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M2 Technical Topics > N55 Engine / Drivetrain / Exhaust / Bolt-ons / Tuning > Who uses 100 octane gas?

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      09-05-2019, 11:29 PM   #1
ecitizen
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Who uses 100 octane gas?

Just curious if any of you mix in 100 octane unleaded fuel with standard pump gas and a BM3 tune? Any experiences you can share with this and which map you are running? Does 100 octane fuel create more wear on the motor? Thanks.
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      09-06-2019, 12:56 AM   #2
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I run 100 octane.

No it does not create more wear....if you run leaded 100 you will cook your catalytic converter so go with unleaded.

It is possible to mix 100 and pump gas.

Roughly 3gal of 100 and 10gal of 91 to equal out to 93 for a full 13gal tank.

Can't help with the BM3 question unfortunately.
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      09-06-2019, 01:22 PM   #3
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I run 100 octane Sunoco GTX260 race gas exclusively because it's available close to my home. I used to run it when I was FBO on BM3 stage 2 map 5, but now I'm using it on a custom tune with a Pure Stage 2 turbo @22psi.

Higher octane helps prevent knock and detonation by burning more slowly. "Because higher octane gas burns slower, it is more resistant to knock when subjected to higher RPM and cylinder pressures. Compression ratios also factor into cylinder pressures. Higher ratios cause higher cylinder pressures and therefore cause the engine to be more susceptible to pre-detonation or knock."

Source: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2014/0...-priced-fuels/

It doesn't cause any additional wear on the motor, but it also doesn't help any unless you have the supporting mods.

I guess the real question is, what are you trying to achieve?
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      09-06-2019, 04:01 PM   #4
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Running VP additive which is supposed to bump it up 7-8 points with 10 gallons. BM3 stage 2 93 tune, I only ran one log with only 93 and the timing was being pulled hard in 3rd and 4th. I always run the additive with every tank now and timing jumped up and stayed consistent and cleaned up any knocking.
Only downside is my exhaust tips are a yellow brown color on the inside instead of sooty black

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      09-06-2019, 07:58 PM   #5
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I have FBO with intercooler, dinan intake, dinan exhaust, and KW HAS. Running BM3 Stage 1 map (non ACN) but concerned about gas quality here in AZ, Shell 91. Have tried the ACN map too but prefer the regular one.
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      09-06-2019, 08:10 PM   #6
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Do you have E85 around you? I'd try as high of an E mix as your HPFP can handle on the non-ACN map and see how she does.

E85 is a lot cheaper, and I found at least on track days that the performance is the same as 100 octane. 100 octane has a little more power initially, but timing is pulled much more quickly as IATs go up vs E25-30 (because of ethanol's cooling effect), so power levels end up being similar. That probably bodes well for hot AZ temps, as well.

My testing and logging was with BM3 Stg 2 E30 and Racegas maps.

Last edited by ZM2; 09-06-2019 at 08:54 PM..
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      09-07-2019, 01:34 AM   #7
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There are FBO OGm2 folks here in the UK running BM3 stg2 e30 OTS in SVP e5 99 RON wo issue.

Good quality 100 octane should work too surely ?
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      09-07-2019, 02:54 PM   #8
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The main problem with running 100 octane is that it's really expensive. I can get it fairly locally, but at $7~8 / gallon (3.78 litres for a US gallon, not 4.54 for a UK gallon) it's quite a bit more expensive than E85.

The other thing to keep in mind is that road legal 100 octane in most states (CA and AZ too I expect) is heavily oxygenated i.e. it already has a lot of E85 in it, so it may very well be effectively the same as mixing pump 91 with E85. If it was true 100 AKI ethanol free gas, then I'd say go for it, but I doubt you can get that easily.

As ZM2 said, if you can get E85, you don't mind mixing it, and your HPFP can handle the extra flow needed, mixing up E20 to E30 might work. It didn't work for me because our base fuel is already E10, probably 90.5 rather than truly 91, and behaves, according to Halim@HCP like 87!

I'm now running 50:50 water methanal, and am able to run the 93 AKI OTS Stage 2 map without timing pull.

WMI is more expensive, and an addition think to keep an eye on, but it provides octane, cooling and fuelling. The cooling effect is so good that I'm considering going back to the stock FMIC... On a 3rd gear pull, IATs will be below ambient by the end!

I get through about a gallon of 50:50 water:meth every 2.5 tanks of street driving, and I can buy 5 gallons of 100% methanol for about $30. That's $1.20 extra per tank, so the operational cost is very low.

I am wary of octane boosters, partly because of the orange deposits, but mostly because our 91 octane pump gas is just so bad. Can we really raise it from an effective 87 up to 93 with just a small bottle of additive?

Finally, I should mention that PTF's Dzenan actually suggested I try adding Methanol to my pump gas straight in the tank. He suggested 1 gallon / tank initially, and I did think about doing that, but decided against it because I know my HPFP is already weak, and Methanol has an even lower energy density than E85...
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      09-07-2019, 09:38 PM   #9
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Today I tried 5 gallons of 100 octane unleaded with the rest 91 Shell. I also flashed to Stage 2, 93 octane 5.8 map (non-ACN) and, wow, the car feels like a beast. Since I'm in AZ, I suppose this mix is probably netting me 93ish. Hopefully, everything is in sync as I didn't log, but feels strong and powerful.
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