i dont think that is exactly correct, I think the trade off of using higher octane is more of a benefit. I dont think there is any harm that can come to your motor. I think in situations of older cars possibly or not properly maintained cars. potentially if a spark wasnt strong enough and failing to ignite fuel then I can beleive that that constant fuel dumps can kill the cat, but not sure about the motor.

I think there is a benefits to running higher octane in some cases. for example, up here in Canada, Sunoco has 94 octane, their octane has been confirmed ultra low sulfur content for a long time, before it was maindated by the government. So the benefit is a green one. Also your engine may have less deposits.

There are performance gains under high performance situations, even if the octane level is 87 recommended.

in any capcity , i wouldnt call it a waste. if he wants to put it in, let him. I put 89 in my car.

 

There is no benefit in running a higher octane than needed, you're wasting money and potentially harming the car. The higher the octane, the higher the resistance to knock and the longer the fuel takes to burn. If your car is designed to use 87 octane, it won't have the ignition mapping to use the 93 effectively and you'll end up with carbon deposits in the motor and excess fuel being dumped into the exhaust system which kills cats.

 

again, I humbly disagree. Damage in modern cars today from higher octane is unlikely. Also engines that employ VVT in one degree or another generally attempt to run as (so so agressive) as possible. It is entirely possible that a cars performance and fuel economy can be increased, even though the manufacturer states 87 octane. A cars Octane requirement level can be influenced by

1. Temperature Hotter and engine coolant increase your octane requirements.
2. Altitude: Higher altitudes decrease your octane requirement
3. Humidity: Drier air increases your octane requirement.
4. Engine spark timing: If your engine's spark timing is increased, your octane requirement increases.
5. Rapid acceleration and heavy loading increases your octane requirement.

There are other factors that come into play but to keep the main list simple that covers it. So it is possible you are correct in the right conditions, but since conditions vary greatly across the world. Different areas and different styles of driving may require a higher octane level. On the flip side even the experts some times say its not worth paying the extra dollar for higher octane. your car will run on 87 regardless, even if its rated higher. But you may lose out on max performance and MPG. so its a trade off.

Also deposits in the engine can be disputed as well, some oil companies have a very different ingredient / formulation with different octanes. Some grades have more Ethanol then others, some dont even have Ethanol blended into it. As I mentioned earlier, I remember that Sunoco had the lowest sulfur content in the industry on average. I only see cars that are older (not as advanced) or poorly maintained cars having problems with fouling. Regular inspection of sparkplugs will likely head off any problems with fuel.

http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/MSD/docs/p...tane_guide.pdf
I have decided to reference from a government agency, opinions on this topic vary greatly, tuners say one thing, oil companies say another. Feel free to poke around. This agrument is more directed at those who dont know much about Octane, some time ago I was in the dark when it came to octane. some on the board have differing opinions and when it comes down to it, there is more then one way to look at any given topic.

 

Here's the problem, cars can only run as aggressively as their stock programming allows meaning that there is a maximum amount of timing they can add after which point they stop modifying. This is how tuning works, you set up the maps under the assumption that they're the maximum amount the car will use. If you put in gas that causes knock, the car will naturally remove timing/add fuel and will slowly but surely start adding back the timing and removing fuel as it sees fit. The whole octane rating revolves around the gases ability to avoid knock, this is why turboed cars or heavily modified NA cars have to run high octane gas. I highly doubt that any car manufacturer out there would be dumb enough to so tightly tune a car that it can only run properly under exact conditions, all modern day cars have a certain level of wiggle room as far their tune goes; if it was maxed out, tuning would be a waste of time in the first place. Running a higher octane than needed is just pissing money away. Unless you are flat out racing (in which case you should run a higher octane just to be safe), there's no way you'll be able to push the car hard enough to begin running into knock issues.

 

I do end up revving my engine to 6500rpm a lot, and the temp here in texas is a steady 90°F+ with a humidity of 50% or more. I have another 08 nissan frontier that uses 89 octane with syntethic oil, and that truck gets engine knocks from time to time when idle... so I'm not sure if the temp here plays a great role in that.

But thanks for all the input, I will read up on this more, and see if it's better to go down to 87 octane gas.

 

I'm getting engine knock a lot now that its getting warmer. I currently use 87 octane, but im thinking about moving up to 89. But I occasionally push my car harder than most, revving to about 4500-5000 rpms maybe once a day.

 

That's not hard driving and how do you know you're getting knock?

 

I'm trying not to break the rules by posting how I drive my car, but I can say I floor my lancer a lot, and I autocross with my car about once or twice a month since march. And I'm assuming its knocking because I took it into the dealership for weired noise's and violent vibrations, and they told me to use a higher octane gas or drive more conservatively. I dunno if they were BSing or not just to get rid of me, but it sounds like knocking to me. There might be something completely else wrong with my car, i dunno yet. But now im using 89 and so far it seems fine, even after keeping it at redline in D mode a few times.

This is getting off topic, I apologize. I do have a quick question about the spark plugs, do they raise the engine's temperature, or will the temp remain about the same.

 

As long as you don't mention street racing, it's fine. Flooring your car is expected but autocrossing is a bit different. Anyways, if you can hear or feel knocking, you have a serious issue. That's not simply knocking, if that is indeed an octane issue, your engine is probably almost dead already.
Spark plugs should keep the temperature the same unless they change the AF ratio.

 

1. about the knocking, if it is, try upping your octane the next time you go for more serious driving. See if you come away with the same problem. Its realy hard to say what it is, if possible try to get it on video.

2. No overheating faults were triggered during testing. Under .030 up to .044.
they have been driven hard under dyno and road conditions. The plugs have been extracted and installed as many as 20 times with no problems in terms of visual inspection.

 

So do you have any news on your pulstar plugs testing evo soul? I'm interested to see how they work out.

 

now that I ahve my car back from its 20+ days of repair, I attempted to book some time on the dyno probably an entire day, but I have to wait for a slot to open up. Now that all the tuners are attempting to beef up their rides at Four Star Motor sports. I am attempting to test the final configuration on the CVT and also find a 5 speed.

I have already started my write up, but I dont want to leave something out. all and all, it did create power, in line with expectations. the optimal .040" size setting is free of problems. But I have heard, now from 2 people a bit of a issue with RRM piggyback units. I have suggested alternatives and I am waiting to hear back from those users to see if it rectified the issue.

The next step, after my formal review is released is to now begin the tuning process, to bring even more power (if possible out of these plugs)

hope that helps.

 

Hey guys,

I bought these plugs last week and installed them in my car on Wednesday. I was really looking forward to it. I read a lot about them and saw how sensitive they are so I went out and bought a torque wrench to make sure they are tightened properly. I took my sweet time with the installation to make sure everything was perfect. When I turned on my car I noticed my idle was jumping around a bit. I disregarded because I heard it could take up to 2 tanks for the car to adjust properly.

About 5 minutes after we began driving, I had a sudden loss of power. I pulled over and noticed my car was no longer responding when i stepped on the gas. My idle kept jumping from 500 to 1800. I had to turn off the car and let it sit for a couple of minutes before it would stop. I tried re-gapping the plugs from .04 to .035 and .03 but no luck. I called Brian from RRM and he advised me to just get rid of them and call it a day. I put my old plugs in and everything seems ok.

I was really looking forward to these plugs but they didn't work as I expected. This morning I noticed my engine was making a bit of noise. I'm not sure if it was due to the plugs or if I'm just paranoid now but it sounds louder than before. Anyway, just thought I should share my experience with you guys. I will have to vote nay on the plugs. But if you do decide to try them, I hope your experience is better than mine.

 

I would love to give you a hand but about 3000mile separate us lol, but as soon as I get my pulstar economy testing and dyno testing done, I will be able to re allocate my efforts to tuning under these plugs. I am researching which piggyback system would be best. I dont know much about the RRM one to see if it has all the parameters needed. But I will view their documentation and read thru everything. Alternatively, I have a good contact at AEM that might be able to donate some hardware (F /IC piggyback) but its unknown if it is compatible.

we will see

sorry to hear about your experience lancer styles,

 

Don't you have to let the car run idle for 15+ minuets for it to adjust before you start driving? Your piggy might have messed with them too, like evo soul said. *Shrug* that does suck though.