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Octane for LS3

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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 12:57 PM
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Default Octane for LS3

Stumbled on this new motortrend article on the new LS3: http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...09_ls3_engine/

In one section it mentions
"There is still no guzzler tax, the car runs on regular fuel, and emissions are even improved-by 40 percent in NOx and 12 percent in hydrocarbons. The LS3 is even more efficient to manufacture. It's a true win-win-win situation."

Can this be said to mean the 2008/LS3 runs on 87 octane no problem? Or are we still to think that 91/93 is recommended?
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 01:00 PM
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Originally Posted by VishnuNath
Stumbled on this new motortrend article on the new LS3: http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...09_ls3_engine/

In one section it mentions
"There is still no guzzler tax, the car runs on regular fuel, and emissions are even improved-by 40 percent in NOx and 12 percent in hydrocarbons. The LS3 is even more efficient to manufacture. It's a true win-win-win situation."

Can this be said to mean the 2008/LS3 runs on 87 octane no problem? Or are we still to think that 91/93 is recommended?


I saw that too... However, nothing but 93 will go in my tank lol
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 01:02 PM
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I think it would be more accurate to say "the car will run on regular fuel." It is not the preferred option and may cause a reduction in power.
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by VishnuNath
Stumbled on this new motortrend article on the new LS3: http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...09_ls3_engine/

In one section it mentions
"There is still no guzzler tax, the car runs on regular fuel, and emissions are even improved-by 40 percent in NOx and 12 percent in hydrocarbons. The LS3 is even more efficient to manufacture. It's a true win-win-win situation."

Can this be said to mean the 2008/LS3 runs on 87 octane no problem? Or are we still to think that 91/93 is recommended?
The car runs on regular fossil fuel as opposed to E85 (ethanol blend). The performance tables for the Corvette will still be optimized for 91 or better octane gasoline. You can run the current LS2 C6's on 87 as well but as the manual stipulates it will affect acceleration and performance.
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 01:05 PM
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2007 owner's manual, page 320, for the LS2 engine.

Gasoline Octane
If your vehicle has the 6.0L V8 engine (VIN
Code U), use premium unleaded gasoline with a
posted octane rating of 91 or higher. You may also
use regular unleaded gasoline rated at 87 octane
or higher
, but your vehicle’s acceleration may
be slightly reduced, and you may notice a slight
audible knocking noise, commonly referred to
as spark knock.
I suspect the 2008 owner's manual will read the same for the LS3 engine.
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 02:15 PM
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The LS engines always have run on 87 if you so desired.
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 02:23 PM
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I imagine the timing will be retarded by the ECU quite a bit with 87...
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 03:08 PM
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It will run on 87...but your motor will be retarded if you know what I mean.
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I certainly do not like paying the high gas prices. As I see it, having a Vettem, is rather like having a child, you have to feed it the correct stuff.
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Old Jul 25, 2007 | 04:47 PM
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It's true, one can choose the lower octane fuels if desired.

Not that it matters much but the LS3 does have a lower compression ratio (typically speaking, a higher CR requires higher octane) than the LS2 (10.7:1 versus 10.9:1 for the LS2) but again that likely isn't much of a factor in this case.
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