Hey yal, not trying to start another war here just curious as to what if any advantages or disadvatages there are to running a higher Octain in my 2006 500 Sportsman EFI. If I remember right the owners manual calls for 87 Octain however I saw some post that people are running a higher octain fuel. Also was talking to my buddy which has a Suzuki 600 Bike and he said that when he runs 93 Octain in his bike it performs alot better. Now, here again I realize that's a bike and not a quad but was just wondering if there are any advantages to running a higher Octain than the 87 I been running. I also wasn't sure if the higher Octain would burn out the spark arresters or damage the quad in any other way??? Thanks in advance for your input

 

We have a choice here of 87 or 91, where do you find your 93 at?

 

I'm in York Pa, and we have 87,89, and 93 and actually at Sunoco you can get 94 Octain. Pretty wild huh?

 

Yeah, must be nice, I have to buy 100 and mix 1 gal of 100 to 3 gal of 91 to get 93. Kind of a pain

 

Yea, we have always had that around here!!!! May have something to do with being so close to the Refinereris or something,,,Don't mind the spelling there LOL. Also could have something to do with your Enviromental Laws in your state, who know's.... So what do you think about my question,,,appreciate your response!!!

 

It is a waste of money if your bike is not pinging, in fact if you do not have the compression for it it will not burn as fast nor will it all get burnt when it gets to the combustion chamber. A lot of guys will run it because of this in the sand. Since it does not all get burnt the combustion temp is not as high therefore it runs cooler.

 

Thanks for the reply, that's what I was thinking but was looking for another opinoion. I appreciate the post!!! Ps. if I could send ya some 93 I would,,,LOL Take Care

 

Finally some one knows what octane is all about.

Many people think that the higher octane is more potent. Actually, it is less. Octane is the rating on how a fuel will ignite with out a spark. The higher the number the harder it is to ignite with out a spark or flame. Higher Octane is necessary for higher compression motors. When a gas is compressed, it creates heat, that heat can ignite a low octane fuel before the spark can and create pinging.


What does octane mean?

 

the ignition without a spark is called dieseling

 

Higher octane = less power (harder to burn)
Lower octane = more power (easyer to burn)


You need to find the octane level that just before it spontaneously ignites the fuel charge, any higher you are wasting your fuel charge.