C4 Tech/Performance L98 Corvette and LT1 Corvette Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine
View Poll Results: Gas grade used for C4 Vette
87
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89
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91
19
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Gas grade to use

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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 03:24 PM
  #1  
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Default Gas grade to use

What grade of gas does the C4 corvettes like to run on? Is it going be a 91 hungry beast?
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 03:28 PM
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Not one answer here, the C4 varies some in Compression Ratio during the long run.

My 86 ran perfectly on 87 octane. My 88 preferred midgrade when stock. Later cars could run midgrade or premium. So what year do you have?

The correct answer is hook up the scanner and run the lowest octane that doesn't give you any knock counts.
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 03:30 PM
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I have an '85
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 03:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Squid8392
I have an '85
With the low CR of the iron head cars you should stick with 87.
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 04:11 PM
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A stock 85 will run fine on regular 87 octane fuel. You don’t need to buy higher octane fuel until the engine requires it through performance upgrades
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Old Jun 6, 2025 | 09:07 PM
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I get excessive knock if I don’t run 91, and my car only has 47k miles, so it’s not a wear issue. Yeah it costs more but my overall cost is a lot less than the folks buying a new Camry.
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 07:29 AM
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I run 93 in my 96 LT4
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 08:29 AM
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I have an '85. I use 91 octane in everything I own. Including mowers. Gordon K told me these cars were designed to run on 87. No need for high octane gas. However, the gas we get here is garbage, The 91 does better. I work on small engines and I've seen the damage 87 can do.
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1986 iron heads running 87 octane with NO issues....I ran 87 in my aluminum headed 87 with the same results. Both ran/run just fine.

I refuse to waste money on higher octane fuel that will do nothing to improve the performance of my car that I could ever notice.
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Old Jun 7, 2025 | 09:14 AM
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Where's the voting button for 93 ?
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Old Jun 8, 2025 | 03:44 PM
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My '90 is only happy with 93. My '87 is happy on 91, but not 87. This is with 10% ethanol here in the northeast.
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Old Jun 8, 2025 | 04:40 PM
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Non eth 91 in my 86 vert. The car is not driven much so it does better on the real stuff.


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Old Jun 9, 2025 | 03:49 PM
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LT1/LT4 use 91 or better. L98 meh, 87 might be fine, the compression is not that high.
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Old Jun 9, 2025 | 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Squid8392
What grade of gas does the C4 corvettes like to run on? Is it going be a 91 hungry beast?
my 84 runs the same regardless of octane.
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Old Jun 9, 2025 | 05:48 PM
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My 1986 had lots of knock retard on 87 octane, had to run 91 or better to keep the knock away. It was all stock.
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Old Jun 10, 2025 | 10:10 AM
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My 1993 is noticeably different between 91 and 94, so I always run 94.
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Old Jun 11, 2025 | 07:22 AM
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I run 87 in my 89, but I get a lot of shake under heavy throttle. I never considered it might be the octane, so I'll try some midgrade next tank. (It does say "Premium recommended" under the gas filler cover)
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Old Jun 11, 2025 | 07:29 AM
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I go by my manual which recommends 91 or better.
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