The MINI ecu like the BMWs do infact adapt for octane

running leaded fuel is not going to help anyone... unless you are running 30+ lbs of boost everywhere you go... 104 octane unleaded will serve any street driven mini

from all the comparisons I have seen the RON is ussually now 10 points difference from octane.. for instance a 98 RON is a 96 octane... I know the 104 GT plus I use is rated at a 109 RON... the fact is.... 91 is trash... 93 is ofcourse better.... but still trash.... this is evident anytime you watch the timing on the MCS... if it's pulling timing... it's cause there's knock... sure there are things you can do besides octane... but let's face it... if the gas was good.... this would help alot....

 

Sorry but you are way off with your conversion factor.
Over here race fuel is 100 octane & there is no such thing as 110 octane.
Rally cars & race cars over here run 98 octane. Yes we can buy race quality fuel from the pump.
The fact is we get MUCH more refined fuel quality over here as do Japan.
'Tuls' is much closer to the mark with his conversion factor.
Sorry again but your fuel quality sucks.

 

We have 3 grades of unleaded here;-
Standard unleaded is 94 octane,
Premium unleaded is 96 octane,
Race quality is 98 octane, (BP Ultimate, Shell Optimax, etc.)
Oh & we are now getting 100 octane as in Japan, but this is very scarce so far.
This is why many of the Japanese hi performance cars (GTR,STI,EVO etc) were unavailable to the US market for many years & now that they are available they are detuned & different spec for the US market.
This may be 'news' to some of you over there but is a fact.

 

Well, there's a difference in how octane rating is reported in Australia and in the U.S. What you call 94-, 96-, and 98-octane would be about equivalent to 89-, 91, and 93-octane in the U.S, so the difference isn't that big.

Still, 100 RON gas (95- to 96-octane here in the U.S.) *would* be nice to be able to find easily at the pump. There are a couple places that sell 100-octane street-legal "race gas" here that would be equivalent to 105-106 octane in Europe and Australia, but it's about $6/gallon, so it's better used for mixing with a lower grade of pump gas than for using straight-up.

EDIT - As a specific example, Shell Optimax has a RON rating of 98.3 and a MON of 86.9. So, this particular gas would be marketed in Europe and Australia as "98 Octane", since their advertised rating is just the RON rating. In the U.S., this same gas would be marketed as "93 Octane", because our advertised rating is the numerical average of the RON rating and the MON rating, which is (RON + MON)/2.

 

Actually...his conversion factor is correct. I looked it up and I just saw one of the stickers with the conversion at the pump. Also, we can buy 110 octane down the street from us so I don't know how there is no such thing. You can also buy 55 gallon VP Racing fuel with 110. I do miss the days of leaded fuel. I used to run it in the BMW when I lived in Italy.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but reading it brings out a question I have always wondered. What good is 100 octance? There is a station near me that has it, and it's always around $6 a gallon. I know it would probably make the car faster, but is there anything else it would do. Also, would my car react weird to the new octane. I always use 93, which is premium around here.
jason

 

the major diff is that you prolly won't notice it when you fill up with 100...but the next time you go back to 93 ....you will notice even her idle is a ruffer..... everything about the car has changed.... it's not that it makes the car faster.. it's that it allows the car to make the power that would technically be there already... and is MUCH smoother..

I always tell people to be carful.. as you will get hooked on it.. especially with a moded mini... you can accually gain more than you think.... taking a MINI on Costco 91 and slowly mixing in 104 GT plus.... I have seen timing go from 6 degrees all the way to it's proper range of 26-30 and gain 60 WHP....

did the octane make it faster.... no... it was HP that was lost to the knock index..

 

Well, Justin already addressed this but I still need to follow-up. To get technical, but the octane rating is a measure of the autoignition resistance of gasolineand other fules used in spark ignition internal combustion engines. It is a measure of anti-detonation of gasoline (petrol) and other fuels.

Octane number is the number which gives the percentage, by volume, of iso-octane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane to be precise), in a mixture of iso-octane and normal heptane, that would have the same anti-knocking capacity as the fuel which is under consideration. For example, gasoline with the same knocking characteristics as a mixture of 90% iso-octane and 10% heptane would have an octane rating of 90. An 87-octane gasoline, for example, has the same octane rating as a mixture of 87% (by volume) iso-octane and 13% (by volume) n-heptane. This does not mean, however, that the gasoline actually should contain these chemicals in these proportions. It simply means that it has the same autoignition resistance as the described mixture.

RON is determined by running the fuel through a specific test engine with a variable compression ratio under controlled conditions, and comparing these results with those for mixtures of isooctane and n-heptane. There is another type of octane rating, called Motor Octane Number (MON) or the aviation lean octane rating, which is a better measure of how the fuel behaves when under load. MON testing uses a similar test engine to that used in RON testing, but with a preheated fuel mixture, a higher engine speed, and variable ignition timing to further stress the fuel's knock resistance. Depending on the composition of the fuel, the MON of a modern gasoline will be about 8 to 10 points lower than the RON. Normally fuel specifications require both a minimum RON and a minimum MON.
In most countries (including all of Europe and Australia) the "headline" octane that would be shown on the pump is the RON, but in the US and some other countries the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, sometimes called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI), Road Octane Number (RdON), Pump Octane Number (PON), or (R+M)/2. Because of the 8 to 10 point difference noted above, this means that the octane in the United States will be about 4 to 5 points lower than the same fuel elsewhere: 87 octane fuel, the "regular" gasoline in the US and Canada, would be 91-92 in Europe.



Most European pumps deliver 95 (RON) as "regular", equivalent to 90-91 US (R+M)/2, and even deliver 98 (RON) or 100 (RON).


I know this is a bit technical, but when someone says I don't know what I am talking about, and they clearly are talking out their proverbial.....well....you know....I have to respond. I didn't spend those years in physical and organic chemistry for nothing! Not trying to start a flame war, but please get your facts straight and read up on this prior to saying I don't know what I am talking about.


And to address Tuls, I agree 91 RdON is junk, but to say 98 RON is superior is just not understanding the facts of how these calculations are obtained. I hope this helps you out Steve. once you have been around here longer you will learn there are folks with TONS of knowledge in many areas of science and engineering that will help you get smarter about your car and enjoy it that much more.

 

Thanks for the support brother. I think Steve just missed my point about the difference between rating systems. Hopefully my above post will help him out. using the rough conversion of 10 on the VP gas yields a RON of 120, unless they are rating that race gas on RON only, which sometimes is done as it is not delivered at the pump and therefore doesn't fall under the same restrictions as does pump gas.

 

Ok point taken regarding your fuel calculations, Great so your a chemist or whatever, but i fail to see how knowing how your fuel octane is calculated is going to 'help me get smarter about my car & enjoy it more'. What a condescending load of tripe.
As for me 'being around here longer', the amount of posts you have put into some website forum means absolutely nothing in the real world of experience.
For your information i am 41 years old & have modified more cars than you have had hot dinners so i can do without your implications.
Take a look in my gallery at what i am currently driving & racing as opposed to the stock street cars you are tootling around in.
I hope this helps you get off your high horse & get in touch with reality.

 

ha ha ... ok ok ...everyone relax... besides... I boost more anyway... LOL....

it's all good..... the pump gas sucks period in the US.... we used to have 96 and 98 here and there growing up.... but the reality from what I have seen is ... most other countries get better gas... as a "regular" thing...

that's why I buy 104 or 100 on pump... cuase it's the best!


rrrrraaaaaAAAAAAA! psshhhhh!

 

What excatly are you saying here? What timming are you referring to? Also, did I read the 60whp gain correctly?

Tuls can you elaborate please?

 

Now that's a good one. There are probably a dozen MINIs in the states as highly modified as mine.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...led+conversion

 

There's life outside the US. You need to get out more.

 

Well...my dad can kick your dad's butt.... What is this....3rd grade? Your posts have gottten way off topic from the original header.... If you have nothing else to contribute to this 93 octane Phoenix thread....go troll somewhere else. IBTL.

 

Wait a sec.....THERE'S LIFE OUTSIDE THE US? Get outta here!

 

I'll troll where i please.

 

Good point...that's what I woulda said..

 

Seriously though....Euro gas, Aus gas, US gas....whatever. AZMCS isn't trying to start anything. He is trying to inform you. Last time I checked, he was pretty smart. I still don't know about that guy Tuls though....lol. Has anybody seen my baseball?

 

Sorry i tried to add some information as to what is available outside the US, this is obviously of no importance. As for AZMCS im sure he is a big enough boy to stand up for himself.

 

Well, saying US gas compared to Aus gas sucks isn't really good info! As for sticking up for Joel....he is pretty scrawny (I think all the money for food went into the turbo build) so he needs all the help he can get!

 

Sorry i dared to question the quality of 'US gas', it is worth going to war over after all. Thinned skin bunch aren't we? :impatient

 

So does anyone know of a higher octane than 91 in tucson?
Oh please say yes.

 

93? I wish I could find 91!!!
Seems like most of the stations around here have discovered that they can boost their profit margins by passing off 90 as premium. Grrrr!!!!!!

 

Yes. 76 station on Speedway west of Tucson BLVD towards Country Club, I forget the actual cross street.. On south side of the street. The pump is usually locked but you just need to ask. Last time I checked it was $6/gal.