Regular gas for Volvo?

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by ms111660, Apr 25, 2006.

  1. And I am saying that you may use more gas but not more dollars.
    You are just conflicting with yourself since normal driving has hills.
    What is true is that very unsophisticated cars which usually don't have
    knock sensors such as my Austin-Healey Sprite which just had an SU
    carburetor got over 10% higher gas mileage with premium in both flat
    steady speed driving and in all out hill climbs, but it had a high
    compression engine that couldn't take advantage of cheaper fuel.
    Unfortunately premium fuel is almost 10% more expensive.
    It is exactly the same gas with different additives. The additives
    don't change the volatility, they change the chemistry.
     
    Stephen Henning, May 1, 2006
    #21
  2. It would depend on the terrain and the cost of gas.
    I'm talking about driving in mountainous country, or on a route with
    many smaller hills. I'mm jot "conflicting with myself".



    (...)
    You're mistaken. Octane is a measure of how volatile the gasoline
    is, and higher octane gas is less volatile - less explosive. That's
    why it lets the engine run with more advanced timing without knocking.





    --







    http://freevision.org/michael/index.html
     
    Michael Cerkowski, May 1, 2006
    #22
  3. Octane is a flammable gas. Octane rating is an inverse measure of the
    rate of autoignition or more precisely:

    "The octane rating is a measure of the autoignition resistance of
    gasoline (petrol) and other fuels used in spark-ignition internal
    combustion engines.

    Octane is measured relative to a mixture of isooctane
    (2,2,4-trimethylpentane, an isomer of octane) and n-heptane. An
    87-octane gasoline, for example, has the same knock resistance as a
    mixture of 87 vol-% isooctane and 13 vol-% n-heptane. This does not
    mean, however, that the gasoline actually should contain these chemicals
    in these proportions. It simply means that it has the same autoignition
    resistance as the described mixture.

    The octane ratings of n-heptane and iso-octane are exactly 0 and 100, by
    definition.

    A high tendency to autoignite, or low octane rating, is undesirable in a
    gasoline engine but desirable in a diesel engine. The standard for the
    combustion quality of diesel fuel is the cetane number. A diesel fuel
    with a high cetane number has a high tendency to autoignite, as is
    preferred. [Diesel fuel is not very volatile and very low octane.]

    Typical "octane booster" additives include tetra-ethyl lead and toluene.
    Tetra-ethyl lead is easily decomposed to its component radicals, which
    react with the radicals from the fuel and oxygen that would start the
    combustion, thereby delaying ignition.

    It might seem odd that fuels with higher octane ratings burn less
    easily, yet are popularly thought of as more powerful. The
    misunderstanding is caused by confusing the ability of the fuel to
    resist compression detonation (pre-ignition = engine knock) as opposed
    to the ability of the fuel to burn (combustion). However, premium grades
    of petrol often contain more energy per litre due to the composition of
    the fuel as well as increased octane.

    Using a fuel with a higher octane lets an engine run at a higher
    compression without having problems with knock. Actual compression in
    the combustion chamber is determined by the compression ratio as well as
    the amount of air restriction in the intake manifold (manifold vacuum)
    as well as the barometric pressure which is a function of elevation and
    weather conditions.

    Compression is directly related to power (see engine tuning), so engines
    that require higher octane usually deliver more power. Engine power is a
    function of the fuel as well as the engine design and is related to
    Octane ratings of the fuel... power is limited by the maximum amount of
    fuel-air mixture that can be stuffed into the combustion chamber.
    Furthermore, most gasoline vehicles today are variable compression. At
    partial load, only a small fraction of the total available power is
    produced because the manifold is operating at pressures far below
    atmospheric. In this case, the octane requirement is far lower than what
    is available. It is only when the throttle is opened fully and the
    manifold pressure increases to atmospheric (or higher in the case of
    supercharged or turbocharged engines) that the full octane requirement
    is achieved.

    Many high-performance engines are designed to operate with a high
    maximum compression and thus need a high quality (high energy) fuel
    usually associated with high octane numbers, and thus demand high-octane
    premium gasoline.

    The power output of an engine depends on the energy content of its fuel,
    and this bears no simple relationship to the octane rating. A common
    myth amongst petrol consumers is that adding a higher octane fuel to a
    vehicle's engine will increase its performance and/or lessen its fuel
    consumption; this is mostly falseengines perform best when using fuel
    with the octane rating they were designed for and any increase in
    performance by using a fuel with a different octane rating is minimal."

    See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
     
    Stephen Henning, May 2, 2006
    #23
  4. Octane is a flammable gas. Octane rating is an inverse measure of the
    rate of autoignition or more precisely:

    "The octane rating is a measure of the autoignition resistance of
    gasoline (petrol) and other fuels used in spark-ignition internal
    combustion engines.

    <snip long explanation of octane rating, which I already understand>

    I'm not sure why you are so vociferous in agreeing with me, but, um,
    thanks.
    --







    http://freevision.org/michael/index.html
     
    Michael Cerkowski, May 2, 2006
    #24
  5. You obviously don't understand the meaning of volatile. Volitility is:

    "n 1: the property of changing readily from a solid or liquid to a vapor"

    Some gasses have zero octane. They are nonflammable but they are always
    a vapor. Other gasses such as octane are 100 octane. No correlation.
    Zero. Kleine. Nichts. Geen. Rien. Nadie. Ingen. Nenhum. Gjinien.
    Nikdo. Neniom. Nullus.
     
    Stephen Henning, May 2, 2006
    #25

  6. Only on usenet....


    I am talking about G.A.S.O.L.I.N.E. "Gas" is a commonly used
    term for "gasoline", and in this context that was quite clear. If
    you meant to waste my time, congrats. If you still think that what
    I write isn't what you read, that's your problem. Carry on.
    --







    http://freevision.org/michael/index.html
     
    Michael Cerkowski, May 3, 2006
    #26
  7. And adding antiknock additives to GASOLINE doesn't change the
    volatility, just the octane. They are active chemical additives that
    work by slowing down the reaction, not physical chemical additives that
    change the vapor pressure. I quoted literature that shows this.

    Find just one credible reference that shows there is a relationship
    between volatility and octane. There isn't one. Waving hands and cute
    chatter doesn't create one.

    I am being persistent because many urban legends start by such
    misconceptions being posted as fact on USENET.
     
    Stephen Henning, May 3, 2006
    #27
  8. ms111660

    James Sweet Guest


    It won't knock because the computer will retard the timing. I use
    regular in non-turbos and mid or premium in turbos depending on how high
    the boost is turned up, works fine. A slightly overboosted 240 Turbo (no
    knock control) does ping on regular.
     
    James Sweet, May 4, 2006
    #28
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