Question about running 100LL Avgas:

My local airport has a self service fuel pump selling 100 octane low lead aviation fuel. I know the world is now lead free, but will the lead in the fuel harm the LS2?

By the way, this 100 octane avgas is cheaper that the 91 octane California "premium" fuel I can get at the pump.

Go easy on me guys. As the post may point out I know very little about this sort of thing.

Al

 

It wont harm the motor but any amount of lead will foul your cats.

I've also heard that avgas has additives made for airplanes, (obviously) but which could be harmful to a regular car engine.

 

Leaded gas, even so-called low lead gas, will poison the cats. (Low lead doesn't foul plugs as quickly as fully leaded gas, but it is still bad news in a late model car.)

Note too that aircraft 100 octane is research octane, not the R+M/2 octane rating we use in cars. Depending on the unspecified motor number, it may be no better than 93 octane auto gas.

It is cheaper because it has no road taxes on it.

 

Avgas is crap in a street car. 100 VP is much better and doesn't contain the lead. My forced induction cars have performed much worse on Avgas due to its' properties, than on regluar 93 octane pump gas, believe it or not.

 

I don't recomend av-gas in any car! Most aircraft engines are air cooled, the av gas has different additives. Have even seen burned valves. 27000 hours of flying time. Good luck!

 

100 low lead isn't very low in lead. It will damage the cats.

 

The previous replies pretty much covered the damage that could be done to your Vette. However, if you are looking to save some money on gasoline check out the following http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=925592

 

Thanks for the replies.

What prompted me to post is a few times I've seen someone filling up a fairly new Porche when he fills his Pitts.

Since this Guy baby's his planes and his cars I thought there could be something to it.

Thanks again.

Al

 

I have spent 40 years in aviation and have a pretty good understanding of the differences between av-gas and auto gas.
If I wanted av-gas for my cars I could get it for less than auto gas.

With that being said, I use av-gas in my piston powered aircraft and auto fuel in my autos (Premium in the vette).

 

Please don't.

100LL avgas has a whopping 2 grams of T.E. lead in it, which is a huge amount, even by 1960's standards.

It will instantly trash your cats and O2 sensors. It will also foul your plugs, dirty your oil, cause the valves to stick and a whole bunch of other bad things.

If the Horvidos Indians are hot on your trail and your only means of escape is tanking up on 100ll avgas, then go for it. Be prepared to be in limp mode in 50 miles though.

I own a plane, I'd rather use mogas (car fuel) in it but I can't. I have to pull the spark plugs every 50 hours or more often and clean the plugs with a tool that has a vibrating hardened bit that knocks the chunks of lead off and then sandblast them clean. The oil looks like poo in 25 hours and the oil analysis always comes bag with thousands of ppm of lead in it. Airplane engines routinely suffer from stuck valves due to lead gooking up on the exhaust valve stems.

High octane doesn't make your car any faster anyway. All it does is reduce detonation.

100 octane unleaded racing fuel is much better than avgas, safe and legal to run in your car.

 

I hope he doesn't have to mortgage the house to afford the replacement cats, or something even worse

/

 

Out here I'm fairly amazed at how easy it is to get 100 unleaded by the barrel full...

 

Do they still have it in the pump at the 76 station on Almaden Expressway? I haven't been by there in a while now.

 

The get 100 unleaded.

 

well he may baby his plane but he's trashing his porsche. moron.

 

I would not use it in your C6, but I have used it concistantly in a non catted Camaro for 4-5 years without any issues at all. At the time I was getting it for free so I felt it was worth a try.

 

Avgas is very different from racing gasoline. besides the lead which will ruin your cats and O2 sensors, it is less dense. That means less power per pound. Back in the 60s some hot rodders used it if no racing gas was available, but you had to richen the mixture way up to get back to the same power level. Easy with the old Holley carbs, just carry around a jet kit. An EFI car, no way would I try it. The power will suck, the mixture will be way too lean and stuff will be ruined.

 

Lead
Low compression motors don't need 100 octane anyways. You will lose horsepower!

Randy