this is probably a stupid question but i am wondering which octane gas would give me the most "bang for my buck".

i tried using the premium 92 octane from the 76 station, then i was low on cash and got a few gallons of the cheap 87 octane and my car felt like it was slower. so i am wondering if this was just some kind of subconcious illusion or if it would really slow me down.

 

umm.. what year car? turbo? non turbo....

 

91 NA with no mods yet

 

The NA's were designed to run IDEALLY on 87 octane

All the higher octane does is burn cleaner and prevents ping, which is not a problem on our cars. PPLUS! The 92 puts alot of extra carbon in the engine.... and thats the last thing we need..

As far as power, its just a myth, subconcious illusion.

I think you should do the ATF trick soon, seeing as all that extra carbon is probably smothering your seals..

 

what is the ATF trick, and by the way what does ATF stand for?

 

ATF=Automatic Transmission Fluid Trick
Ryde_or_Die told me that by putting ATF in your engine will clean out the carbon build up.
I put 94 octane in my turbo II. Its heavily modified so I guess the higher octane the better right? or am I wrong?

 

for the turbo chargeed car you may need to use higher octane fuel depending on tuning. if the car is stock use the stock recomendations probable 87. heavily modified may need as much as you can get. but the lowest octane that does not cause detonation will make the most power. the N/A cars can use the lowest octane fuel possible. late eighties IMSA race teams would use 80 octane fuel when available and almost all of them used regular pump gas most of the time. on my turbo II I use 110 octane because I have had a serious detonation problem before. but the lower the octane the more BTU's per pound.