Premium or Regualr?

[sailorcolin]

Premium or Regualr?

[Mustang]

THEY LIKE REGULAR JUST FINE 

[sailorcolin]

YAY! 

[Chris Canning]

Hmmm

My 1100s is like chalk and cheese with fuel put the stock crap stuff and it's not great put 98 and it's a different bike,I've never been able to tell much difference between the two on my Tiger,but 2 years ago on the way to Mugello we were in Aosta in the alps and stopped at a fuel station that was selling 110 octane it cost a fortune and it turned the old tiger into an absolute missile I was crying when it had all gone,but still smile at the thought of the German on his GS who got smoked by a Brit on a 955  :icon_wink:

[Marc]

still smile at the thought of the German on his GS who got smoked by a Brit on a 955  :icon_wink:

[rex007can]

 
I really hate to burst anyone's bubble here, but... well... Octane rating has absolutely no influence on the amount of energy stored in fuel.
The one and ONLY thing the octane rating indicates is the temperature and pressure level a fuel will require before self ignition.

The higher the compression rating of an engine, the higher the octane rating has to be to prevent detonation and engine damage (pinging).

The reason why octane is associated with high performance is because sports car engines usually have higher compression ratios, therefore require higher octane fuel.

Higher octane will ONLY deliver better performance, compared to low octane fuel, if used in a high compression engine that requires it in the first place. If an engine is designed for lower octane fuel, high octane fuel makes absolutely no difference, none, nada, ziltch, nothing.

[NortonCharlie]

Actually high octane fuel can make huge differences in performance if the vehicle has the capability to adjust the timing to take advantage of more advanced timing possible with the higher octane fuel.

[rex007can]

In that case, tests show that you get at best a .5% to 1% increase in HP, and 0.05% increase in mileage.

[NortonCharlie]

I guess 1% wouldn't be considered huge

[Nick Calne]

Here have some science...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-premium-g/

FWIW I still think premium fuel makes some engines run better and have more 'pep'.

[Chris Canning]

I really hate to burst anyone's bubble here, but... well... Octane rating has absolutely no influence on the amount of energy stored in fuel.
The one and ONLY thing the octane rating indicates is the temperature and pressure level a fuel will require before self ignition.

The higher the compression rating of an engine, the higher the octane rating has to be to prevent detonation and engine damage (pinging).

The reason why octane is associated with high performance is because sports car engines usually have higher compression ratios, therefore require higher octane fuel.

Higher octane will ONLY deliver better performance, compared to low octane fuel, if used in a high compression engine that requires it in the first place. If an engine is designed for lower octane fuel, high octane fuel makes absolutely no difference, none, nada, ziltch, nothing.

Made me chuckle this the days of fitting high compression pistons are long gone because they all have them now!! and hence why you get the advantage with good fuel, about the only low compression four stroke I've come across is my lawn mower.

Sports car engines petrol!!! apart from you hyper cars most are turbo diesel.

The above post would have stood up 30/40 years ago but the game has changed in the 21st century fuel and engine maps are what produces HP.

Of course if you don't believe me try a tank of Avgas  :icon_wink: which is what I had in Italy.

[Bixxer Bob]

We use petrol and avgas 50/50 in the race bikes, it gives them a hurry up by allowing higher revs and compression.  The science says there should be no difference in a normal engine, but if that engine has a knock sensor, then the ECU will get every last once of energy it can out of each piston stroke by advancing the timing as far as it can without detonation occurring.  Sadly, Tigers don't have knock sensors. So, in theory, you won't see any advantage.  I ran my Tiger on 98RON in France just to see if I could tell, but other than a bit smoother - not really.

[rex007can]

Racing fuel is indeed different, but not because of the octane rating. It usually contains more chemical energy per volume than regular gas, therefore more power.

[Bixxer Bob]

Well, ours comes 50 % from the garage forecourt and 50 % from the local airfield - no bespoke race fuel at all.....

[rex007can]

You run 50% kerosene??