Hurricane Sandy has forced me...

[CaQuin]

to get regular gas. I have always put 93. I believe I am forced to put 87 or 89. I have just about a little over a quarter of 93 left. I've been waiting in line for 5hrs to get gas. Cap limit right now is $40. Fuel availability is scarce right now.

What negative impact can happen to my car?


Thanks!

[zax]

Put in the highest octane you can find and drive conservatively. What mods to you have on the car? What type of tune are you running?

If you stay out of boost the car will be just fine.

[CaQuin]

Thanks... I'm stock. No tune.

[CaQuin]

Should I run my gas to empty b4 refilling?

[zax]

No worries. Fill up with the highest octane available and don't floor it. There's no reason you should empty your current tank unless you feel that water has entered your gas tank.

[michaelwfox]

Would octane booster be an option?

[CaQuin]

Ok thanks again. Unfortunately the highest is 87.

Just to confirm, I typically wait half tank to fill up again. Bc now that I am mixing 87 with 93... I don't have to empty to refill again with 93?.. Or when half empty, continue filling up with 93?Hoping that this dilemma in NY/NJ ends soon.

[CaQuin]

I can try get to to auto zone and see if the have octane booster but they have been out of power since sandy rolled in.

[zax]

Would octane booster be an option?

I can try get to to auto zone and see if the have octane booster but they have been out of power since sandy rolled in.

Don't bother! "Octane Booster" only increases the octane of the fuel by fractions of a RON. It's widely regarded as a scam. In order to bring the effective octane of 87 fuel to 93 according to the (R+M)/2 method, you'd have add something like 10 bottles of octane booster (I don't recall the exact number, but it's a fairly high number) to 10 gallons of fuel. Just stay out of boost and your car will be fine!!

Just to confirm, I typically wait half tank to fill up again. Bc now that I am mixing 87 with 93... I don't have to empty to refill again with 93?.. Or when half empty, continue filling up with 93?Hoping that this dilemma in NY/NJ ends soon.

It isn't like oil and water. If you add 5 gallons of 93 octane to 5 gallon of 87, you'd have 10 gallons of 90 octane fuel. At this point, that's the smart thing to do. FWIW, if you're familiar with engine tuning, you'd know that your car has multiple levels of protection from bad gas. 1.) Your fuel trims wil be adjusted 2.) If knock is detected, it will be compensated by DAM, FBKC, and FLKC and 3.) If need be, the ECU will pull boost.

[CaQuin]

Thank you thank you!

[zax]

BTW, the best octane booster is lead. However, running lead in your fuel will destroy your catcons in short order.