I was out and about a week or so ago, about an hr away from home and there was a gas station near the track and had 104 octane right from the pump.. (it was at least 104 maybe higher i forgot)and needed gas so for the heck of it i put a few gallons in my empty tank...did i notice my car have more power or was it placebo?
does higher octane improve horsepower that much?...i usually burn at least 92 octane..is it even good to burn gas with that high of octane rating in the 4th gens?
not that i would burn it all the time, was quite expen$ive
i really think i noticed a difference, so im curious...
by the way i have a stock(100%) 98 gle 112k miles

 

While I've never run 100+ octane in my Maxima I have used 110 octane in my old school. It won't hurt the car, only your wallet and yes you WILL have a very noticeable performance and horse power improvement.

 

Increasing octane DOES NOT increase power, octane makes the fuel more resistant to spontaneous combustion under compression.

Unless you have very high compression and a pre ignition issue, higher octane does absolutely nothing beneficial for your engine.

 

Absolutely +1

 

Well, thats the reason i figured i would give it a try cuz i thought I may feel a difference because I thought the maxes were considered "high" compression engines hence the sticker "reccomending premium gas" inside the fuel door?

 

For the most part, this is incorrect. Higher octane will allow your engine to run cooler, and therefore can be pushed harder with supporting mods to achieve more HP.

For example, on 91 octane pump gas, I put down 679HP and 589TQ in my Supra. On 109 octane, I was able to safely crank up the boost to 30psi, adjust timing and a few other parameters, and put down a respectable 825HP and 719TQ.

 

Though our engines are rated for a premium fuel there are other makes recomending only an 87 octane. So id imagine our engines are made to handle it while i've heard with some makes running a too high of octane can be more prone to burning out seals quicker.

 

I use to run 109 in my built 5.0 and then my SS on track days. I would notice gains at with those cars, not having a stock part under the hood, but I'd imagine these cars wouldn't see too much of a gain per sa'. The guy with the Supra put it best.

I thought I saw a video somewhere on this a few years back. It would be interesting to see a set of dyno runs with 87 octane vs race fuel.

I still run 92 in my Max /65k. I guess it's just a preference thing, because I'm sure this car would be fine with 87.

 

my friend had gotten a hold of some "racing gas" from his job. sent a pic to me and everything and had like three 5 gallon jugs in his trunk filled with it. coincidentially i was on "E" and he put in about 6 gallons in my car and in his buick century he put the other six. his mods where intake, bigger injectors, exhaust, and tuned his ecu while i only had cold air intake and y pipe. he said he felt results as for me...cant really say. i noticed the idle was at 650rpm instead of her normal 400rpms. went to the track. still whooped his *** even gave him a 2 car length. and still passed him up. i noticed my engine always ran cooler than others...but no code for it so doesnt bother me any

 

IDK If our Maximas are able to go all in with the timing on 98 octane or not. It MIGHT be posible to squeeze more power out of a stock ECU just by running higher octane and allowing the ECU to fully advance the timing. That said, the slower burning and lower energy level of the higher octane would likely negate any benefits of the timing increase. 100 or 101 octane might be better than 89, But 104+ would be a waste and not worth the $$.

 

If u pump any higher than 91 ur wasting moneyyyyy unless u have something to tune with and advance timing then it's useless. It doesn't just "add" hp lol

 

it was placebo effect.

 

Did this trial coincide with the ingestion of any fast-absorbing chemicals into your own body?

 

No fast absorbing ones, Just crack heroin and meth