Going to 87 octane from 89 made a noticeable difference on my 86 and 91 LT250. Comparable to removing the air box lid.

I would guess that on the V700 you wont really notice any power difference because you already have a ton of torque and don’t rev high all the time like my 2 strokes do.

Going to higher octane wont hurt anything but your wallet if you keep to pump available gas.

Going down could cause detonation/overheating but probably wont if only going down from 91 to 89 because it’s not a huge difference. That’s why I said to check the temperature.

Higher octane gas burns slower and produces less power. High compression engines use it to prevent detonation not for extra power. They benefit from high octane fuel because the increase in compression makes a larger gain in power than what is lost with slower burning fuel.

If you use a higher octane fuel than necessary, your quad will not perform to its highest ability.

There are plenty of people who will assure you that I’m wrong and that higher octane is always better. Most of my friends will tell you I’m wrong when I’m not around, but they also can't explain why my quad smokes theirs when in theory theirs should win.

 

I'm a gearhead. I agree, what Tom is saying is misunderstood by most. My rule of thumb is use what your manual says provided the engine is stock. Use your ears and listen to your engine... If I plan on working the crap outta the engine, like I most always do, ie: long steep hills, hot days, hi-RPMs, or if the mufflers I run are too loud to hear the pre-ignition :-), depending on the vehicle, I like to run a notch higher octane to be on the safe side rather than grenading the engine!

For more info see these articles...
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/octane.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

 

What octane should be used on the banshee. I have a stock banshee and I currently use 91 octane mixed with oil?

 

91 is fine for a stock banshee. I run a 50/50 mix of 104 and 91. The only reason I run race fuel is simply because it burns cooler.

 

banshees have such low stock compression why would anyone 91 octane in one unless it has a performance head or a hi-comp piston?

 

I've ran nothing but either 91 or 93 octane in my Recon since I bought it. No Problems.

 

ive run both in my recon and dont really see much of a difference other than the fact that the 91 lasts just a little longer