Hey everyone, I ride a bone stock 2005 YFZ450, every tank of gas that has ever been ran through it has been 93 octane pump gas, the other day my dad took it for a ride and accidentaly filled it up with 87 octane gas, when I took it for a ride I noticed it was running like crap...so that got me thinking about gas... is race gas worth the $$$$, will it add power, will my quad run better and be more reliable in the long run? or should I stick with 93, If so is there any particular brand of gas that is better than others (Mobil,Shell,Sunoco ETC...). and also what about octane boosters?? any help would be appreciated, P.S I already did a search but couldnt really find a good answer to my question.

 

Use what your owners manual tells you to use for now (93 oct) probably. Race gas WILL NOT help your quad perform any better, it will only burn a hole in your pocket. With a high comp piston or a milled head you could consider a higher grade fuel. As for my experience with octane boosters... there a waste of money.

 

Lately, I've been running 110 octane leaded non-oxy in my stock bore/compression yfz. It MAY make a little less power, but runs quieter and cooler. I like it running in snow since I spend 90% of the time spinning. Hopefully, its cushioning the valves during this noload revving.
The rule of thumb is to run the lowest octane you can without detonation for the most power. Oxygenated gas throws a wrench in that rule. You cant go wrong running 91-93 octane non-oxy premium.

 

Remember all the octane number refers to is the fuels ability to resist ignition. 110 octane has no more potential energy than 91 octane, it just will not ignite as easily making it better for HIGH compression engines so it does not ignite before intended to.

Also race gas does not have any DC additives (deposit control), like pump gas does, to help keep your engine clean. So running race gas will result in carbon deposits quicker, which will lead to performance issues.