Gasoline, are they all the same?
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From: Vancouver, WA
Gasoline, are they all the same?
Well, I work with this guy and he said that a friend of his work's at a gas station. That friend of his is very close to the boss so the guy found out that all gasoline are the same. Unleads: regular, premium, Super. Is this BS or can anyone 2nd this opinions with facts? I like to know cuz I just bought another car and thought I would pay 10 cents/a gallon less than what I would pay for the gas price of the evo. So lately I haven't really drive my evo 
If this is true, than I'm back on the road with my evo 
If this is true, than I'm back on the road with my evo
No, run 87 and find out what happens. I mean it must be the same if he said so. Just don't get pissed when you have to buy a new motor. If I had a Honda civic I would run 87. As said above it is also illegal to post invalid octane numbers. If you kept the reciept for your gas, you could take your blown motor back to them, have their premium tested and if it was lower than advertised sue them for a new motor. It just wouldn't be smart business.
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: So Cal
The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.
The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
The name "octane" comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and "crack" it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, you may have heard of methane, propane and butane. All three of them are hydrocarbons. Methane has just a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.
It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.
reference="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm"
The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
The name "octane" comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and "crack" it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, you may have heard of methane, propane and butane. All three of them are hydrocarbons. Methane has just a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.
It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.
reference="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm"
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Originally Posted by byt
Uh, you realize it's like a difference of $2 per fill between regular and super. "Splurge" and give your evo what it needs.
No not true. Even gas station to gas station it varies. Try putting 93 octance from clark,citgo compare to BP, Shell. Not sure about you but I can feel the difference on the car. This is why I rather paid the extra cents and fill gas at Shell or BP (amaco)
Last edited by GOKOU; Aug 25, 2005 at 06:46 AM.
Originally Posted by all stock
The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.
The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
The name "octane" comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and "crack" it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, you may have heard of methane, propane and butane. All three of them are hydrocarbons. Methane has just a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.
It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.
reference="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm"
The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
The name "octane" comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and "crack" it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, you may have heard of methane, propane and butane. All three of them are hydrocarbons. Methane has just a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.
It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.
reference="http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm"
Interesting facts, but how about 110 and 116 octane how can you have 110%octane
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Columbus, OH
Originally Posted by fre
Interesting facts, but how about 110 and 116 octane how can you have 110%octane
For numbers above 120 there's no direct measurement, instead a blending octane number is determined. A mix of 20% test fuel and 80% 60:40 iso-octane:n-heptane is measured and the result extrapolated to the pure test fuel. A text mixture that measures 78 has a blending octane number of 150.
Dave
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From: Vancouver, WA
Originally Posted by mayhem
They work at a gas station should have been all you heard, then everything after that should have been "blah, blah blah"
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From: New york
I have a freind who works in a gas station here in queens, ny and he told me that they put the same gas in the tank for 87 and 89. I think the owner is some jewis guy no offense to all but thats what he said to me. Thats why I dont use 89 I'd rather fill it with 87 or premium.