Recommended Octane for V6?

[CamaroFred]

These modern engines the ECU will adapt and advance the spark and injection timing as far as possible. Which will produce more power and better mileage.
The quest for lower emissions sparked this.
It may take a few tanks if you have been running the lower octane before it reaches optimum but it will do it.

Even changing between winter and summer blends makes a difference.

There are very inexpensive OBD readers that can display instant and average MPGs.

[Dragonman]

Originally Posted by 1Coopgt

I'll be interested to see your results. I kind of did the same thing running 87 octane for the past 2 years. I switched to 93 about 2 months ago.

On the 87 oct. I would use about 3/4 tank and go about 212 miles every 2 weeks. Now with the 93 oct every 2 weeks I only use half a tank and I am still getting 212 miles. I'm very surprised by this.

Originally Posted by Kenny Camaro

What's you butt dyno say about relative performance comparison?

While I'll admit it could be the power of suggestion here and I haven't even run half a tank of 93 through the pipes yet, the car feels, stronger already. Less foot to get going and more coasting when I'm a little, exuberant with the go fast pedal. At the moment, my only conclusion is the automatic timing advance is what is producing this effect. I can remember "back in the day" where timing advances were accomplished with a wrench and a slight twist of the distributor to get a tad more out of a motor. I'll have more in a few months but I expect the trip to Camarofest will utterly destroy the MPGs between now and getting down there. Which will be ok since I don't expect any long trips, other than Bowling Green between now and December that might help the mileage numbers.

[ARCTIC]

Originally Posted by CamaroFred

These modern engines the ECU will adapt and advance the spark and injection timing as far as possible. Which will produce more power and better mileage.
The quest for lower emissions sparked this.
It may take a few tanks if you have been running the lower octane before it reaches optimum but it will do it.

Even changing between winter and summer blends makes a difference.

There are very inexpensive OBD readers that can display instant and average MPGs.

It takes way too long to run a couple of tanks through these V6's

[awdmofo]

Originally Posted by ARCTIC

It takes way too long to run a couple of tanks through these V6's

Very true, If I push it until the dash tells me to fill up I can usually get close to 400 miles from a tank. The gauge says i'm averaging 20.5-21.5 mpg and i'm running 87 from shell and costco (in CA we don't get anything above 91) so the quality is good, and i don't drive hard 99% of the time as its a daily driver. traffic and a mix of freeway driving with the A/C puts me around 21mpg average which is less than I expected at 67K miles on the car. After some intake valve cleaning, new spark plugs and a few tanks of 91 i'll see if the mpg goes up and she feels stronger.

Im under the impression we can run e85 from the factory without any modifications/tunes am I correct? Its a lot cheaper for that gas around where I live and there are a few stations on the way home from work so thats not an issue.

[1Coopgt]

Originally Posted by awdmofo

Very true, If I push it until the dash tells me to fill up I can usually get close to 400 miles from a tank. The gauge says i'm averaging 20.5-21.5 mpg and i'm running 87 from shell and costco (in CA we don't get anything above 91) so the quality is good, and i don't drive hard 99% of the time as its a daily driver. traffic and a mix of freeway driving with the A/C puts me around 21mpg average which is less than I expected at 67K miles on the car. After some intake valve cleaning, new spark plugs and a few tanks of 91 i'll see if the mpg goes up and she feels stronger.

Im under the impression we can run e85 from the factory without any modifications/tunes am I correct? Its a lot cheaper for that gas around where I live and there are a few stations on the way home from work so thats not an issue.

Read your manual in the glove box. The Camaro isn't a flex fuel car. No E85 with out supporting mods and tune.

[Rapter9932]

My 2 cents.... Manual on the '15 states no lower then 87 oct which you cant find anywhere around where I live. Premium here is 93. I have been alternating between regular 87 and 93 every few weeks and once a month add a bottle of 108 racing concentrate during the summer just before heading out to open track night. Talk about a noticeable difference in performance between Regular 87, premium 93, and having Premium + 108 concentrate.... Oil temp runs about 2* higher with the concentrate compared to 87 but it definitely "cleans out the sinuses" lol

[rbenotti]

Originally Posted by CamaroFred

These modern engines the ECU will adapt and advance the spark and injection timing as far as possible. Which will produce more power and better mileage.
The quest for lower emissions sparked this.
It may take a few tanks if you have been running the lower octane before it reaches optimum but it will do it.

Even changing between winter and summer blends makes a difference.

There are very inexpensive OBD readers that can display instant and average MPGs.

Interesting.

Wouldn't the manufacturer base the fuel economy numbers based on the higher octane then?

Not doubting, just wondering.

To me, anything N/A (without any real modification) should run on 87 (and run well).

Again - just my thought.

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by rbenotti

To me, anything N/A (without any real modification) should run on 87 (and run well).

While that is a very old method of thinking, it's understandable.

However, this isn't just a basic pushrod v6 barely pushing out power. This is a DOHC, high-compression, high-revving 6-cyl. It really needs to be treated like one.

While it might be the base engine for these Camaros, it's still a high-tech piece of engineering and could easily have been a high trim engine model for other vehicles.

[sspade]

Question...

I recently moved to California and only have access to 91 now. As afar as I know, I'm running Will's 93 tune... I emailed him to see what he thought about revising it to 91 but haven't heard back...

What are your guys thoughts?

[awdmofo]

Originally Posted by 1Coopgt

Read your manual in the glove box. The Camaro isn't a flex fuel car. No E85 with out supporting mods and tune.

well look at that you're right . Can't recall where I heard they were flex fuel ready from the factory but glad I asked before filling up lol.

After getting my Kenny tech ported throttle body tomorrow i'll be running some 91 for two tanks to see if I feel a difference or notice better MPG's. it's only about $0.20 more per gallon here for 91 vs. 87.

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by sspade

I recently moved to California and only have access to 91 now. As afar as I know, I'm running Will's 93 tune... I emailed him to see what he thought about revising it to 91 but haven't heard back...

He might recommend a retune where he pulls a little bit of timing on the big end, but the car will adjust itself if you don't do the retune.

If you have a way to monitor knock, I would check it, but doing an email tune he should err on the side of caution for the tune anyway and you'll still be very safe on 91.

Also be warned, that when your car's 8? (I think it's 8 in CA) years are up and you have to get the car tested again in CA, you might fail with the tune. Also all of those mods you have listed in your sig.

[rbenotti]

Was filling up this morning, and something came to me. Would 89 even make sense? Not that these cars are economical, but I doubt the cost/mile would work itself out to make sense (given it's 20 cents more per gallon than 87). I guess I'd have to try it and find out.

I me if the car was tuned (may not be the right word) for 93 (roughly 40 cents more/gallon), wouldn't it make sense to say that? I'm beginning to wonder where the real power numbers are based off of (87? 91? 93?) in the V6.

Meaning - the engine isn't going to make more than 323HP with 93. Is it making less with 87? Interesting thought, or am I mixing up advancing timing with more horsepower? May bad if so.

Thanks!

[ChibiBlackSheep]

Originally Posted by rbenotti

Was filling up this morning, and something came to me. Would 89 even make sense? Not that these cars are economical, but I doubt the cost/mile would work itself out to make sense (given it's 20 cents more per gallon than 87). I guess I'd have to try it and find out.

Any increase in octane will help fight knock, and these things knock like crazy on a stock tune. If you are going to do anything besides regular, I highly recommend the highest octane you can purchase, but really any increase you can pay for will be beneficial to the engine. Whether you feel it or not is a different story, but taking some knock away is good.

Originally Posted by rbenotti

I me if the car was tuned (may not be the right word) for 93 (roughly 40 cents more/gallon), wouldn't it make sense to say that? I'm beginning to wonder where the real power numbers are based off of (87? 91? 93?) in the V6.

Meaning - the engine isn't going to make more than 323HP with 93. Is it making less with 87? Interesting thought, or am I mixing up advancing timing with more horsepower? May bad if so.

Thanks!

The 323 power numbers come from the engine sitting in a room with sensors hooked up to it. Yes they are usually running the high octane through it, as the car's computer has a high octane and low octane fueling/timing table. The car makes less power in high RPMs on low octane. The biggest reason is the amount of timing pulled, and also with how much knock the engine has which reduces the timing even further.

Also remember, the 323 number is above 6000RPM. So unless you spend a lot of time above that, you probably won't feel the difference in day-to-day driving. You just have to trust and realize that the extra money spent is good for the engine, because you aren't forcing detonations to adjust the timing, you are letting the engine just run.

[DvKillar]

only ran 1 tank of 87 through my LFX. that was the gas dealer left in tank! Going to 91, been there for 4000+ miles and it did make a difference in everyday driving fo sure! also, mine has never knocked. and I would run 93 if my city had it.