1.4 Engines and Octane

[Smashley23]

Some advice from the ZZP team.* All factory boosted engines require premium fuel, even stock cars.* This is a higher compression tiny engine in a car that is a little heavy for it.* It spends a lot of time in boost because its being worked so hard.* Below is a pic of a bone stock Trax piston (The Trax uses the same engine as the Sonic/Cruze) that was daily driven by someone that doesn’t beat on it and was using 87 octane. *What you are looking at is a piston that is broken between the ring lands.* The cylinder temperatures got so hot from detonation or “KR” (Knock Retard) but the piston rings bound up in the cylinder and broke the piston casting.* This causes the engine to burn oil and reduces performance.* A lot of 1.4 owners are driving around with pistons like this and they don’t even know it.

Hope this helps some people out.

Have a great day!
-ZZP

 

[Nataphen]

E85 it is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JTee2017]

FYI - - -

Even the Aussey stock Barina (Sonic) 1.6L naturally aspirated engine Owners Manual states . . . Use 91 octane for "better performance".

I've been using 91(no ethanol) to 93 octane in my 2017 1.8L since the 3rd tankful. I went back to E87 for 2 fill ups and it is not as punchy nor seems to rev as smoothy as with 91 or 93 octane. I buy 91 no ethanol most often.
With only a 10 or 11 gallon fill, I feel $4 to $5 more is worth it.

 

[UltimaSanctus]

I used to run 87 for a while. About 3 months before I got my tune I switched to 93 to "clean out" all of the lower grade fuel in the tank. Car felt better and actually got 3 mpg better

 

[skurtov]

93 always. BNR confirmed this. People just like to believe what they want to believe in spite of empirical evidence saying otherwise. GM does rate the car for 87, but you get a performance and MPG boost using higher grade gasoline. All turbo engines need premium.

 

[66roadie]

...All turbo engines need premium.

That's the bottom line!

 

[ScarabEpic22]

I ran 87 in my 1.4T for a few tanks a few year back. The mpg change was negligible either way, but lost power and watched the ECM pull timing all the time (which can lead to detonation and bye-bye pistons over time).

(Side note, 91 in Australia is our 87...they use the other octane rating system. Premium there is 95 or 98 compared to our 91/92/93.)

 

[JTee2017]

I ran 87 in my 1.4T for a few tanks a few year back. The mpg change was negligible either way, but lost power and watched the ECM pull timing all the time (which can lead to detonation and bye-bye pistons over time).

(Side note, 91 in Australia is our 87...they use the other octane rating system. Premium there is 95 or 98 compared to our 91/92/93.)

You are correct.
In my earlier post in this thread .. . I converted it for those who do not know the difference between Research Octane Number and Motor Octane Number . .

See LINK - - - https://motocrossactionmag.com/ask-the-mxperts-why-does-euro-fuel-have-so-much-more-octane-than-american-fuel-2/