Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Fuel and Performance

OK this may sound dumb as all hell, I keep hearing it isn't supposed to make a difference, but I SWEAR TO GOD I notice my car has better low end power (torque) when I use high octane fuel... I REALLY notice a difference. I have gone back and forth for 3 weeks now, and everytime I have premium in the tank the car feels tighter and more powerful (I just went from low octane to premium tonight and I peeled out my new tires, which I COULDN'T DO YESTERDAY).. Does this make sense to anyone or does premium just have better fumes when I am fillin' up and I am tripping when I get back in the car. I SWEAR I think I feel a big difference.

[ 04-13-2003, 11:20 PM: Message edited by: FX-MAN ]

Could be a psychological thing, but I don't know.

I keep thinking that it's in my head.. so I go for cheaper gas, and EVERY time I pull out of the gas station my car just doesn't feel as powerful.. today when I peeled out, I really thought that was some proof because with my new dunlop sport R2s I havn't been able to peel out all weekend.. (maybe she getts mad at my for not spending more money on her so she won't ride hard... wait... no... that's my wife... nevermind)

proof that the ECU AI IS FEMALE!!!!!!!!!!haha.

LOL!

i know what you mean tho. i used to 'treat' my old camry to some higher octane gas and it would return the favor by giving me more low end torque

GTS requires 92 or higher because of compression. If I had a gt, I would run the middle grade in my car. That treats your car well and your pocket...

Yeah. In the GTS it will definetly make a difference because of the compression. The car will not run to full potential on lower octane gas.

The only octanes they offer here are 87, 89, 91, and 100 racing fuel.

I use 91 octane, which is called premium around here. Is that good or bad? I have the GTS.

higher octane means gas is easy to burn..then it means better combustion..better combustion means better power..so that may explain why we notice a difference when using a lower octane from a higher one..correct me if im wrong!

using better octane does produce a better combustion like someone else said. also another thing someone else said that the GTS is supposed to use 92+ octane and that is true too. i dont know about the whole peel out thing. i think you are just getting high on fumes...lol

ok, this thread has come up in the past...higher octane content in gas is there to prevent premature combustion. gts has a high ass compression ratio so the gas in the cylinder is more likely to ignite because of the compression and not from the spark plug. temperature and pressure are directly proportional (higher compression= higher temperature). heptane (gasoline) doesnt handle pressure as well as octane, ie it will ignite under lower temperature/pressure than octane (just one of octanes chemical properties...more stable). so the higher octance content is to prevent engine knock, which is what happens when gas prematurely ignites in the cylinder...whew!

Hey i have a gt, and we usually fill it up with the 87, cheapest stuff... well if i was to swich to the 91 or 92 stuff on my next fill up and added a octane boost, what results should i see, engine rev? exhaust smell? acceleration? (would i see the same results in a camry also?) both are farily new, the celicas actually older than the camry (2003) (no mods yet)

High octane gasoline can be used to reduce pinging in f/i and high comp. n/a motors.

here in michigan... i use premium 93 octane

I definately understand where you're coming from...but I have some news. My dad had this business partner that was the COO of Arco (definately a high roller), and at this meeting thingy, I was talking to him, and he told me that all the octane is bullshit. That it really does nothing. The only thing he said was that if your car is turbo, then definately use 91, otherwise, it makes no difference. I didn't believe him, so I kept testing for myself. I thought that every time I got premium, it drove so much cleaner and better. Then one time my dad filled up and he said it was premium. so I drove around for a while and he asked how it drove, and I told him that it was great and I could actually feel the 91 octane. Then he told me that he actually pumped 87. I'm telling you, it's all psychological. Now, when I drive with either, it doesn't matter, so I pump 87, because to tell the truth, over time, it saves quite a bit of money. Just my thoughts on the subject.

not to bust balls or anything but the higher the octane the the more power is produced.in fact the jdm spec celica produces 190hp at the flywheel because in japan you can get 94and 96 octane at the pump.thats 10 more hp just from better gas.its true that higher octane gas combusts at higher temp/pressure...fuel needs to combust when the piston is as close to full stroke as possible. if the fuel combusts before it is you can lose power. better fuel= smoother running,more power.

The better gas doesnt add the power, it just allows for the engine to be tuned better. Thats why some JDM engines have trouble in the states, because the gas doesnt have a high enough octane.

I actuially just don't fill my tank up anymore.. I always fill 3/4 of the way up.. I noticed my car seems to drag ass on the first 1/4 tank, I am pretty sure it's the weight of the gas (think about how heavy 30 liters really is... that's like putting 15 bottles of coke in your trunk or 12 milk jugs).

I start to feel noticably more power at around 3/4 of a tank (and that is definatly not in my head)... so I just drop in 3/4 whenever I fill up. I actually picked up that trick from a stupid action flick "the transporter".. so I did a little research and the weight of fuel does play into consideration in stock car races, they try to end up with as little fuel as possible to edge out at the end of a race... and it's a drag racing trick to only put enough fuel in for the race..

my car burns a lot of gas lately i mean a lot!

Hmmm, I might have to try this.

I think that use premium gas does help to a degree. But adding so much more power that you peel out i think is in your head. If you have the money go for that premium gas but if not cheap gas is better than nothing!

if you think premium gas makes your GT faster, by all means, keep using it if you can afford it. hell, it can't be bad for your car

hmm that could explain why in aussie our engines are rated at 190 hp, cos we have 95/98 ron fuel here