lalitk OP
"filling it with 87-octane and calling it “close enough….LOL!"
Hah! Now you and others will know more about me. After buying this 10 year old beauty and using recommended Premium for 7 months, I just filled the tank with the cheapest 87 I could find, it still runs like a Jack Rabbit. It’s the same to me, not close enough, the same.
V8, Twin Turbo, 445 HP, I admit I will NEVER experience that FULL power, or even close to it.
It’s not about the money, it’s about feeling like a sucker.
The computer’s handle it, it is not an accumulated effect like lead deposits, different octane just alters when the explosion ideally occurs and the computer alters the timing for when that occurs (at all times with any octane grade’s explosion timing). Either the computer figures it out smoothly or it doesn’t. Either you notice a difference or you don’t. A good test is up a long hard hill, I’ve got 2 near me.
I gave my prior 2012 Volvo C70 Hardtop Convertible to my Granddaughter. My son asked me what grade fuel? I forgot what the manual says, I told him I only put 87 in in for 7 years, never better, it jumps without hesitation when you hit it.
My wife’s 2005 Thunderbird, every once in a while I have her put in a tank of Premium, the idea is, do you notice an improvement you forgot about? No, back to regular. A periodic re-assessment. I’ll do the same thing with the BMW.
My wife and her twin sister are on their annual trip to Florida.I mentioned my car now has 87, Just so happens, her twin sister filled the T’Bird with Premium while Donna was napping. They both said it seems identical to all the driving they did the past 2-1/2 weeks. Those 3 vehicles, 2005, 2012, 2015 all have anti-knock sensors that adjust the timing successfully.
Maybe on a bench or track you could measure a difference, but driving around they all continue to get out of their own way aggressively.
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Based on past success, I filled it up!
Tempted but naturally anxious: Hedge your bet:
get near empty, put 1/4 tank of 87, drive it for a while, if you actually feel a loss of power, any knocking, then just fill it the rest of the way up with 93, and go back to 89 or 91, whatever you were doing.
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IMO, It’s a game of specmanship that I don’t want to get caught up in.
If there’s a measurable difference in ultimate power the maker can publish, a difference I never use or need, never aware of, it’s not real for me.
Did I mention I'm a Left Handed Leo?