How Much Difference Do High Octane Fuels Make To Power Outputs?
In this segment the Fifth Gear lot have plucked from their archives, Vicki Butler Henderson investigates "posh petrols" to see how much of a difference they can make to power outputs
To find out more about the differences between high and low octane fuels, check out our guide from Engineering Explained.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Cost is irrelevant. Not putting anything other than 98 in my wrx and besides its not much but 4hp is 4hp
Nek minnit, stick E85 in it
I don’t really know what I expected. They got it all wrong. Again.
This is a topic for Engineering Explained, not Fifth Gear. It’s too complicated for people who don’t know sh*t about cars or car-related things.
No VBH fans here..? Just me? Okay then…
If your car requires premium use it if you use regular your engine would adjust itself to get by using more gas too
If you want noticeable results, test it with a car that has horsepower exceeding 700. That way the minute changes would be magnified into distinct differences.
“My advice is to use what is recommended by the manufacturer. The engineers designed the engine with a specific fuel grade in mind, and it simply makes sense to use the fuel grade they recommend.” Engineering Explained. Could not have said it better.
I have a 125ccm Motobike with just 24 bhp and there I notice a big difference between premium and normal fule. Caus you just have 24 bhp so you notice ever 0,5 bhp.
well here in italy, me and a friend, discovered that the economic fuel, it’s a bit “infected” by other substances, and has a lighter color than a premium fuel. That’s just using the fuel for the lawnmover. We also have seen that, using too much the economic fuel, gives some problem at the engine, causing it to “die” sometimes. Thing that don’t happens with the premium one.
I can say that maybe a full tank of premium fuel, maybe every 3-4 month can help to keep the engine more clean…
I used to own a 94’ Audi S4 with a 4.2 V8. It specifically said only to put 98 Premium in it, I dared to try regular 95 once and it coughed and harked the entire tank full. I’d only put Premium in high BHP vehicles :)