On the Mazda CX-30 turbo, 87-91 octane can be run and the knock sensor figures it out. Somewhat surprisingly, it affects hp more than torque, where hp drops from 250 to 227, but torque only drops from 320 ft-lb to 310.
Sure, it’s not exactly a hot hatch for the track, but the point is that newer engines do indeed cope with varying grades.
Yeah, but which midgrade?
I saw this while passing through Kansas on a trip a few years ago (as you may have guessed by the price). I’m sure this is just a fancy blender pump that can mix different ratios of 87 and 91, but who needs 3 midgrades, with 1-point resolution? It amused me enough to take the picture.
On top of that, temperature and altitude play a huge part.
In reply to obsolete :
Yep, the mid-grade is blended. When I worked at QT years ago, most stores had 4 tanks under the parking lot. 2 of 87, 1 of 91, 1 of diesel. 89 was a blend of 87 and 91.
obsolete said:
Yeah, but which midgrade?
I saw this while passing through Kansas on a trip a few years ago (as you may have guessed by the price). I’m sure this is just a fancy blender pump that can mix different ratios of 87 and 91, but who needs 3 midgrades, with 1-point resolution? It amused me enough to take the picture.
It selects different ethanol levels.
Added ethanol will help your engine run cooler. At a slight increase in fuel consumption. Yes it also increases horsepower if your cars capable of dealing with it. Does your car have the flex fuel emblem on the back? If so it will automatically adjust timing and mixture strength.
z31maniac said:
In reply to obsolete :
Yep, the mid-grade is blended. When I worked at QT years ago, most stores had 4 tanks under the parking lot. 2 of 87, 1 of 91, 1 of diesel. 89 was a blend of 87 and 91.
I was at a Sheetz last month and saw basically the same thing posted for the tanker drivers. One 30k gal 87 tank, one 10k gal 87 tank, one 10k gal 93 tank, and a 10k gal diesel tank. Three grades (plus diesel) at the pumps so either they mix it when it is going in or they just mix at the pump between the high and low to make the mid.
A few years back my island(and other parts of eastern NC) had a regular unleaded shortage. People didn’t want to pay for premium so they were buying mid-grade. Being that mid-grade is a blend it was taking ages to pump out. Glad I own a bicycle
In reply to frenchyd :
There are ethanol blender pumps, but that’s not what this is. The pump in the picture is only blending gasoline (<=10% ethanol).
Where I live buying “mid-grade” gasoline is a waste of money. You can get 93 octane or 87 octane. To get 89 which is what mid-grade is around here you don’t get a 50//50 mixture of 87 & 93 but something like 60/40 to get 89 but you pay more for it as the price is halfway between 87 & 93. If I’m looking for something more than 87 I prefer to blend it myself by just buying the amount of each grade to get what I want.
FYI: I can remember the days when there was only a 10 cent difference between each grade. Now it’s something like 45-50 cents.
My truck is tuned for 91, and on 87 there’s a huge drop off in power. But 89 seems to satisfy the knock sensors, and saves me some bucks over 91
obsolete said:
In reply to frenchyd :
There are ethanol blender pumps, but that’s not what this is. The pump in the picture is only blending gasoline (<=10% ethanol).
We have the same thing here. 87-88-89-91 non oxygenated and E85 The difference is the E10 is 87 E15 is E88 E10 89 is a blend of 87& 91
Then one pump has E45 and the other pump has E85 which varies in ethanol depending on the season. Oh, forgot Diesel. I guess they must have a hard time keeping the tanks straight.
In reply to Peabody :
Too bad you don’t have Flex fuel. The computer does the tune depending on what it samples.
It’s really fun when I run E85. To get the best mileage I have to really feather the throttle lightly. But once in a while I just gotta smoke the tires. You’d think at 75 I’d grow outta that.
