Do any of you run octane booster?

In AZ we only have 91 octane. Is this the proper octane rating so the car will not pull timing?

 

i live in CA and blend my 91 fuel with 100 octane pump gas.

 

91 octane seems to work fine. Have not tried to increase the octane so not sure if there are any benefits. Netman, what is your opinion on the boosted octane?

 

All European sports cars are tuned for Aki 93 (RON 98), I think mixing the 100 with 91 will have some benefits, but I don't think it would be that noticeable.

For a 25.1 gallons tank, you would need to put 5.56 gallons of 100 octane gas and fill the rest with 91 to have a 93 octane tank.
In my area it is 8-9 dollars per gallon of the 100 octane (vs 3 per gallon of 91) so I don't know if spending an extra 28-32 per tank is worth it.

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I use ETOH-free 91 Octane. Best I can get around here. Seems to run rough when I start it cold for about 30 seconds, and then idles fine after that. I don't know if that is the gas or if I just need to do an ECU reset.

 

The Loves gas station near Firebird raceway (don't know the new name) has unleaded 100 octane you can mix in.

 

Who has 100 at the pump Netman? Just the Huntington beach carwash right?

My mechanic suggests it also, but its a pain to find a pump.

 

Not according to any specs I've seen. My 991 daily is tuned for 95 RON(91 AKI), our 458 Spider is tuned for 95 RON and that goes for many other cars. When I had my 355 and 360 I believe it was the same according to the manual. I've seen very few European sports cars that recommended 98 RON.

Some areas just have poor quality gasoline. The problem with the AKI system is that you can have a gasoline with a high RON number but a low MON number. A 91 AKI consisting of 84 MON and 98 RON is actually of a much lesser quality than a good 91 consisting of 87 MON and 95 RON, A friend of mine who's been working in the US oil industry for +20 years says that this is problem with US gas that has grown increasingly worse over the years. Add to that how fast modern fuels deteriorate and lose their octane. This is due to changes in additives in regards to emissions. In Europe a 95 RON fuel has to also comply with the AKI standards, so all 95 RON fuels will have a good MON rating of 87 too. Same goes with 92, 97, 98, 99 and 100 RON fuels commonly found in Europe.

In any case a good rule of thumb is this. Buy quality fuel from a station that sells a lot of fuel. Lots of gasoline sold usually means fresh gasoline in the pump tanks.

 

Well maybe US spec cars must show Aki 91 because you cannot find higher than 91 everywhere, in Mexico European cars are euro spec and some of the sport cars show RON 98 Aki 93
I had this same discussion in an Audi forum so in a trip to Mexico I stopped at a couple of dealerships.
For example a regular Mercedes C class will show 91 but an AMG will have 93
Same with Audis, A7 had 91 but S7 had 93.






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Interesting. I do know about the AMG models, just forgot. I have no personal experience with Mexican fuel, but I have heard that they supposedly don't have very good fuel. This could mean that they are asked by the manufactures to recommend 93 AKI specifically for that region. Would make a lot of sense.

But if you look in a US Ferrari manual, they state 95 RON and 91 AKI and I believe this is based on a quality 91 AKI rather than 91 AKI being the only available fuel, as they in that case are the same. Back when the 360 and 430 came out, 91 AKI should be very much the same in the US as 95 RON in Europe, so can't see a reason for anything else.

But if the car is fueled with 91 AKI and it does not drive well, it's of course a good idea to try a higher octane fuel or a booster.

I'd like to add that running 100 AKI in a 360 or 430 is a waste of money - I'd run 100 RON max of a good quality. They can't use what they were not mapped for.

 

Wow, if a 360 can't run off readily available pump gas for its relatively mediocre power output, I may have to reconsider buying one.

 

That is a myth, Mexico has the same gasoline as the US, Mexico exports oil and imports gasoline from the US.
Mexico's premium is 92 octane though


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They run just fine on CA 91 octane...

 

It can.

 

Well if you think 400hp is a mediocre output then you have no idea what a Ferrari is, horsepower per ton it has the same output as a R8 V10
Unless you are a professional racing car driver you would never be able to take the 360 to its limit.
I went to a cars and coffee and one of the kids asked me how many horses the car had and when I said 400 he said "that's not too much that Lexus over there has more" a completely clueless statement but well it was a kid so it is understandable.
Driving a 360 is an incredible experience.



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There is a noticeable difference in how a 360 challenge engine runs when using 100 octane vs 92/93 octane. I didn't notice any difference in power, hard to notice small differences on track but the smoothness of the engine was night and day. Mho- these cars like up to 100, 105 is too much. I would try something if the car is not starting properly, and initially 100/91 octane mix would b my choice. Car also starts poorly if the MAFs are not in good shape.

 

I believe the CH runs a different engine map, so it's not really comparable.

 

I have no experience with high octane gas in automobiles.

Motorcycles yes. We mixed racing fuel 50/50 with premium gas in our 2 stroke motocross machines. It wasn't faster but the engine ran more efficiently. It was a noticeable difference.

 

Really?

The CH car ECU is devoid of many things, no emissions controls, i.e. carbon canister, air pump, and programming for these systems, it varies from the street car's program by 26%, but I did not see anything different in the fuel or timing maps. Did you?

 

I use the 76 station on gilbert & commonwealth in fullerton. Please see link below for details.
Unleaded Race/Racing Fuel at the Pump in California

IMO the car runs better with the blend.

 

Horsepower output has nothing to do with vehicle weight, it is inherent to the motor itself.
And yes, by today's standards 400 hp is fairly mediocre. Fact, not an insult, so don't get your back up about it.
We are not talking about a 1200hp top fuel dragster here.
Addressing your hp per ton argument, even though it's irrelevant, the 360 is a 4.x second car. Respectable, certainly adequate for just about everyone for street purposes, but not exactly a world beater in the performance category. There's a reason Ferrari added almost 100 hp in the 430, that's no small enhancement. So calling someone else clueless might have been premature, due to your extreme prejudice.
But I can appreciate your position that a 360 is an extraordinary experience. The same can be said for cars with much less or much more power

 

It has nothing to do with acceleration, the 360 is an analog car, the 430 too but a little less, those are the last of the Ferrari analog cars, and the 430 is heavier than the 360, there is only an increase of around 50 horsepower per tone between both models.
I go for drives with a group of good drivers pretty often, I consider myself a good driver and driving the 360 in a windy road to its limit is challenging, The group drive newer cars
Gallardo , corvette C7, Porsche 991, BMW M4 and jaguar F type with all the technology available, and they always say how is it possible I can keep pace with them (or they can't keep with me if I am leading) in a 13 year old car, and trust me sometimes I feel like I will reach that point of no return.
Driving a 360 is like driving a go kart, really rewarding and by no means underpowered.
I had an Audi A7 which I tuned, the car was way faster than my 360 in a straight line and with the all wheel drive way more easier to drive.
But driving that car was dull and no rewarding.
Have you ever driven a 360 in a twisted road? Do not underestimate its power.







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I'm not underestimating its power. Don't read too much into people's comments. All I implied was there's not much about a 400hp v8 to suggest that it's on the bleeding edge of performance, technology or fuel requirements such that pump gas wouldn't suffice.

 

Really.

If your car isn't running properly on "street" 91, 92 or 93 octane, then that's just it. Your car isn't running properly. Get it fixed.

Higher octane in race fuels only serves to prevent early detonation due to the much higher compression and temperatures found in a race engine under those conditions. If you aren't subjecting your car to those conditions, you don't need it. Even filling up on a tank of 105 for a track day won't do much for you if the timing hasn't been adjusted to account for it.

And again, if your car doesn't run right on regular fuel, get your car fixed. "Street" gas is just fine.

 

Of course it is not, it is a 17 year old model, when I was shopping for a 360 I had the same idea about the car and irs power on paper, but after I got it I started enjoying that lack of technology, that steering feedback, and I realized that more power in the 360 and the car could be really dangerous.
It is a very balanced car but there is a limit to everything, 360s have a very archaic ASR more like a plain traction control.
430s have E-differential, MSR and CST
The 430 is obviously a faster and better car.
I am not saying nothing you don't know already by reading hundreds of threads after being bitten by the F-bug.
My guess is that you are looking for a 360 because you decided the difference in price is not worth it or you would be shopping for a 430 and get more power.
All I am saying 400hp sounds not too much on paper, but it is more than enough for what the 360 driving experience is.
And going back to the original topic all this is with 91 octane gas.



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