better read the new avon catalog.

 

http://eunos.com.au/data/800/mazdafiles/index.htm

 

At first glance the compression ratio would appear to be 10:1 (swept volume compared to clearance volume), however, for the first 20 percent of the compression stroke, the intake valves remain open. Since the actual compression stroke does not begin until the valve closes, the compression ratio is "artificially" reduced down to 8:1.

 

 

mc_graph4

 

 

 

Intake valve duration is from two degrees before TDC until 70 degrees after BDC, while the exhaust valve duration is from 47 degrees before BDC to five degrees after TDC. The intake valves remain open for around an additional 30 degrees of crankshaft rotation beyond "normal". This kind of valve timing reduces the effective compression ratio from 10:1 to a little under 8:1.

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Ok saint, remove the supercharger, put regular in and see how it runs, because thats clearly the type of engine you want.

 

its 10 when the fuse is lite so to speak, thats why its officially speced at 8, and since its the same gas you should prepare for the higher numbers.

 

I truely can't understand why people are so obsessed with being a cheap skate on common sense and then bitch about very expensive repairs later on, or the car dying early.

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I'm assuming the ping sensor is linked to lighting up a CEL from past reading. If that is the case, if 93 were required, we'd have a ton of members throwing posts up here. MTS, didn't you do some kind of number crunch using both fuels?

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Here most manufacturers of gas add some sort of cleaning additives I believe. Saint is correct, the nominal compression ratio of the Miller Cycle is 8:1. However the always present boost ups it to a resulting 10:1, which in my world means it is wise to run it on at least fairly high octane. Here we have only "midgrade" (95 RON) and up, 98 RON probably is comparable to your premium. There is one supplier selling 92 RON, but that is not recommended in many cars. Here the Miller Cycle is supposed to run on 98 RON or premium.

 

As far as I am concerned, carbon buildup is more related to driving habits than models/engines. Short trip and/or excessive low speed (city) driving is bad. There are however a few cars which reportedly are more prone than others:

 

Mitsubishi 1,8 and 2,4 piece of shit leanburn GDI, also found in some Volvo S40/V40.

Ford Zetec fourpots, 1,8 and 2,0, if driven enough under said conditions it can build up enough carbon to practically stop running.

Some Volvo 5-pots; same story.

 

That is those I've heard of. I doubt it is gas related. Maybe we have different/better gas? :noidea:

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OK but either way im sure a company like shell doesnt use as many cleaning additives in their regular as they do in their premium.

 

Most of the big gas companies say how their premium gas are formulated to clean out carbon, and gunk deposits left by putting crap regular gas. Why wouldnt they say that about their regular?

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OK but either way im sure a company like shell doesnt use as many cleaning additives in their regular as they do in their premium.

 

Most of the big gas companies say how their premium gas are formulated to clean out carbon, and gunk deposits left by putting crap regular gas. Why wouldnt they say that about their regular?

 

Because premium is more expensive. I dont think prem has any more additive than regular. mid is a mixture of regular and prem, it does not even have a separate tank.

 

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you think mid grade doesn't even have its own tank?

 

yes it does, each grade is refined a differently and transported completel seperate, the profit margin is exactly the same, this is because it costs more to make prem, which in most cases has a few cmore cleaners in it to prevent the build up of any carbon the standard higher octane wouldn't remove from a ghetto rat who ran regular through.

 

major gas stations put some cleaners in regular gas, discount stations use less, mexicans use pretty much none

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Yeah right. Here the oil companies certainly add their additives themselves. But a Shell gastruck might just as well supply a Esso gastation and vice versa. Shell have an own grade with cleaning additives, called V-power, availible in both premium (98RON) and midgrade (95RON). I never use it though. But reportedly it does a good job at cleaning. Some brands have blamed the V-power for engine trouble though.

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you guys are weak for hating on someone for taking good care of their car. you're probably also the fools that don't wash your car because "it will get dirty again after a while" :weirdo::thumbdown:

 

 

Just washed yesterday. I am trying to straighten the rad fins without any process nowadays, any experience?

 

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