Dan,
Forced induction effectively increases the compression ratio of the car and
makes detonation more likely. The higher octane fuel is necessary to
prevent detonation under boost. You can probably run 87 octane in your
turbo'd car to no detriment so long as you stay out of the boost, but what's
the point of buying a stiffly-sprung, 300 HP, AWD sedan if you're never
going to get into the skinny pedal?
So my $.02 is that you should run premium fuel in a turbocharged (or
supercharged) engine. But don't let the extra $.20/gallon dissuade you too
much if you really like the car. Sometimes you've just got to pay to play.
Good Luck,
-Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: shop-talk-bounces@autox.team.net
[mailto:shop-talk-bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Dan Kroninger
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2010 1:30 PM
To: shop-talk@autox.team.net
Subject: [Shop-talk] Premium for Turbos
Shop talkers,
Hey there, I think this is my first time posting to this forum, but I have
been following along for a while. It appears that you all know what you are
talking about
Anyway, my daily driver Honda Civic has just hit 150K. This is my third
civic
and both previous civics made it to about 150K and then the nickel and
diming
started, so I am starting to look for a new(er) car. The car that has
really
caught my eye recently is the 07-09 Subaru Legacy Spec B. Lots of HP, all
wheel drive, sport suspension, etc etc. The part that concerns me is the
turbo. The brochures state that all cars with turbos must be run on 91
octane
or higher.
I have read several times that premium is only stated because it allows the
manufacturer to post higher stats (ie HP, torque, accel times, etc), however
the car can be run on lower octanes just as well. The only exception listed
is turbos, but no one says why. Does anyone know if this is true? Why must
91 be used? Will it harm the car to use lower?
As mentioned above, I have been driving cheap civics for almost my whole
driving career. I have nothing agains premium as I use it in my Datsun, but
I
will be driving the new car a lot more, which equals higher cost at the pump
and thinner wallets.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dan Kroninger
Dairyland Datsuns
68 Datsun 1600
01 Honda Civic
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