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91 vs 93 octane cars

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Old Aug 18, 2004 | 10:27 PM
  #1  
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From: Wash., D.C.
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91 vs 93 octane cars

I think all mercedes' need 91 octane, but I remember in the 80 a lot of cars needed (and I think some of today's pure sport cars need) 93 octane.

My basic question is:

One average how much power is lost by "de-tuning" our engines for 91 octane?

(Or one can think of it this way "How much power would be gained if engines were tuned for 93?")

Maybe there was a car that; one year was tuned for 93, then the next (like around 1996 when OBDII came out) year the same car/engine was tuned for 91. and lost like 5 hp or so.

I've read the if we switch our computers to 93 mode, it advances the timing and we get a small boost in HP. I'm guessing it's something like 2-3 percent more power...it would be a "free" upgrade thought.

It sucks the most of us pump 93 octane and don't even use it...
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 12:28 AM
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where do you fnid 93. I have never seen it here in Vegas
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 09:24 AM
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From: Wash., D.C.
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Originally Posted by CLKVegas
where do you fnid 93. I have never seen it here in Vegas
It's all over the place here in Northern, VA (Wash. DC area). Sunoco used to carry 94 (now the local one has downgraded its gas to 91 and 93, BUT they charge what others charge for 93 for their 91, so no deals there).

If I "chipped" my car I would run 94 just to be on the safe side...you know you can't trust those gas companies!
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 11:40 AM
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From: Boston
'05 A4 1.8TQM6
93 in the New England Area, NY, etc.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 12:28 PM
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No way......

Boy, do I feel ripped off! I need all of you to road trip to Vegas, gamble all your money (in the gas station slots), and buy a ton of gas so that my stations will have a huge influx of cash and upgrade their offerings to 93.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 01:06 PM
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From: Motor City
95 E320 Cabriolet, 108K
Originally Posted by CLKVegas
where do you fnid 93. I have never seen it here in Vegas
Interesting, everybody sells 93, 89 or 87 here, I can't find 91 unless I go to Sunoco.

My car is specified for 91 minimum. I know the engine will adjust for octane lower than 91. Does anybody know if my car takes advantage of the extra octane over 91, or is it wasted?
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 01:34 PM
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My Powerchip is set for 91. I would sure love to find a station with 93 and have Travis and the boys reprogram my CPU to take advantage of it.

I am not sure how much, if any, your car will respond to 93, without a CPU change, but I can surely tell the difference from 87 (our reg) and 91.
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Old Aug 19, 2004 | 06:11 PM
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I feel qualified!!!

Drove my ML500 across a good deal of the U.S. and back last week. We have 93 octane locally, the farther west I would go, the worse the fuel got. 92, 91, and in one case 90 was the best grade offered.
I lost 1-1.5 MPG using 91 vs. 93 octane.
Also I found previously that setting the octane rating in the control unit to anything other than "base" was detrimental to power and economy.
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