Premium Gasoline ?

[ursa minor]

Tedeschi (Formerly Fullers) in Moultonborough has 93. Filled up the fun car on vacation and noticed the premium had the 93 sticker not 91.

It's becoming more common to find cars that "can" run on 87 but that will benefit from higher octane, just one of the advantages of advanced engine management controls. In the case of the fun car, it's a roughly 15 HP / 20 ft. lb. torque difference between regular and premium according to the owner's manual. I'm sure this mostly due to the EMM being able to advance the spark timing more with the higher octane fuel. When in doubt, check the owner's manual, if they recommend 87 there's no point in putting anything else in.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by ursa minor

I'm sure this mostly due to the EMM being able to advance the spark timing more with the higher octane fuel. When in doubt, check the owner's manual, if they recommend 87 there's no point in putting anything else in.

Yup, unless it's boosted, altering the ignition timing is all you can do to get more power with higher octane.