110 Octane Fuel????
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,158
Likes: 23
From: Clifton Park New York
110 Octane Fuel????
Can you run 110 octane fuel in a stock C5? Could/Would it damage anything internally? And are there any benefits in doing so? i would just love to try it out once for the hell of it!
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,702
Likes: 1
Don't waste your money. Racing fuel does not benefit a stock C5 engine. If anything the slower burn rate of 110 octane will only slow you down. Racing fuel is for engines that require the additional octane to prevent detonation,thus allowing the engine to produce it's power in a safe manner,and yes you will destroy your o2 sensors if leaded fuel is used.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2005
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Tech Contributor
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Dyer, IN
I guess everyone has not started happy hour already. Ok, serious time....
To the OP, no it will not harm your engine. Yes it will most likely ruin your o2 sensors/cats(because of the lead)......and there is no sense in running higher octane fuel anyways, unless you get a tune. To my knowledge, 110 octane is not available lead free.
To the OP, no it will not harm your engine. Yes it will most likely ruin your o2 sensors/cats(because of the lead)......and there is no sense in running higher octane fuel anyways, unless you get a tune. To my knowledge, 110 octane is not available lead free.
Last edited by lucky131969; Oct 1, 2010 at 05:30 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,983
Likes: 391
From: Stoney Creek Ontario
you won't notice any improvement in performance with a stock engine, plus 110 is leaded - it'll cause probs with your 02's..and your cats... there is a 103 unleaded, and even a 109 unleaded (hard to find) that won't hurt anything in your emmission system (just your wallet).... When I go to the strip, if I can only find 91 at the pumps, I add some 103 unleaded at the track to eliminate ping. With my mods I ping below 94 octane when I push it hard.... Aside from a nice smell from the exhaust, 110 won't do you any good
Last edited by dankhts; Oct 1, 2010 at 06:42 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,147
Likes: 1
From: Mohegan Lake New York
Hey guys, all kidding aside this is an interesting question,we all know if the fuel you are currently are using keeps you out of detonation putting in higher octane fuel (unleaded in our case) will not show any improvement also it will not hurt anything .I remember back in the 80's when gas got really crappy a 10 1/2 to 1 CR SB with 38o to 40o total timing all in by 1800 -2000 rpm had serious problems with the then premium unleaded and the only recourse was to pull timing out of the motor hence power went down...Soooo could we put a bunch more lead and or more total timing in the motor to take advantage of the higher octane fuel???
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 43,084
Likes: 33
From: Raleigh / Rolesville NC
100 octane unleaded is available.
is it worth it for street use? not likely. for a semi- built or full race motor that only sees the strip or road course, then YES, if the motor is tuned for it.
I run a 4:1 93:100 octane mix in my road course track car. Does it help? yes, but it is a pain in the butt to mix all the time.
would be nice if Sunoco 97 was available in more locations.
my heads are 243s milled to about 61 and run a 224/224 581/581 112+4 cam 28* timing
is it worth it for street use? not likely. for a semi- built or full race motor that only sees the strip or road course, then YES, if the motor is tuned for it.
I run a 4:1 93:100 octane mix in my road course track car. Does it help? yes, but it is a pain in the butt to mix all the time.
would be nice if Sunoco 97 was available in more locations.
my heads are 243s milled to about 61 and run a 224/224 581/581 112+4 cam 28* timing
Last edited by AU N EGL; Oct 2, 2010 at 09:07 AM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,237
Likes: 9
From: Springhill FL
Hey guys, all kidding aside this is an interesting question,we all know if the fuel you are currently are using keeps you out of detonation putting in higher octane fuel (unleaded in our case) will not show any improvement also it will not hurt anything .I remember back in the 80's when gas got really crappy a 10 1/2 to 1 CR SB with 38o to 40o total timing all in by 1800 -2000 rpm had serious problems with the then premium unleaded and the only recourse was to pull timing out of the motor hence power went down...Soooo could we put a bunch more lead and or more total timing in the motor to take advantage of the higher octane fuel???
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,736
Likes: 7
From: Redding CA
With the stock heads/pistons CR in your LS1 you will see no noticeable benefit.
As others have said, 110 octane fuel is more than likely leaded and will do harm to the emissions stuff.
93 octane is about the most you'd need to get max performance out of relatively stock timed, bolt on LS1.
If you start adding compression or timing, you'll need the octane to keep from detonation. By definition octane is the ability to reduce knock/detonation...therefore once you have zero knock/detonation, any more octane is just a waste of money.
Octane just equal horsepower, you increase octane until you have zero detonation and then by proxy you will pick up horsepower cause you'll be basically leaving no un-burned fuel in the combustion chamber.
As others have said, 110 octane fuel is more than likely leaded and will do harm to the emissions stuff.
93 octane is about the most you'd need to get max performance out of relatively stock timed, bolt on LS1.
If you start adding compression or timing, you'll need the octane to keep from detonation. By definition octane is the ability to reduce knock/detonation...therefore once you have zero knock/detonation, any more octane is just a waste of money.
Octane just equal horsepower, you increase octane until you have zero detonation and then by proxy you will pick up horsepower cause you'll be basically leaving no un-burned fuel in the combustion chamber.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,158
Likes: 23
From: Clifton Park New York
thanks for the info. i just saw it at a local Sunoco pump for 7.99 per gallon. i just thought with a few gallons of that and my new B&B Bullet exhaust i might be able to blow some F&#*##g FLAMES out of my car!! 
and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!
and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,736
Likes: 7
From: Redding CA
thanks for the info. i just saw it at a local Sunoco pump for 7.99 per gallon. i just thought with a few gallons of that and my new B&B Bullet exhaust i might be able to blow some F&#*##g FLAMES out of my car!! and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!
and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!Octane: A rating scale used to grade gasoline as to its antiknock properties.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 6,993
Likes: 25
thanks for the info. i just saw it at a local Sunoco pump for 7.99 per gallon. i just thought with a few gallons of that and my new B&B Bullet exhaust i might be able to blow some F&#*##g FLAMES out of my car!! and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!
and i actually don't know exactly what octane pertains to offically. guess they forgot to teach me that while i was in school for my Masters. ****, what a waste of 250K of my money! i guess i should go back for my PhD! or maybe i should have skipped school and i'd be driving around a Ferrari F430. Decisions, decisions!!
I think the Ferrari would have been a better idea.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,075
Likes: 109
From: Longmont Co
Octane prevents premature detonation. A higher octane rating makes an engine more resistant to "knock" and allows engines to utilize higher compression ratios and more advanced timing, but a higher octane rated gas has no more "energy". Modern engines automatically adjust (to less powerful tuning) if the gas they are running does not have the needed octane, but once it has "enough", more does nothing. Boosting your octane over the design minimum won't do anything unless you also do some custom tuning and/or internal mods. I may have gotten some detail wrong, but you get the point; more octane does not mean more powerful gas.