It seems like Sunoco is bringing back 94 octane in PA. I'm starting to see their commercials. I typically, use name brand 93. Wondering if anyone is using 94? I would expect there to be no problems with it, though likely very little benefit from it as well.

Still, all thing being equal, I would probably use it.

 

That's cool! I am not using it since CA only has 91, we don't even get 93 Though a few rare specialty places have higher octane stuff.

 

Yea I've put a couple tanks of 94 in. I can't tell any difference between it and the Shell 93 I usually put in.

I was cracking up. On the way to work one day a Sunoco station put a gigantic 94 balloon on the roof. It looked like this but way bigger.

 

Yeah... I wouldn't expect there to be any visible benefit. But maybe like a 3% improvement in terms of long term longevity or something. Eh, people like me are probably their target audience. Just offer something completely unprovable, but have it sound good and it will sell on an off chance that it might be true.

 

We know the knock sensors will pull timing. Be nice if we knew the max amount of timing the engineers built into it. If max timing is achieved with 93 and no knock ever, 94 would have no benefit. We really don't know for sure if there is a benefit of 93 over 91 do we?

 

You can tell by looking at the KCLV value with an OBD2 scanner / techstream. The IS-F guys were running a mix of E85 to get more advanced timing on stock tune so i'm sure 94 would also make a difference. There's some stations near me that have 100+ octane and I've been tempted to try it out but it's $10/gallon

 

The difference between 93 and 94 octane is negligible on your normal daily driver. In theory, the higher the octane, the slower the fuel burns so you theoretically could improve MPG (not by much, if any). IMO, it's mainly a marketing gimmick. If you're asking if it's safe to run 94 octane, yes it should be. If you're asking if there are any benefits to run 94 octane, depends on who you ask.

While using premium gas, I primarily look at the additives that are added, and typically only fill up at Chevron/Texaco with Techron or Mobil with Synergy.

 

I only use "Top Tier" gas in mine, so basically Chevron and Shell only, I use both 94 Chevron and 93 Shell V power but mostly use Chevron cuz they have dedicated 94 nozzle and is close to 0 ethanol in it also they are owned locally and I guess they bought the rights to use here from Chevron/Texaco. I also use Shell 93 but some Shell station still shares 93 with other 87 and 91 with same filler nozzle, so you are mixing a little bit of regular or whatever was filled before.

 

Interesting... lots of great points. I bought store gas a few times, when in a hurry. Feel pretty bad about that, but mainly I stick to good name brands. In the past I used to be partial to Shell. But, I think I will run 94 for a while. Curious if I will notice any differences or higher MPG or something.

 

The base gas itself is the same and all come from the same refinery, but when it is purchased/distributed to the different retailers, they add their own additive packages. Some additives work better than others, and generally speaking, gas with additives is generally better than gas with no additives. Whether you get your gas from a mom-and pops station or a well-known chain, the important factor is whether you use to correct octane your car is designed for.