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Need hel finding gas

4K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  Xaqtly 
#1 ·
Live on Long Island, Suffolk County to be precise. As some of you may know, Hurricane Sandy has caused a tremendous fuel shortage here. I cannot find 93 octane anywhere. How bad would it be to fill up with regular 87? If that is not an option, does anyone know were there is 93 available? I am down to 1/4 tank and don't want to waste it looking for gas if I can help it.

Thanks.
 
#5 ·
WARNING!!!!

I've never used octane booster... But was looking for some back when I had an Escalade... CHECK TO SEE WHAT OTHER ADDITIVES IT HAS!

I never ended up using any in my Escalade because all the octane boosters I could find had additives that the manual specifically stated to NEVER put in the engine... I'm assuming the V is the same!
 
#7 ·
Toluene and xylene, called aromatics, are octane boosters comprising 5-10% of pump gas. These compounds are sold by the gallon in paint stores. Racing fuel has up to 25% aromatics. IMO these are the only safe octane boosters. For every 100 oz. toluene add 2.5 oz kerosene as a cleaner (Techron would likely work) and 3oz. lubricant (Marvel's Mystery Oil). There are octane charts on the internet indicating the volume required for desired result. If desperation drives you to such chemistry endeavors you should cause no harm. Personally, I would just wait a few days until the situation normalizes and you can purchase premium at the pump. GM advises no less than 89 octane and that for temporary use only. Here in central NJ there is plenty of gas. No lines and hardly any cars at the pumps after all the hoarding. Another choice is add 1/4 tank of 87 octane to your 93 octane, drive to Jersey and fill up.
 
#9 ·
And if running 87 ends up being the only option, you can do it but the key is to reduce load on the engine whenever possible and don't use full throttle. And that doesn't mean keep the RPMs low necessarily, it means don't force the engine to work hard. For example if you're going up hill, the engine has to work harder at 2000 RPM than it does at 3000 to maintain speed. So keep engine speeds low when you're on flat ground or going downhill, but if you hit a hill, downshift and use light throttle and higher RPM rather than keeping it in 6th and using more throttle to compensate.

Doing that should keep you safe enough until you can get some 93 or octane booster. If at any time you hear a loud ticking or pinging from the engine, immediately get off the gas. That's detonation and it can actually be causing damage to your piston crown or ring lands. That's unlikely to happen I think, but keep an ear out for it.

I also recommend that if you have to run 87, fill up now while you still have some 93 in the tank, and use octane booster if you can, as vagondr described above.
 
#14 ·
And correct me if I'm wrong (I'm no car person), but since the supercharger induces heavier compression in the engine, avoid at all costs using the supercharger (don't floor it)... As far as I understand, octane reduces combustion (or maybe accidential combustion)... If the supercharger were to kick in, the compression in combination with the more explosive gas, could probably cause some mad mad mad problems!

So for example, even at lower RPMS, if your pressing harder to the point where the supercharger activates, I'm assuming it could cause some major problems.

Someone tell me if I'm right as I'm curious to know...
 
#15 ·
Many speed shops and race tracks sell unleaded racing fuel - 108-116 octane. Aromatics and ethanol (also an octane booster) provide the octane and it contains lots of preservative,cleaner and lubricant. Easily found calculators online will give the ratios needed to obtain any octane. It may not be cheap but it doesn't take much 116 octane to bring 87 up to 91. Anyway, it's snowing on LI so doubtful you have the V out. There really shouldn't be any gas shortage even with the minor refinery glitch. Too much hoarding by a paranoid public that now have more gas than they can use. I mean people were buying four gallons of milk before the storm only to have it spoil when the power failed.
 
#20 ·
Hey dr,
I don't. Think there is that much hoarding of gas. People still don't have power and a lot on the south shore just got it back a few days ago. My point is, they are not only buying gas for their cars but for generators too so their is an increased need for gasoline. If they were hoarding it was in case their power went out again during the noreaster. Do you blame them for that? Also a lot of gas stations are closed which will cause lines at the few that are open and most of the ones that are open have a $40 limit so people have to go back more often. That is what a useless inept government does. They can't do their job so they blame the people.
Thats my rant for the day

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#21 ·
Mike O2z is correct. The computer retards timing if it sees a knock event. There is no harm in using 87 octane. I have 80K miles on my 2010 V2 M6 and all but 12K miles have been on 87 octane. I have never heard it ping. The car runs great.

Now if I knew I was going to have some full throttle bursts or take it to the track, yes, I would fill with 93 octane. But 85% of my driving is on the highway with the cruise control on. It's a non-issue.

Jack
 
#22 ·
They are rationing now in NY/Long Island. Even plates on even days and odd plates on odd days. No limit on containers tho, so if the line is short enough just keep filling the car and going back...
 
#23 ·
That's... not really entirely correct. The octane suggestions are there for a reason, and it's not because GM is trying to screw you out of more money. This is a high performance car with a forced induction engine, not a Sentra. The car was tuned by GM to run on a MINIMUM of 91 octane. Running anything less than that causes the ECU to pull timing and at the point your car isn't running as well as it should be. Sure it's possible to run on 87 octane and not have detonation, if the conditions all line up. Cooler climate, no heat soak, no load on the engine, that sort of thing. But the ECU is still pulling timing at that point, even if it's not pinging.

In the OP's case, if he's forced to use 87 yes the car will survive if he drives it gently. That should be fine. That's different than using 87 for the span of the car's life. When you say "the car runs great", have you put it on a dyno to verify that? Have you checked to see how much timing has been pulled? I'm guessing your car is in a constant state of power loss because on 87 the ECU has to pull timing to prevent detonation. Your throttle response is not as good as it should be because of the retarded ignition timing and you're down horsepower.

If you want to cripple your car by running 87 all the time, that your choice - but DO NOT tell people it's "fine" or that there is "no harm" in doing it. That's bullshit. In a hot climate, an environment with a lot of hills or anything that adds heat to the cylinders, the ECU will not be able to retard timing enough to prevent detonation on 87 octane. Furthermore, light pinging is inaudible, so saying you can't hear it ping is irrelevant. You've probably been damaging your piston crowns the entire time you've been running 87, even if it's only light damage.

Why you would spend $70k on a super high performance car just to put 87 in it and cripple performance is beyond me, but it's your money. But you need to stop telling people there is "no harm" in using 87, because that's wrong. I live in the desert, what do you think would happen if I used 87 out here? It gets so hot out here I get heat soak just driving on the freeway, the ECU pulls timing even on 91 octane. And the CTS-V is more forgiving than a lot of higher-strung FI cars.

As I've said if you take it easy and you don't live in an oven, running 87 will work if you keep the engine load low. That is absolutely not the same thing as saying it's fine to use 87, or that there's no harm in using it. And besides, what are you saving, maybe $4 per fillup by using 87 instead of premium? You're gonna buy a $70k super high performance car and then try to save $4 per tank by using 87 which reduces power and throttle response and possibly causes detonation? To save $4? A cup of coffee at Starbucks costs more than that. You could have saved a whole lot more money by buying a Prius instead of a CTS-V, and THAT car is fine on 87. IMO the only conceivably acceptable reason to use 87 is for something like the OP's case where he can't find anything better and doesn't have a choice.
 
#24 ·
You might also give the smaller airports a call (Republic, Islip, Hamptons)....anybody who fuels up Cessnas might be willing to sell you some of their 100 octane avgas.....mix it with a few gallons of 87 and you will be in fine shape. Well...should be in fine shape. I can't envision a situation where the higher octane could cause any harm......and I am confident that anyone with a differing opinion will speak up.

Or you could drive down to VA with a boatload of gas cans...I just filled up with Premium for $3.46 per gallon......
 
#26 ·
Right from page 9-47 of the manual...

"If the vehicle has the 6.2L V8 engine
(VIN Code P), use premium
unleaded gasoline with a posted
octane rating of 91 or higher. For
best performance, use premium
unleaded gasoline with a posted
octane rating of 93. In an
emergency, you can use regular
unleaded gasoline with an octane
rating of 87 or higher. If 87 octane
fuel is used, do not perform any
aggressive driving maneuvers such
as wide open throttle applications."


So yes, you can use it to get out of town to find 91 or 93 but I would not suggest running it all the time.
 
#28 ·
It is fine and it's not bullshit. Yes, I'm giving up power. So what? Who needs 556+ HP to drive highway speeds with the cruise on. I certainly don't need 93 octane because I'm not running any boost. As I mentioned, if I was going to use boost, I would use 93 octane.

Get your facts straight and don't attempt to correct and/or over analyze what you don't understand.

Jack
 
#29 ·
As Mike02z posted above directly from the manual, it is NOT fine and it IS bullshit. Stop living in denial. It doesn't mean running 87 is going to blow up your engine - although in the right conditions it certainly can - but there is a lot more to it than that. Pulling timing constantly means the ECU is fighting its programming every time you take it out. There are a number of good reasons Cadillac tells you not to use 87 except in the case of an emergency, and I've listed a number of them. One of the biggest factors you're ignoring is the environment, i.e. 87 might not blow up your engine, but it might blow up mine, since I live in a more inhospitable climate. One size does not fit all, which is why Cadillac tells you to run a minimum of 91. This is the main reason you should not be telling people 87 is "fine".

There are plenty more reasons, I've been over them already. Bottom line, just because you want to save $4 a tank and cause your ECU to retard timing and lose performance doesn't mean you should be telling anybody else to do it. If you want to screw up your car, keep it to yourself.
 
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