R50/53 93 OCTANE?
6th Gear
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,384
Likes: 0
From: LI, NY
Ah, yes, such is the future. 
Zip
back before fuel injection and knock sensors, you'd set the timing and that would be it. Now engines have knock sensors and can adjust timing on a per cylinder basis every ignition cycle (not all can, but the Mini does). What this means is that the car can take advantage of an agressive tune, without fear of damage from too low an octane.
As more and more cars come with knock sensor technology, the rated octane will be the octane at which they gaurantee a bunch of things, like power and accelleration times. But most will be able to use more octane than is "reccomended".
I'd also heard of one car that came out with a premium suggestion, and people complained as it wasn't a sports car, and it was "re-rated" to 89....
But as more and more cars come with computer control, they'll pretty much be able to take advantage of the extra octane you dump in the tank.
Matt
As more and more cars come with knock sensor technology, the rated octane will be the octane at which they gaurantee a bunch of things, like power and accelleration times. But most will be able to use more octane than is "reccomended".
I'd also heard of one car that came out with a premium suggestion, and people complained as it wasn't a sports car, and it was "re-rated" to 89....
But as more and more cars come with computer control, they'll pretty much be able to take advantage of the extra octane you dump in the tank.
Matt
3rd Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 271
Likes: 1
Premium not necessary
Hey all,
My first post here. I am still three months from ordering my MCS.
Premium is not necessary unless you are headed for the track or some spirited driving on the Dragon (hehe). See this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...r-premium.html
My first post here. I am still three months from ordering my MCS.
Premium is not necessary unless you are headed for the track or some spirited driving on the Dragon (hehe). See this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...r-premium.html
Welcome to NAM
sorry you'll get hammered after just your first post!
The MCS is closest to the Saab in the study, a forced induction motor. They lost 10% in power, and track performance. Another point they didn't look at was efficiency, saying instead that the 10% in performance is about the price difference. But they didn't test the gas milage vs octane. And that takes a dump when the timing is pulled.
But this shows that it's not written, it's how you read it. The Mini is knock sensor governed, and has a high octane reccomendation. It's just the kind of car that is highly tuned and would show the effect (like the M3 and the Saab).
Matt
The MCS is closest to the Saab in the study, a forced induction motor. They lost 10% in power, and track performance. Another point they didn't look at was efficiency, saying instead that the 10% in performance is about the price difference. But they didn't test the gas milage vs octane. And that takes a dump when the timing is pulled.
But this shows that it's not written, it's how you read it. The Mini is knock sensor governed, and has a high octane reccomendation. It's just the kind of car that is highly tuned and would show the effect (like the M3 and the Saab).
Matt
6th Gear
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,526
Likes: 1
Hey all,
My first post here. I am still three months from ordering my MCS.
Premium is not necessary unless you are headed for the track or some spirited driving on the Dragon (hehe). See this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...r-premium.html
My first post here. I am still three months from ordering my MCS.
Premium is not necessary unless you are headed for the track or some spirited driving on the Dragon (hehe). See this link:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...r-premium.html
It's also important to remember that "premium" only refers to resistance to knocking and not that it's necessarily better than regular in any other way.
If the car doesn't "ping" of "knock" on regular, then there is no compelling reason to use premium as long as the possiblity of a slight increase in HP isn't important to you.
Thanks for the link.
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