Sunoco no longer selling Ultra 94 Octane in NJ | FerrariChat

Sunoco no longer selling Ultra 94 Octane in NJ

Discussion in 'New York Tri-State' started by TTG, Feb 27, 2006.

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  1. TTG

    TTG Formula 3

    Jun 11, 2002
    1,555
    East Hanover, NJ
    Full Name:
    Todd Gieger
    I just found out today that Sunoco is no longer selling their Ultra 94 Octane at all the local gas stations in NJ. For now I will use the highest Octane of 93 from Sunoco, BP or Amoco. I was curious what other Fcars owners use and if you noticed a difference when switching from one gas to another or if you used an octane with 1 point less. I would imagine you would notice a difference when you jump from say...92 to 98-100 octane but not sure you would notice a change if the increase/decrease in octane level is so minimal.

    At some point I do want to drive to this one gas station that sells Sunoco Racing 104 Octane...the gas station is probably 20-25 miles away but I am curious to see how my car runs on 104...anyone ever tried it?

    Btw, I drive a 99 F1 355 Serie Fiorano

    Thanks

    Todd
     
  2. robiferretti

    robiferretti F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,299
    NYC area
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    rob ferretti
    noticed this the other day, was a little pissed that the "premium" is now 91 octane and "ultra" is 93. What can you do, atleast we still have 93.
     
  3. noahlh

    noahlh Formula 3

    Aug 28, 2003
    2,231
    NYC, NY
    Full Name:
    Noah
    Does 93 now cost the same as 94 used to? Or did they just kill the 94 product altogether. Any ideas why they axed it?

    nlh
     
  4. ClydeM

    ClydeM F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2003
    10,460
    Wayne, NJ
    Full Name:
    Clyde E. McMurdy
    I posted in tech....

    I ran all last year on regular (Hess 89 octane ~5K miles) & got about 15.7 mpg
    I ran the whole year before on hi-test (Hess 93? octane ~8K miles) at 15.8mpg.
    Sorry, I forget their octane rating at the moment.

    Assuming that Hess uses good additives and knowing this is a hi-volume gas station so no stale gas,

    There seems to be no difference in grades.
    I noticed no difference in performance.
     
  5. BigHead

    BigHead Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    995
    Outside of Boston
    Full Name:
    Dennis
    Do a search on octane and performance. Bottom line - there IS NO BENEFIT to higher octane gas unless your car was designed for it in the first place. The 355 was designed to run on 91/92 AKI octane gas. Putting in 93 or 94 will have zero performance benefit, and no measurable gas mileage improvement. You're basically throwing money into the wind.

    Octane only matters where the engine is tuned for it - if you've got a modified, higher-compression NA motor, or if you've got the boost turned up on a turbo/supercharged motor.

    Get premium from any station, save your money, and spend it on new tires.

    vty,

    --Dennis
     
  6. Jeff E39

    Jeff E39 Formula Junior

    Aug 7, 2005
    336
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Jeff
    Thats a bummer to hear; my BMW recommends 91 AKI or higher, so I always use 93.
     
  7. TTG

    TTG Formula 3

    Jun 11, 2002
    1,555
    East Hanover, NJ
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    Todd Gieger

    Thanks Dennis...Interesting.

    Have you ever tried the 104?...do you think there would be a noticeable difference in throttle response, performance, etc...? Or do you think that would be a waste too?

    Thanks!

    Todd
     
  8. racerx3317

    racerx3317 F1 Veteran

    Oct 17, 2004
    5,700
    New York, NY
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    Luis
    You will only feel a boost in performance if your car has a knock sensor. Some cars, I know Nissan used to, has them and it retards the timing if it feels an engine knock. Higher octane gas isn't as prone to producing engine knock as the low grade stuff so if your car is so equipped with this sensor then you will feel a power loss. If you don't have a knock sensor then there isn't much of a difference.
     
  9. BigHead

    BigHead Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    995
    Outside of Boston
    Full Name:
    Dennis
    Nope. A stock car will not perform better if you use octane higher than what is specified. The comment about the knock sensor is absolutely correct, but I believe that for most (nearly all) cars, the knock sensor only works with LOWER octane; in other words, it retards timing so that you won't damage your engine if you have to put in 87 octane, but it doesn't boost performance if you put in 94 or 104. 104 is useful only if your car has been modified to take advantage of it (e.g., higher compression or more boost).

    vty,

    --Dennis
     
  10. TTG

    TTG Formula 3

    Jun 11, 2002
    1,555
    East Hanover, NJ
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    Todd Gieger

    Cool...Thanks!
     
  11. pchop

    pchop F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 12, 2002
    2,555
    Usually NY often elsewhere.
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    John
    When I was at Watkins Glen, they had 100 (or 102) don't remember and it made no difference in my lap time nor my mileage what so ever. This was my 95 355 Spider.


    However, I used 89 (cause that's all JERSEY CITY GAS have) in my Land Rover LR3 (which recommend 91+) last year, my MPG went from 16 MPG to 13 MPG...most likely 70% due to JERSEY CITY GAS part and 30% due to the lessor octane.
     
  12. tifosi

    tifosi F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Sep 5, 2001
    5,382
    texas
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    Tom D
    Todd

    I got some high octane gas for you
     
  13. racerx3317

    racerx3317 F1 Veteran

    Oct 17, 2004
    5,700
    New York, NY
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    Luis

    Well that's what a knock sensor does. The advantage that high octane fuel has is that it is not as prone to causing an engine knock or backfire (detonation). 93 octane will not cause detonation as much as 87 or 89 octane. This is when the knock sensor kicks in, when it senses that detonation is about to occur. Now if your timing is high enough such as in the case of a race engine or such, the car may still detonate even with 93 octane. Now if the car has a knock sensor it will still kick in regardless of what octane is in there.
     
  14. ghost

    ghost F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Dec 10, 2003
    10,043
    Singapore
    I started using "regular" gas last year as well, and haven't found any discernable difference. Still get thrown to the back of my seat on the G when the pedal's pushed hard. That's all that matters. - :)

    All of these cars are guzzlers so haven't paid much attention to fuel mileage as it is.
     
  15. BigHead

    BigHead Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    995
    Outside of Boston
    Full Name:
    Dennis
    Um... that's what I said. I think we're in total agreement - the knock sensor is designed to prevent damage from pre-ignition detonation (or "knocking"). My point is that for STOCK motors, it will NOT suffer from detonation at 93 octane (or 92 or 91, for that matter), because there are zero cars sold in this country that require more than 91 octane. As you and I both said, for "race" motors - MODIFIED ones that run higher compression, or have more boost (either turbor or supercharged), you may have a pre-ignition detonation problem if the octane is not high enough - this might require the use of 94, 100, 104, etc.

    Bottom line - unless you've raised the compression on your 355 motor, just use any brand of premium, and you'll be fine.

    vty,

    --Dennis
     
  16. TTG

    TTG Formula 3

    Jun 11, 2002
    1,555
    East Hanover, NJ
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    Todd Gieger
    What's up T-Bone...where you been dog?

    Doesn't sound like I'll need any high octane gas. Gimme a ring when you have a sec.

    Best,

    TG
     
  17. rmani

    rmani F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2003
    7,299
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    i used to fill 94 in my motorcycle but in the car 93 always seemed sufficient. honestly not surprised they did away with it I used to work at a sunoco back in high school and i rarely filled anyone up with 94.
     
  18. racerx3317

    racerx3317 F1 Veteran

    Oct 17, 2004
    5,700
    New York, NY
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    Luis

    Lol agreed. i though you were saying that the sensor worked with the actual octane of the gas, which it doesn't really, it just senses detonation. Such as is the case with my car. A trick for more power is to jack up the timing, which I did. Now all i can use is freakin 93 octane or the car will detonate. My wallet is bleeding but i don't wanna knock the timing back either and have the car feeling sluggish. Oh well.
     
  19. scott63

    scott63 Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2003
    408
    Hey Dog,

    When I had my 67 Corvette, I used to buy aviation fuel and mix it in with the Sunoco 94. The aviation fuel has a bluissh tint to it and is around 120 Octane. It also has additives in it which eliminate any gumming in the fuel system from not using the car. This is because most small plane owners don't use their aircraft on a regular basis and it costs thousands to rebuild the fuel systems. Your father would know and probably be able to get it for you. I used to use a 50/50 mix......
     
  20. robiferretti

    robiferretti F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,299
    NYC area
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    rob ferretti
    Sometimes I like to mix it up and put diesel in. I noticed my gas milage goes through the roof. Everyone should try it atleast once :)
     
  21. pchop

    pchop F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Jun 12, 2002
    2,555
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    John
    Was that before of after you blew your engine? :D
     
  22. robiferretti

    robiferretti F1 Rookie

    Oct 31, 2003
    3,299
    NYC area
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    rob ferretti
    I blow my motor everytime I start it up, keeps it happy :)
     
  23. scott63

    scott63 Formula Junior

    Nov 1, 2003
    408
    Rob,

    If you were wondering, aviation fuel and jet fuel are two different things. Aviation fuel is used in smaller prop planes and jet fuel is used in the commercial jets. The jet fuel is much lower octane and similiar to kerosene. Probably where your diesel comment came from !!!!
     
  24. John B

    John B Formula 3

    May 27, 2003
    1,564
    NJ
    Yeah, I was bummed to see they killed 94 also altthough most cars dont really need it. I was going to put a smaller blower pulley on my GT designed for 94. I suppose I'll step down a notch to the 93 version. Careful about mixing in aviation fuel (100LL) as it has lead in it, it will mess up your catalytic converters.
     

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