Some things I notices after Sandy

[GeneralZod]

Hello guys,

Haven't been on for about a month due to hurricane Sandy. Due to gas being limited, a few times in a row I had to use 87... It is all some stations had.

The 1.4 absolutely runs differently 87 vs. 91. In the winter you can get away with running regular. No way will it happen without power loss in the summer.

Just the idle with 87 octane is noticeably different. The idle has more slop as far as hiccups and misses. I also have to check my spark plug gap. However, with 91 octane this doesn't happen. You can see it with the hood open.

The dealer changed the oil @ 4500 miles. I get free lifetime changes. Did the early change because it was the first round. The oil looked fine for the miles. I drive over 450 miles a week so it is mostly highway. With the GM blend the changes will be around 6k miles.

For the winter I will alternate between 87 and 91. Since I always have around 3 gallons when I fill up it will never be straight 87. Spring and summer will be 91 only.

 

[Eric Smit]

and something useful comes out of sandy after all.


-Eric Smit

 

[GeneralZod]

I wouldn't have notice the idle if I wasn't under the hood hooking up an inverter to power sump pumps.

Eric, you would have been impressed what I did with my Caprice 9C1. I think when it was a police car it was used to power out of car items. It has a 100+ amp alternator. With a deep cycle batter I was running two large inverters pumping out homes and running appliances.

I don't like gensets as they scream "steal me" and use way too much gas.

Getting back to the Sonic, I thought I got bad gas. However, the Caprice and small engines ran off the same batch. All ran good, even the Escalade which requires 91. The second batch had the same rough idle for the Sonic. Right after I filled it with 91 the idle smoothed out. I noticed less lag when flooring it too.

 

[Eric Smit]

the caprice sounds impressive. ;P the sonic runs well enough on 87, but 91/93 is better.


-Eric Smit

 

[GeneralZod]

Yeah, the 9C1 was my baby. Bought it from a company that re-manufactures the 9C1s. They basically strip them down and rebuild them back to spec. Took off the moldings, dropped it with Eibachs, Bilsteins shocks, 2nd gen F-body front sway bar (HUGE), Buick frame cross member, and 17 inch rims were the suspension mods.

Having 5k lbs take turns with almost zero body roll is funny. Add a civilian caprice leather interior, and decent engine mods it was a comfortable ride that went 0-60 in the low 7 second range and 1/4 mile in the mid 14s. Even with the mods, it was very cheap performance. Well, until I gave it to my dad.

The reason I bring all this up... I think the same will be had with the Sonic. I wouldn't be surprised if we start finding older parts that will fit, and future upgrades on other platforms. I am itching for some Eco rims and Pedders coil overs.

 

[Eric Smit]

Sounds like the guy that ran a 13.88 in his Taurus SHO. Did it comfortable and in style with 4 people in the car. ;P


-Eric Smit

 

[GeneralZod]

I might of gone under 14 seconds if I knew about leaf blower induction, PVC intake runners, and a mass of spaghetti tubing and wires.

-because race boat

 

[Eric Smit]

damn straight because race boat.


-Eric Smit

 

[rdss]

I thought it was because race horse?!

 

[GeneralZod]

Donkey!