Tuning ??'s
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Joined: Mar 2012
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Tuning ??'s
Im getting my 2011 GS A6 SC with the eforce later this week. The tuner told me to arrive with what ever type of fuel I want the car to be tuned for.
In Oklahoma I have access to 91 (100% gas) octane as well as 93 octane. He says you can get another 20-30 HP out of the 93. However I really enjoy road tripping my vette and wonder if it was tuned for the higher octane if I would run into problems as I travel. The tuner said I could tune it for 93 and be able to run it on lower octane but dont try to get into boosted situations when running the lower octane.
Also I have noticed when running the 93 I get about 5 mpg less than the 100% gas. As a lot of my miles are on the highway, this would equal a decent amount of lost fuel mileage.
My question is, is the extra bump in HP worth the downsides of running 93 octane. And if I did, is 93 readily available across the U.S.? Im under the impression comnifornia has very low octane levels and I was planning a trip up the coastal hwy this summer.
In Oklahoma I have access to 91 (100% gas) octane as well as 93 octane. He says you can get another 20-30 HP out of the 93. However I really enjoy road tripping my vette and wonder if it was tuned for the higher octane if I would run into problems as I travel. The tuner said I could tune it for 93 and be able to run it on lower octane but dont try to get into boosted situations when running the lower octane.
Also I have noticed when running the 93 I get about 5 mpg less than the 100% gas. As a lot of my miles are on the highway, this would equal a decent amount of lost fuel mileage.
My question is, is the extra bump in HP worth the downsides of running 93 octane. And if I did, is 93 readily available across the U.S.? Im under the impression comnifornia has very low octane levels and I was planning a trip up the coastal hwy this summer.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 777
Likes: 14
From: Broken Arrow Oklahoma
take your 91 and 93 octanes tunes with you, just run the gas all the way down, then switch tunes; and off you go at the new tune for whatever octane. My SCT tuner takes 5 to 10 minutes to switch via the OBD2 port.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 21,587
Likes: 1,614
From: GREER SC
Im getting my 2011 GS A6 SC with the eforce later this week. The tuner told me to arrive with what ever type of fuel I want the car to be tuned for.
In Oklahoma I have access to 91 (100% gas) octane as well as 93 octane. He says you can get another 20-30 HP out of the 93. However I really enjoy road tripping my vette and wonder if it was tuned for the higher octane if I would run into problems as I travel. The tuner said I could tune it for 93 and be able to run it on lower octane but dont try to get into boosted situations when running the lower octane.
Also I have noticed when running the 93 I get about 5 mpg less than the 100% gas. As a lot of my miles are on the highway, this would equal a decent amount of lost fuel mileage.
My question is, is the extra bump in HP worth the downsides of running 93 octane. And if I did, is 93 readily available across the U.S.? Im under the impression comnifornia has very low octane levels and I was planning a trip up the coastal hwy this summer.
In Oklahoma I have access to 91 (100% gas) octane as well as 93 octane. He says you can get another 20-30 HP out of the 93. However I really enjoy road tripping my vette and wonder if it was tuned for the higher octane if I would run into problems as I travel. The tuner said I could tune it for 93 and be able to run it on lower octane but dont try to get into boosted situations when running the lower octane.
Also I have noticed when running the 93 I get about 5 mpg less than the 100% gas. As a lot of my miles are on the highway, this would equal a decent amount of lost fuel mileage.
My question is, is the extra bump in HP worth the downsides of running 93 octane. And if I did, is 93 readily available across the U.S.? Im under the impression comnifornia has very low octane levels and I was planning a trip up the coastal hwy this summer.
Team Owner
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 24,035
Likes: 2,342
From: Gilbert AZ
Can't always plan on 93 only though. Many states don't have any. As long as you avoid california and low elevation states that use 91 you should be ok. Higher elevation states like New Mexico, Colorado, Utah that use 91 are fine because they don't need the higher octane.
I would just error on safe and have them tune for 91.
I would just error on safe and have them tune for 91.
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Drifting
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 1,984
Likes: 16
From: Amityville New York
Your tuner is right, tune the car for the 93 octane and buy 93 when you can get it, even buy a octane booster and keep it in your car, while driving around, if 93 is not available you can buy the 91.
Now while running 91 don't get on the car hard with high boost but if you feel you will need to do so, just add the octane booster and replace it with another for safety sake at all times, but always remember a tune for 93 will be safe for 91 if you're not boosting the car hard or taking it to high rpm at standstill.
Now while running 91 don't get on the car hard with high boost but if you feel you will need to do so, just add the octane booster and replace it with another for safety sake at all times, but always remember a tune for 93 will be safe for 91 if you're not boosting the car hard or taking it to high rpm at standstill.
Drifting
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,563
Likes: 334
From: Indianapolis Indiana
You just reinforced what I think I have discovered by trial and error. As I experiment with my eforce it is looking like 15* is going to aggressive and 13.5* is very safe. I'm running 14.5* now but this summer I may have to back down a bit. Also, I have discovered that approximately 1* = ~9HP peak but don't hold me to it.
We have 93 octane with and without ethonol around here.
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Joined: Mar 2012
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Thanks for the input. I like the idea of getting a handheld tuner and loading multiple level tunes on it. It will be the more expensive route to go, but I can buy the handheld tuner, get the shop to load the 91 tune on it, then some time in the future go back with a tank full of 93 and get another tune for that. For now I think Im going to use the 91 tune as it seems to be the lesser of the two evils.
