[unavailablezl1]

We may just get our wish of 100 octane again for premium and start making some horsepower.

Here is "maybe" the new "regular gas"

http://www.autonews.com/article/2018...as-new-regular

[Aliveguy5]

If I read this correctly... They want to change it to 95 RON which is equivalent to 91 pump octane here. So it sounds like they just want to do away with 87.

[unavailablezl1]

Originally Posted by Aliveguy5

If I read this correctly... They want to change it to 95 RON which is equivalent to 91 pump octane here. So it sounds like they just want to do away with 87.

Yes, it would do away with 87 and 89. So 91 would be the min, then maybe 93 for mid and 95 for premium.

[Boost or bust]

Originally Posted by unavailablezl1

Yes, it would do away with 87 and 89. So 91 would be the min, then maybe 93 for mid and 95 for premium.

Unfortunately, no. The industry push is to have a single grade 91, and eliminate the other grades. Of course, we might see some stations carrying higher octane.

[unavailablezl1]

Originally Posted by Boost or bust

Unfortunately, no. The industry push is to have a single grade 91, and eliminate the other grades. Of course, we might see some stations carrying higher octane.

I would think they would not quit making 93 and only have 91. No way. To many cars require 93

[Aliveguy5]

Originally Posted by unavailablezl1

I would think they would not quit making 93 and only have 91. No way. To many cars require 93

Since they said 91 would be the standard with a possible "super premium" I'm sure the next one would be 93 or 95. Hopefully at least 95 for the power hungry folks.

[SSDan]

FWIW - a while ago I asked my son who is a petroleum chemical engineer how the refineries make the different grades of octane. He said they only refine at two levels where he worked in NJ. They refined for 87 and 93. If 89 or 91 was needed they just blended the 87 and 93 to make it. Also he said that all day long the different gas brand tankers would pull in and fill up from the same tanks. Then the drivers for the different brands would add their proprietary blend of chemicals to the tank to make the fuel Shell or Exxon or whatever.

To the point of this thread the refineries would have to make some significant changes to stop making 87 octane but instead refine for the new level of 91. They could still make 93 as they already do that anyway but a move up to 95 would require new processing steps to get there.

[unavailablezl1]

Originally Posted by SSDan

FWIW - a while ago I asked my son who is a petroleum chemical engineer how the refineries make the different grades of octane. He said they only refine at two levels where he worked in NJ. They refined for 87 and 93. If 89 or 91 was needed they just blended the 87 and 93 to make it. Also he said that all day long the different gas brand tankers would pull in and fill up from the same tanks. Then the drivers for the different brands would add their proprietary blend of chemicals to the tank to make the fuel Shell or Exxon or whatever.

To the point of this thread the refineries would have to make some significant changes to stop making 87 octane but instead refine for the new level of 91. They could still make 93 as they already do that anyway but a move up to 95 would require new processing steps to get there.

My father was a chemical engineer for Conoco his whole life with patents. He said to make cheap 87 octane, any 'ole crappy oil will do like from Saudi, full of sulfur.. But to make premium, it takes a high quality oil to make it. So to make higher then 93 for sure will be very good crude.

And what you said about the two grades, that is exactly what they do at a lot of stations where you see 7 grades. There are only two grades in the ground and the pump mixes to make the grade requested.

The Conoco refinery in Westlake(Lake Charles, La) makes the fuel for almost all of the brands. There is also a Citgo refinery that makes their own. But most refineries when they are the only one around, they make the gas for all brands and then like you said, the additives, like Techron, etc are mixed in.

If there was only one grade of gas, then there would be a lot of savings for the consumer. The oil companies would save by economies of scale. No separate tanks and refinery changes to make the different grades. But then they could not use the "crappy low grade" crude.

So a bit of a pickle there....

[396ssrat]

This formula falls far short of what we need. The "RON" number is moot. We are after a higher "MON" number, something north of 100 or so. And do it without Ethanol which kills economy.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by unavailablezl1

If there was only one grade of gas, then there would be a lot of savings for the consumer. The oil companies would save by economies of scale. No separate tanks and refinery changes to make the different grades. But then they could not use the "crappy low grade" crude.

So a bit of a pickle there....

This is exactly what I was thinking....

Higher octane is required for these new fuel-efficient turbo engines, because they can get away with higher compression ratios. But the extra cost makes a silly argument for saving $$.

Sooooo....standard, universal 91...same price as 87? I'm IN!!

[awrj2000]

I'm seeing a lot of posts here about 95...but the second post sums this up well.

Refinery process will not change as we already have 91 octane. I think some areas will keep (get) 93 and more ethanol will be added to 87 to bump it up to 91 rating, but BTU per gallon still plays a large factor in this and I don't see any increase in MPG with this solution.

The article also stated 3% increase in fuel efficiency. Um...if your motor is built for it, so the goal is any new motor after the spec is passed, after changes made to manufacturing, after testing completed...so maybe in 2022? ?

3% for a 30 mpg car will increase 0.9 mpg. A lighter foot and cruise control will make that difference easily.

Lets not overlook that 2022 model with more plastic, lower coefficient of drag, more gears, etc... to really blur the line of..."this new engine is efficient, or just a better car package"

The second main point in this article is making it affordable? Really. Anyone remember the 8 years of Obama when the price of fuel was simply any figure the fuel company decided? Plenty of profit in the industry already, to this day still no real reason to be over $1.50 a gallon (including all taxes).

I pretty much figured this entire article is B.S. and a main reason for increased lowest octane standard is Low Speed Pre Ignition (LSPI) also known as detonation on these 4 cylinder turbo motors.

Ok rant is over...my GMC diesel Canyon still gets 29 mpg with a best of 38 mpg. No talk about going all diesel motors and buying only cheap oil.

[unavailablezl1]

Originally Posted by awrj2000

I'm seeing a lot of posts here about 95...but the second post sums this up well.

Refinery process will not change as we already have 91 octane. I think some areas will keep (get) 93 and more ethanol will be added to 87 to bump it up to 91 rating, but BTU per gallon still plays a large factor in this and I don't see any increase in MPG with this solution.

The article also stated 3% increase in fuel efficiency. Um...if your motor is built for it, so the goal is any new motor after the spec is passed, after changes made to manufacturing, after testing completed...so maybe in 2022? ?

3% for a 30 mpg car will increase 0.9 mpg. A lighter foot and cruise control will make that difference easily.

Lets not overlook that 2022 model with more plastic, lower coefficient of drag, more gears, etc... to really blur the line of..."this new engine is efficient, or just a better car package"

The second main point in this article is making it affordable? Really. Anyone remember the 8 years of Obama when the price of fuel was simply any figure the fuel company decided? Plenty of profit in the industry already, to this day still no real reason to be over $1.50 a gallon (including all taxes).

I pretty much figured this entire article is B.S. and a main reason for increased lowest octane standard is Low Speed Pre Ignition (LSPI) also known as detonation on these 4 cylinder turbo motors.

Ok rant is over...my GMC diesel Canyon still gets 29 mpg with a best of 38 mpg. No talk about going all diesel motors and buying only cheap oil.

But with the CAFE requirements of 54.5 mpg coming up in 2025, the higher octane will help auto manufacturers to help achieve that. Making electric cars also helps them meet the requirements. Maybe Trump call roll that back. We shall see.

Ask a trucker about getting 3% better mileage.....

[Carnac]

Besides the new gas, has anyone tried Octane Boost like Royal Purple Max Boost, and would this hurt the new LT4 engine ?

[Larrio Andretti]

All that the refineries have to do to make higher octane fuel is add xylene or toluene. I make my 100 octane own race gas at home.