Solofast

Like I said, they have "enhanced" their additive package for their premium, so it is probably good now too.....

But if you are just crusing on the highway you could likely use the midgrade and save a couple of bucks on a fillup....

If you are gonna hammer it use the good stuff....

ztheusa

[QUOTE=MUKAKsC5]87 octane gas will be OK for long drives on freeways with no punching or shifting gears
87 will actually get more MPG on highway than 91 <<<<<

No it won't. You will get less because the computer will retard the timing.

skip89

Sunoco 94 octane today here in Pa. only $2.34 per gal. At about 55 degrees and sunny it seemed to run pretty strong.

BLW BY

Zora would be turning over in his grave knowing anyone is considering running a cheap grade gasoline in thy Corvette!!!!

He was smiling up until some of you were considering running this cheap gas because the ZO6 commitment was a super car at any price. This statement was made back in 1962 by Zora and still holds true today...unlesss of course you want to use 87 octane gas! Now Zora is turning over in his grave.

The Owners manual only recommends 87 octane because if you are in dire straights for gas and there is only 87 octane, kerosene, paint thinner, or turpentine available, then that is why the GM Owners manual recommends that you can run 87 octane fuel, just to get you to a place where you can run 91 octane or better.

But if you still wanna choose 87 octane with 91 octane sitting right next to it....SHAME ON YOU!

BLW BY

The following are the 10 commandments I like......

These should be observed at all times because you never know when Zora is riding with you

1. Thou shalt blow out carbon with a high-speed run at every and all opportunities available

2. Thou shalt not feed thy Corvette cheap gas

3. Thou shalt keep thy Corvette clean and waxed at all times, yet thou shalt not bring thy Corvette to an automatic car wash

4. Thou shalt maintain thy Corvette in perfect working order yet thou shalt not bring thy Corvette to Jiffy Lube for an oil change

5. Thou shalt park thy Corvette in such a manner as to protect her tender fenders and never park in a Wal-Mart parking lot

6. Thou shalt not expose a Corvette to less than perfect weather conditions

7. Thou shalt not fail to wave to a fellow Corvette owner unless they run 87 octane gasoline

8. Thou shalt not pass a fellow Corvette owner in distress without offering aid unless they ran 87 octane gasoline

9. Neither friend nor foe nor spouse nor even thy 87 Octane user may drive or ride in thy Corvette without first showing proper reverence and upgrade to 91 octane

10. Thou shalt not acknowledge a Porsche, Camaro, Mustang, or 87 octane ZO6 user as being a True Sports Car

And the new Golden Rule......Thou shalt acknowledge the ZO6 as the only true Corvette without 87 octane!

Zora will be smiling again!

SMFCPACFP

If you don't mind damaging your engine, it shouldn't be a problem. You'll save a little now and pay a lot more later when your engine needs an overhaul.

Lower octane gas than what the manufacturer calls for, will predetonate (explode before the spark plug fires). It is thus firing before TDC, actually pushing the piston the wrong direction. Think it through, that can't be good.

SilverBulletZ06

No. You cannot run your car on 87. It will erupt in a fiery ball of flame.

FrankinMD

Look do the math before you go with lower octane. Suppose you do 12K miles a year. Divide that by 22 (miles per gallon) then times that answer by $0.25 (the difference between 87 and 93 octane) I think you will find it to be about $136 (for the year) divide that by 12 and you are lookign at a little over 10 dollars per month or $2.50 per week. Now is it worth the risk or worry? Bottom line is the car was made for 93 octane. If it was made for 87 it would have been setup that way.

LT1driver

ok, real life test in texas. ran tank of 87 octane from dallas to abilene, about 200 miles....26mpg. same thing next tank with same road and weather with 91 octane and got 28.6mpg...car was slightly slower on accel, no pinging, weather around 60*, pretty flat road-freeway, car is 03 zo6. no frigging 87 for me unless emergency

415LT5-badZR-1

You might want to reverse your logic before taking that trip!

If the computer detects knock, your timing will be retarded, so tune to your heart's content, it won't change the results when you put the crap gas in. With a higher compression ratio engine, you can get incidents of pre-ignition with lower octane fuel - retard the timing to help avoid this - less power is the result. Why buy the more powerful car, and then degrade the performance to less than that of the reg. C5?

415LT5-badZR-1

Who here bought the car for the gas mileage?

leaftye

I get better gas mileage in my 350 hp 5.7L V8 corvette than I do in my 108 hp 1.6L I4 CRX...

SLO VETTE

i was stuck once in "low fuel" mode getting by on vapor (had something like 9 miles to go on the "range" mode from dic's fuel screen) and it so happened that the nearest gas station was out of premium (shell). i put in a 1/4 tank of midgrade to get me home. no issues, but i was just cruising in 6th at freeway speeds and not getting on the go-fast pedal.

other than in an emergency, how could you even possibly consider putting in cheap gas in a vette? that's penny wise and pound foolish.

Scott04Z

I have to amen those who are reccomending staying with the high quality and high octane fuel. I used to purchase my fuel at a well known discount gas station until my mechanic, who is a straight up and very knowledgeable guy, pointed out to me the benifits of using brand name fuel and burning the appropriate and reccomended octane level.

The benefits long term to the injectors and other parts of the fuel system are notable and the savings over time by purchasing the higher quality fuel are considerable when compared to the expense of replacing injectors, etc.

I mean really guys...the risks just aren't worth it when you are driving one of the best made cars in the world. It deserves the best and responds to it.

There is a reason that the discount gas stations can sell their product for less...they buy it for less and not because of volume...it is because it is a secondary grade product...it might be okay, but it isn't the best, and a high performance machine like the Z06 should be serviced with the best fuel, oil and other products if you expect to get the maximum out of the car that it has to offer.

If you just don't care, then go ahead and buy the cheap stuff...but you will pay for it in the long run!

2MuchRiceMakesMeSick

The PCM will drop down to the low octane / spark table and cut waaayy back on timing. You will lose alot of power and risk detonation. Why buy a z06. Pay the 10-20 cents more a gallon for what it was made for.

C6~Missle

Maybe this will help clairify the gasoline standards

http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

CrashFender

The biggest problem with lower octane fuel isn't going to be the faster burn rate (that seems better for performance, right?), but the increased volatility under compression. Fuel with a lower octane rating can actually self ignite due to cylinder temperature and compression (which raises the temp even further), causing the fuel to ignite without the presence of spark, in which case it will occur at a specific time on the compression stroke whether spark is applied or not (this is how diesel engines work). If it's self-igniting it can't be timed out, but assuming that it's not, retarding the timing to apply spark later would be the way to go to prevent power loss to due pre-detonation. The ECM should do this automatically, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

My Z06 holds 18.5 gallons of gas. If Premium gas is an extra 10 cents a gallon, it's costing me just under 2 dollars a tank to use 93. IMO, 2 bucks isn't a lot of money to keep my car running right.

MonolithMonolith

THREAD FROM THE DEAD!

But really, is there that big of a difference between 91 and 93 Octane? I run Premium in my motorcycle, my Golf GTI and the Vette. I don't pay attention every time, but I'm pretty sure it's usually 91. Input?

CrashFender

I don't think running a higher octane than recommended improves performance. So as long as neither of your vehicles has been modified to increase compression, you should use the octane rating specified in the manual.

Here's a state government website that dispels some common octane myths:

http://mn.gov/commerce/weights-and-m...ctaneFacts.pdf

PLRX

I only use 91 or better, and I use Chevron 99% of the time.

If I cant find Chevron, I look for any of these ones:

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html