Fuel additives
New to Z06 and forum. Ours is a 2017 coupe auto 7,000 miles on the clock at purchase. I searched without success for my subject so here goes.
Our manual wants us to use 93 octane. There's none of that anywhere near us 200 miles from the nearest freeway. It also says do NOT use MMT additives and a few other chemicals, taking what seems the best of them out of consideration. Never mind the purveyors of MMT additives all say they'll work fine without damage in any gas engine.
Well what's a Z06 driver to do? Is there some experiential consensus here on what to use - if anything - that works and won't damage the Z06?
We're upgraders from a 2006 Z51 Procharged car. Next yr I'll be an octogenarian, plus nowhere near a track, so track days are in the past. Nothing now but fun opportunistic street throttle usage and a good radar detector.
Thanks for any advice and regards
Art & Moe
yes it will work, your spark plugs will gain a small orange tinge. mmt is used in canadian fuels as a fyi and there's no issues there with it on any canadian cars. If you follow the directions, you'll just need to add enough to bring it to 95-96 octane to eliminate most knock. There is a 98 octane tune, but best to use that tune with a good race gas combo rather than guesstimating.
Last edited by SladeX; Oct 20, 2020 at 10:04 PM.
https://torcousa.com/products/accelerator
also refer to the Blending Document referenced within this link. You only need to boost your octane if you are experiencing engine pinging.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
New to Z06 and forum. Ours is a 2017 coupe auto 7,000 miles on the clock at purchase. I searched without success for my subject so here goes.
Our manual wants us to use 93 octane. There's none of that anywhere near us 200 miles from the nearest freeway. It also says do NOT use MMT additives and a few other chemicals, taking what seems the best of them out of consideration. Never mind the purveyors of MMT additives all say they'll work fine without damage in any gas engine.
Well what's a Z06 driver to do? Is there some experiential consensus here on what to use - if anything - that works and won't damage the Z06?
We're upgraders from a 2006 Z51 Procharged car. Next yr I'll be an octogenarian, plus nowhere near a track, so track days are in the past. Nothing now but fun opportunistic street throttle usage and a good radar detector.
Thanks for any advice and regards
Art & Moe
Here are three quotes from my Owners Manual:
Fuel (LT4 6.2L Supercharged V8 Engine)
Premium Required Fuel
"Use premium 93 octane unleaded gasoline in your vehicle. Unleaded gasoline with a 91 octane rating may be used, but it will reduce performance and fuel economy."
"For the LT4 6.2L supercharged engine, use premium unleaded gasoline meeting ASTM specification D4814 with a posted octane rating of 93. If unavailable, unleaded gasoline with a posted octane rating of 91 may be used, but with reduced performance and fuel economy. If the octane is less than 91, the engine could be damaged and the repairs would not be covered by the vehicle warranty. If heavy knocking is heard when using gasoline rated at 93 octane, the engine needs service."
Whatever you do, make sure that use Top Tier fuel! It's available anywhere but not all stations carry it.
Others suggest octane boosters. I have chosen not to use them, the reason being that there reports of its containing manganese which can solidify and cause engine damage. I have also read it can leave an orange residue in the supercharger which could result in GMs invalidating your warranty. I repeat, I have no personal experience with boosters. I just decided that I don't want to take that chance.
The bottom line is that I have experienced no issues with my car in 16,000 miles and have had the car as low as as sea level and as high as 10,000 feet. That said, the car has noticeably higher power on 93 octane. I will also say that I push my car hard and frequently operate at wide open throttle when conditions permit, and I am an octogenarian!
Montana Bob
If they did that how would they prevent any of the cars ever ending up in California where they outright banned 93 long ago?
As others have said, timing will automatically be retarded so that no harm will come to the engine.
At our altitude (I'm in Colorado as well), the cylinder pressure and boost will be lower than at sea level due to the less dense air here. What this means, is that we can get away with less octane than at sea level. That being said if you want to have your car tuned to run on race gas or E85, there is additional power to be found.
According to what I have been told by the owner of the local service station, where I trade, you are absolutely correct. I asked him whether he could get 93 octane. He said "No", and explained that, at higher elevations, higher octane is not required to prevent knock, so his supplier, Sinclair, doesn't bring it in to our area. I would assume that other brands would respond in kind.
My guess is that one of the requirements of being a Top Tier seller, is that their octane ratings must be accurate, something the off-brand dealers must not be able to guarantee. That is why it is so important to stick with Top Tier dealers.
Montana Bob
As others have said, timing will automatically be retarded so that no harm will come to the engine.
At our altitude (I'm in Colorado as well), the cylinder pressure and boost will be lower than at sea level due to the less dense air here. What this means, is that we can get away with less octane than at sea level. That being said if you want to have your car tuned to run on race gas or E85, there is additional power to be found.
According to what I have been told by the owner of the local service station, where I trade, you are absolutely correct. I asked him whether he could get 93 octane. He said "No", and explained that, at higher elevations, higher octane is not required to prevent knock, so his supplier, Sinclair, doesn't bring it in to our area. I would assume that other brands would respond in kind.
My guess is that one of the requirements of being a Top Tier seller, is that their octane ratings must be accurate, something the off-brand dealers must not be able to guarantee. That is why it is so important to stick with Top Tier dealers.
Montana Bob
New to Z06 and forum. Ours is a 2017 coupe auto 7,000 miles on the clock at purchase. I searched without success for my subject so here goes.
Our manual wants us to use 93 octane. There's none of that anywhere near us 200 miles from the nearest freeway. It also says do NOT use MMT additives and a few other chemicals, taking what seems the best of them out of consideration. Never mind the purveyors of MMT additives all say they'll work fine without damage in any gas engine.
Well what's a Z06 driver to do? Is there some experiential consensus here on what to use - if anything - that works and won't damage the Z06?
We're upgraders from a 2006 Z51 Procharged car. Next yr I'll be an octogenarian, plus nowhere near a track, so track days are in the past. Nothing now but fun opportunistic street throttle usage and a good radar detector.
Thanks for any advice and regards
Art & Moe
https://www.amazon.com/Klotz-Higher-Octane-Booster-Gallon/dp/B008YEHRUK
Last edited by lordofwar; Oct 21, 2020 at 03:22 PM.
As stated mmt is used in other parts of the world with no ill effects and a ton of canadian z06 and zr1 owners who use it because it is in all canadian fuel. You never hear of any canadian mmt related z06 failures, and aside from the more orange tinted spark plugs, no harm.
http://www.serioussolutions.com/evo/octcalc.htm
Last edited by solotronics; Oct 21, 2020 at 04:33 PM.





















