From: rlr@bbt.com@INTERNET on Mon, Dec 11, 1995 12:42 PM
>I'm driving a '96 Dakota V8 magnum, and the salesperson told me to just run
>87 octane gas, that if I used the super unleaded my truck would "develop an
>appetite for the super"...
>My truck has been running fine
>on the 87, and I was talking about this with one of my friends who has an
>'86 Laser Turbo with 162K miles on it, and he said "if I didn't run super
>unleaded in my car, I don't think it would've made it to 162K miles..."
To put it in it's simplest terms; Higher octance makes gasoline less volitale.
What I mean is that the gas is less likely to ignite before the spark plug
ignites it and when the spark does ignite it you get a more even burn.
Octane does not make the gas more powerful or make the car get better mileage.
If you run fine on 87 then there is no reason to run 89 or 93. Over time the
engine may build up deposits that stay hot enough to ignite the fuel before it
should (knocking) and may require a change to higher octane, but running high
octane will not prevent the deposits.
Your friends Laser recommends high test because the engine will not produce it's
peak power without it. The reason being is the engine was designed at a higher
state of tune where knocking would occur in normal operation on regular. The
knock sensor effectively detunes the engine when knocking occurs to prevent
damage. I have had 2 Daytonas with the 2.2 turbo engine and on occasion have put
regular in them. The reduction in power is noticable but there is no noticable
knocking because the senor does it's job.
By the way the first Daytona went 240,000 miles and the engine was still running
strong when i got rid of it. I credit the logevity to Mobil 1 synthetic oil.
Dave Clement
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