Premium or regular for quad / chainsaw

[sw03]

I have 3 stihl chain saws and i use Stihl 2 cycle oil, cheap gas and a touch of gas stablizer, 2 generators, a miller gas driven welder / generator, Honda motor on my splitter, Skag ztm with a kohler and an echo weed wacker. I have experienced no problems with any of my gas motors but. . . the gas doesn't sit around long at our place. I think the gas stablizer helps but who knows .. . John

Skip the Stihl oil and buy Amsoil saber..cheaper and better. And stihl saws (only have 1 Ms290 and a 1 MS460) and love the chains..Hard as you know what...Stihl says 89 but I have tried 94 and 87...no diff and that is with Muff mods on the 460 and muff mod and bored on the 290...Skip the extra price.

Even the Billygoat does not notice anything.

 

[Raspy]

higher the octane.. harder it is to fire off the fuel.

I'd use low octane on a low rpm engine that did not have high compression.. or was not experiencing spark knock ( pinging ).. etc.

hgher than needed octane does nothing for ya..

Absolutely agree.

Higher octane fuel has no more energy, but is harder to ignite and is needed in hot running, high compression engines.

The only reason I can think of for an engine running cooler on high octane is that it's not pinging.

High octane fuel is the same as the low octane, but with more anti knock additives. In earlier days the additives were added at the gas station to make the regular fuel into high octane. Now it seems like a marketing ploy. The myth that higher octane and higher cost equals more energy and "better".

I often hear someone talk about getting the better quality "premium" fuel. Or if it is going to be stored a while filling it with "premium" fuel.

 

[Monster5601]

Absolutely agree.
High octane fuel is the same as the low octane, but with more anti knock additives.

"High octane gasoline has been refined more it is just a better product. Additional refining steps are used to increase the octane; however, these additional steps do not necessarily make the gasoline a better product for all engines. They just yield a different blend of hydrocarbons that burn more slowly. The additional steps also increase the price."

mn.gov/commerce/weights-and-measures/images/OctaneFacts.pdf
The Low-Down on High Octane Gasoline

 

[Soundguy]

IMHO.. it's the add package that increases the octane.

TEL was an octane enhance.. so is ethanol...

 

[Scooby074]

High octane fuel is the same as the low octane, but with more anti knock additives.

Not necessarily.

In some areas premium has no ethanol, while the lower grades do. No ethanol makes the price worth it.

But you guys feel free to use low grade fuel if you want, ill continue with my supreme... and my run of no carb related failures.:thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

no problem.. i know some people feel the need to justify higher priced stuff it's the human way

 

[Scooby074]

no problem.. i know some people feel the need to justify higher priced stuff it's the human way

your implying that there is no benefit, and its a waste of money. Your wrong

 

[Raspy]

If you have to buy premium to get away from ethanol, it might be worth it in some cases, such as older engines with earlier fuel line material, or with gas that will be stored for long periods. But it's not about Premium fuel burning "slower" as much as it's being harder to ignite, and therefore not igniting from hot cylinder carbon in hot running or high compression engines.

Air cooled dirt bikes are a good example. They get super hot while running wide open in hot weather and are often rejetted to the leanest ratio for snappy performance. The lowly lawn mower probably won't ping it's entire life, but may sit for months in storage.

However, you'll never catch me filling the family car, with a low performance engine, with premium.

It reminds me of another pet peeve where tire manufacturers convince the uninformed that they are getting eight or ten ply tires, and even call them that. When in reality they are two ply tires. I won't let any tire dealer slip me that pitch. Just talk about load ratings and leave the hype.

 

[Soundguy]

your implying that there is no benefit, and its a waste of money. Your wrong

if that's what you parsed out of my previous messages, then -you- didn't read them very closely, or didn't understand what was typed, and thus, -you- are wrong

I din't say there was -no- benefit for a higher octane ( dubbed premium ) fuel.

I actually specifically called out what the 'benefits' of higher octane fuel was. As for the money aspect. i don't recal using the word 'waste' either.. nor did i imply waste. I implied that using a fuel of higher octane than specified gave you no further benefits with respect to ping/spark knock, et al, on low compression, low rpm engines.

there are however other facets to look at as well. operating temp is one, and cold-hard starting is another. Since some people think if more is better, then much more is much better, look at the places selling the 100+ octane 'racing' fuels.. anyone ever care to read the warning on them about causing hard cold starts in engines not designed for excessively high octane fuel? To take that on extension a lil bit.. look at the 'emergency fuel' you can buy.. it's a flamable, but not explosive fuel addative, usualy sold in 1g jugs.. 'spare tnak' is one brand, that if you run out of gas or are about to run out of gas, you can pull over immediatly, put it in and go.. and again.. it cautions you about running it while it is warm, vs trying to start it when cold / putting more fuel in immediately..

soundguy

 

[slowzuki]

If I remember right the minimum octane requirement for my Stihl would mean premium gas here. On the flip side I don't keep premium fuel for the atv so I use the freshest regular fuel I've got to mix 1 litre of mix for the saw. If there is a cup or two of mix left after sawing it gets dumped in the atv's tank so I have to make up fresh for the saw.

More horror stories of problems from old mix that anything else.