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When Do You Need To Use High Octane Fuel In Your Car
The rating of the octane depends on the compression of the engine. The more the compression ratio, the more the octane rating and the more the ignition point required to get an authentic fuel burn. If you try cutting back and filling your car with a low-quality octane than recommended, you will hear ringing and knocking from the engine- this is basically the fuel detonating.
Apart from the noise and affected car power caused by using a lower octane rating, your engine is vulnerable to overheating if the detonation is too high and uncontrollable. If your car needs high-octane gas, you should definitely follow the manufacturer’s advice and get the proper fuel grade put in your car. While some drivers can get away with using a lower octane fuel, you never know when your car might start acting up.
Octane Ratings Are Affected By Altitude
If you have ever taken your car to higher altitudes, you may have found that the pump’s octane numbers are lower than they are elsewhere. At high altitudes, unleaded is 85, rather than 86. In higher areas, if your car needs regular unleaded, get the octane that is labelled as “regular.”
When you are at a high altitude, octane values are not required to be as high for a proper denotation to take place. You do not have to worry if you leave high altitude after filling up your tank.
Does High Octane Gas Clean The Engine Better?
High octane gasoline is not better than normal octane when it comes to stopping engine deposits from taking place. Neither does it take help in removing them or keeping the engine clean. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, all octanes, regardless of grade, have engine cleaning detergent additives present in them. These are meant to protect the car against a build-up of dangerous engine deposits during the life expectancy of the car.
This means that regardless of the fuel you use, your fuel will contain engine cleaning additives. While it is true that higher octane gas might contain high levels of these detergents as compared to normal gas, the truth is that you really would not need them.
Final Verdict
Our research shows that instead of believing that higher octane gas improves your gas mileage, use whatever fuel your car’s manufacturer has recommended that you use. After all, you do not want to deal with the added expense that will come later as your car develops problems out of the blue. Moreover, it is not worth a risk, especially since the higher-octane fuel does absolutely nothing for your car’s performance or life.
