MPG

[Dead Eye]

"quote"!

One of our users commented that using higher octane fuel than your engine requires actually gives no benefit and may be a waste of money. This is because virtually NO engines require 98 RON over 95, and the market for ‘super’ fuels seems to be based on people’s misunderstanding of octane ratings and the placebo effect of filling up with ‘more powerful’ fuel – making motorists think their engine is running better in some way.
What do the fuel companies say then, to justify the “increased power” claims for the super grade fuels? Some companies say that while all fuels contain cleaning additives, ‘super’ fuels contain more or better detergents to keep the injectors cleaner than standard fuel. Others say the fuel is a few percent denser which gives slightly more power per litre. These benefits may be marginal though in comparison to the extra cost involved so it is worth ensuring that your engine will actually benefit before filling up.
Some engines actually do need higher octane fuel, such as race engines with very high compression and some turbocharged engines, such as the import version of the Nissan Skyline. Also, a few vehicles, such as the new BMW K1200R motorbike, can sense knock and adjust their engine tuning to take advantage of higher grade fuels. Another user commented that the 2004 BMW 330 also does this, according to the driver’s handbook it makes 231 BHP on 98 octane and 221 BHP on 95. This ability is apparently widespread amongst German performance cars using Bosch / Siemens electronic engine controls.

It all makes sense, but at the end of the day it boiled down to trial and error for me Was simply curious if others had found the same results and if it was because of any specific modifications. As I said before, the bike didnt really seem to like the higher octane fuel but it still got me where I needed to go

The car on the other hand (until it died) loved the higher octane fuel, it was smoother and felt slightly more powerful. Just for the sake of making sure it wasnt a placebo I had my friend fill up my car randomly with with either just as an experiment But having said that, even a different car of the same make, model and engine will perform differently... hence returning to my curiosity with the bike