What does octane do for a car???

Question

I have found that putting super 94 octane level gasoline with a bottle of octane booster in my car once a week( I work out of town) that the better gas mileage and it lowers the severly of the knocks and pings in the engine and the car gets a little bit better acceleration for the first i would say 20 miles.....what causes this...what is octane and why is it making my car run better...I have always wondered these questions and also my car is recommened for 87 octane level so does using the higher grade hurt anything other then my wallet :)??

Answer 1

The simple answer is the higher the octane the better explosion in the cumbustion chamber which obviously creates more power.If your car should run on 87 and doesn't it could be time for a tune-up. Also I have found that certain companies gas runs better than others in my cars although I'm not sure why that is. Octane booster will not hurt your engine, but with the price of gas these days who needs the extra expense. If it should run on 87 and doesn't the timing could be to high or plugs and wires need replacing.My adivce is to get a major tune-up from someone who has a reputation for being honest and doing good work and go from there.

Answer 2

Octane refers to the anti-knock ability of the gasoline. Normally using higher octane fuel than recommended is a waste of money and in rare circumstances it can even harm your engine.

The fact that it helps your car run better indicates that there is something wrong with your car. The two most likely causes for knocking (when using the recommended octane fuel) are:

1. Too much timing advance. On older cars this is adjustable. On most newer ones, it's controlled by the computer.

2. Heavy buildup of deposits in the combustion chambers.

You need to get it checked out by a mechanic. Your comment that it only lowers the severity of the knocking means that it you don't get this sorted out very soon you may do severe damage to your engine.

Answer 3

The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.