trouble finding high octane
 

Hi,
I haven't posted in a while! I haven't been able to find high octane fuel around here lately. Seems the octane is getting lower and lower at all the regular gas stations I stop at. I was having to use 91 but this past week I was on empty and all I could find was 89. I pumped a very very small amt in but now will be trying to find higher octane somewhere. Obviously, we have a lot of ethanol around here. (iowa) I think I will have to start calling gas stations all over town to see where I can gas up!

91 is the highest offered here. Works fine. I'm pretty sure you can use up to a 15% ethanol mix in the SVX. The info is in the user manual.

Perhaps you should get a couple of cans of octane boost from the hardware store.

Lower
 

I've burned 86 in mine for 12 years and all of them for a number of years with not a single problem. The one I have had the longest now has well over 200K miles.

Lee

one bottle of that "octane booster" will put you up about 1/2 octane. Simply put, it's extremely overpriced and overrated. Bummer about only being able to find 89 octane, i've never heard of places not having 91 or 93 at least. I normally go to sunoco, which has 94 for the same price as every other places 91 octane. Hopefully some will turn up soon.

You should read this Technical Service Bulletin.

http://svx-iw.com/svxiw/article/?article=30

Key Point
 

Key point to notice in that TB is that the "ECU will learn to run on regular fuel". It does that very effectively and runs with no ping or adverse noises of any kind. There is also no noticeable loss of power and fuel economy is the same as with premium. My over 200K mile car still does not use any oil between changes and the oil still looks very clean.

I have just saved myself pile of money over the years without hurting the engine.

Having said all of that--it is still your choice and IF you engine pings or makes any strange noises I would immediately go back to premium. Octane booster is a very expensive way to obtain higher octane fuel.

Lee

Do you live at high altitude? When I lived in Laramie, Wyoming (Elevation 7200') we had 85, 87, and 89 octane gas.. Down here at sea level, we have 87, 89, and 91... I guess at high altitude due to the thinner air, you need less octane to keep it from pinging...

I've also found that some places drop the octane in the winter, something about heat making things ping... My friend used to have a 91 325i and he said it pinged real bad in the summer even on premium but he could run plus with no problems in the winter.

I don't live in high altitude. The car has always had premium fuel so I am a little reluctant to change that, however I may have to , depending on what I can find.

I read the link kindly posted above from Technical Services Bulletin and have to admit I must be a bit slow, but I don't really understand what it is saying. Sounds like premium is ok, but regular can be ok too...but once regular is used very long, premium may not be ok ... the car has to "re-learn" the type of fuel? am I missing something? Geesh, is nothing simple on these cars? luckily I love my car so much or I could be definitely annoyed by this.

:o

I guess I should have looked closer at your post, cuz I know there isn't any high altitude in Iowa lol...

that's ok, i figured you didnt notice it said Iowa :lol:

Contact LAN at ECUTune. He can set you up with a setup that will allow you to run E85, or you can buy one of his stage one sets that will allow you to run regular gas. He's the one doing the supercharger kits and engine parts in the Mods forum. He goes by Longassname.

get a few barrels of 115 race fuel shipped to you and mix a few gallons of it with regular pump gas whenever you fill up.

Well here in fayetteville, I get 91 no problem and 93 but sometimes at Exxon or something I can get 94 >.> !

The Subaru line is (or used to be) up to 10% ethanol/NO methanol. Consider this before using "E85."

You don't need a chip, you don't need octane booster, you don't need racing fuel. My cars have never had a steady diet of premium. Not since I've owned 'em, anyway.

dcb

It is good to know it won't kill my car if I have to put in 89 octane then. I will still try to track down at least some 91.