regular or super unleaded

[DaNinja]

Re: regular or super unleaded

I have no choice but to run the good stuff. That's the price you pay for a hot rod boat.

I can't really call the truck a hot rod, but the mods I've done mean I have to run 93, so I understand.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Nobody mentioned about using what the manufacturer recommends yet !!
Maybe that should be included in the poll ???

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Octane threads are always fun...

My manual calls for 87 so that's what I run and guess what?

The motor runs fine on it.

 

[scipper77]

Re: regular or super unleaded

All loss of octane issues aside, my boat says 87 octane, I use 89 even though I logically know there is no benefit to spending more for 89.

I didn't use the term manufacturer but I did basically say this is what the manufacturer says and this is what I use.

 

[dingbat]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Nobody mentioned about using what the manufacturer recommends yet !!
Maybe that should be included in the poll ???

+1
Sounds like most have taken the bait hook, line and sinker and don't even know they have been had.

 

['96 Charger]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Motor says 86 minimum. Runs like a top on 87 ethanol free and runs like crap on any grade of gas laced with shine. 87 octane ethanol free goes in my rig whenever possible.

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Re: regular or super unleaded

I run straight Methanol. It's delivered by the drum right to your door step.

 

[scoutabout]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Using super to get around having ethanol is one thing but thanks to the sleazy marketing practices of the oil companies, octane ratings are just about the most misunderstood aspect of the internal combustion engine.

I've seen countless pump-top posters at various stations prompting people to use super to enhance their car's performance. No attempt to educate regarding the associated requirements regarding compression, or even the useful suggestion to people to check your owner's manual in case they actually need it etc. Nope - just the continued perpetuation (is that even a word??! LOL) of the notion among the general population that the more expensive "high octane" fuel means more power no matter what you drive...

OK - rant over -

I did note with surprise that Mercury says 87 is just fine in my step-father's 175 Verado. I figured if anything on the water might need a higher octane it would be a supercharged motor. Go figure. They dont' say what the compression ratio actually is however.

I had a Mazda Millenia for awhile, which had an intercooled and supercharged V6 but it was an Miller Cycle engine. The funky timing of that kind of motor means that the intake valves are actually still open well into the compression stroke. This meant the normally 10:1 compression actually netted out at 8:1 and so I found the car ran just fine on regular.

OK - geekout over -

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: regular or super unleaded

I use 91 Octane premium just because there is a gas station by my house that sells NON _OXYGENATED Premium.. It even has the little sign on the pump To ONLY be used in colloctor cars boats and snowmobiles Have gone many years without any fuel ststem probs. I buy it cuz its ethonal free, more then cuz its higher octane. . When I am forced to buy corn flavored regular when out of town or whatever, I dont get any performance issues or pinging. If I could buy non corn regular I would. Though the Non Ox prem is only 30 cents a gal more.

 

[Flukinicehole]

Re: regular or super unleaded

I always used to run super in my boat. I now use regular as it is always fresher gas. I buy my gas on land not the water and had a friend that owned a gas station. He said the regular out sold the super 2-1 so it is fresher in the tank. Boat runs the same on either gas so why spend the extra $.

 

[109jb]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Regular, which around me is always E-10. It is the octane my engine was designed to run on and it runs fine (115 Mariner outboard and 70 Johnson). I fill up and use a stabilizer for the off season. Never had any problem due to the ethanol and that includes the year I built our present house. The full tank of fuel sat in the boat for 18 months before the boat went out again. I ran that whole tank without a problem. It was stabilized though.

 

[BoatNoobie]

Re: regular or super unleaded

Now I may be incorrect, but all this regular, premium, super crap is all just marketing mumbo jumbo to get you to try and buy the higher price gas when you dont need it.

It's just octane ratings. In WA, it's 87, 89, or 91. Regular, Premium, Super. You might find 93 here and there. The fancy names doesnt change anything, except octane.

If your motor recommends 87, you should use 87, unless you like to waste money or give yourself that placebo affect. Now if it's hot out and you hear your engine knocking, well maybe you need a higher octane.

But the difference in price isnt much, maybe a few dollars in total. It's your boat, it's your money. Do as you please.

 

[ewenm]

Re: regular or super unleaded

i always use hi octane, helps keep the injectors clean, and reduces the risk of detonation, cause you know you cant here it like in a car, especially with two motors screaming away under a cover with sound deadening.



i dont want to melt any pistons, so the added expense is in my opinion worth it

 

[109jb]

Re: regular or super unleaded

As far as I am concerned, the whole "cleans fuel injectors" stuff is just hype to separate you from more of your money. I have in my driveway right now a 1998 Ford Ranger with a fuel injected V6 and it has never had anything but repular grade gas in it and the odometer is reading 265,000 miles. I also owned a 1988 Honda with a FI 4 cylinder and I never put anything but regular in it in the 236,000 miles I drove that car. I have also had other cars that I've put over 100,000 miles on and I have never replaced a fuel injector. As a matter of fact, E-10 contains ethanol which is know to be a pretty darn good fuel system cleaner. In my opinion, the only reason to use higher grade gasoline is for the anti-knock properties. The rest is just hype as far as I am concerned.

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: regular or super unleaded

As far as I am concerned, the whole "cleans fuel injectors" stuff is just hype to separate you from more of your money. I have in my driveway right now a 1998 Ford Ranger with a fuel injected V6 and it has never had anything but repular grade gas in it and the odometer is reading 265,000 miles. I also owned a 1988 Honda with a FI 4 cylinder and I never put anything but regular in it in the 236,000 miles I drove that car. I have also had other cars that I've put over 100,000 miles on and I have never replaced a fuel injector. As a matter of fact, E-10 contains ethanol which is know to be a pretty darn good fuel system cleaner. In my opinion, the only reason to use higher grade gasoline is for the anti-knock properties. The rest is just hype as far as I am concerned.

All that I can add is that car systems are not the same as marine...for one, car fuel systems are not normally vented to the atmosphere, as your boat is. And cars usually do not have the fuel sitting in the tank for months on end. AND...almost every car has a pretty sophisticated computer that 'reads' the exhaust (and engine knocking) to adjust for any issues.

In short: what works in your Honda may not work in your boat.

To ignore the problems that ethanol has introduced into our marine environment, is nothing short of 'whistling past the graveyard'!

Happy boating1

 

[ewenm]

Re: regular or super unleaded

now i know that what i am about to say DOES NOT apply to boats,

however i have done this test many times over, where i have monitored my fuel usage / economy using standard grade fuel and then with hi octane fuel, and without exception the hi octane delivers better fuel economy better idle quality and easier starting, and more get up and go.

so who cares if its more expensive to buy, its all about how far you can drive for the same dollar value.

and this across a range of vehicles including 2 x Mazda 6,s a citroen c2, a Jeep XJ cherokee,Honda accord and Suzuki sx4.

i used it exclusively in my 4.3gxi VP and it would sometimes sit for weeks not being used and would always fire up easily and sit idling sweetly, i used it in a 4.3lk Mercruiser in an endeavour to minimise run on, and with other adjustments seemed to improve the situation when compared to using standard grade fuel.

i still use hi octane in my latest boat with twin 4.3 efi mercruisers and it delivers 50 litres per hour burn per motor at 27 mph cruise speed.

and as i stated before if it decreases the risk of detonation, (pinging) then in my view its worth the cost

( oh and its always easy to get to the hi octane pump at the marina as every one else want to do it on the cheap and queue at the regular gas pump hehehehehe)

 

[NYBo]

Re: regular or super unleaded

In the old days, premium gas was not only higher in octane, it also had a different additive package which usually included additional detergents. However, this is no longer the case. The only reasons to get higher octane fuel is to prevent detonation and/or to offset octane reduction from storage, IMO.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: regular or super unleaded

It's my understanding that with a 2 stroke outboard, once you add the oil, you've cancelled out any advantage of a higher octane fuel but it doesn't make the regular that much worse. I've always run 87, before and after E-10, in the outboards. For the boat here in town, I use gas station gas and treat it; I am able to get non-ethanol when I go to the shore.

 

[109jb]

Re: regular or super unleaded

All that I can add is that car systems are not the same as marine...for one, car fuel systems are not normally vented to the atmosphere, as your boat is. And cars usually do not have the fuel sitting in the tank for months on end. AND...almost every car has a pretty sophisticated computer that 'reads' the exhaust (and engine knocking) to adjust for any issues.

In short: what works in your Honda may not work in your boat.

To ignore the problems that ethanol has introduced into our marine environment, is nothing short of 'whistling past the graveyard'!

Happy boating1

My point is that I never had a dirty injector ever running regular and I think the claims that super "cleans" better than regular are a bunch of crap.

By the way, you have absolutely no idea how long my cars sit. As a matter of fact that honda sat for almost a year when we moved to Texas back in 1997 and all I did before I drove it was charge the battery. The truck has been sitting since the end of June because I haven't had time to fix the rear suspension, but I moved it to mow under it 2 days ago.

I'm also not ignoring any problems. I just haven't had any problems and we have been running E-10 for decades in the midwest.

edit: When I say no problems I mean cars, boats, snowmobiles, lawn mowers, weed whackers, atv's, snow blowers, motorcycles,.......