What is octane?

­If you've read How Car Engines Work, you know that almost all cars use four-­stroke gasoline engines. One of the strokes is the compression stroke, where the engine compresses a cylinder-full of air and gas into a much smaller volume before igniting it with a spark plug. The amount of compression is called the compression ratio of the engine. A typical engine might have a compression ratio of 8-to-1. (See How Car Engines Work for details.)
The octane rating of gasoline tells you how much the fuel can be compressed before it spontaneously ignites. When gas ignites by compression rather than because of the spark from the spark plug, it causes knocking in the engine. Knocking can damage an engine, so it is not something you want to have happening. Lower-octane gas (like "regular" 87-octane gasoline) can handle the least amount of compression before igniting.
The compression ratio of your engine determines the octane rating of the gas you must use in the car. One way to increase the horsepower of an engine of a given displacement is to increase its compression ratio. So a "high-performance engine" has a higher compression ratio and requires higher-octane fuel. The advantage of a high compression ratio is that it gives your engine a higher horsepower rating for a given engine weight -- that is what makes the engine "high performance." The disadvantage is that the gasoline for your engine costs more.
The name "octane" comes from the following fact: When you take crude oil and "crack" it in a refinery, you end up getting hydrocarbon chains of different lengths. These different chain lengths can then be separated from each other and blended to form different fuels. For example, methane, propane and butane are all hydrocarbons. Methane has a single carbon atom. Propane has three carbon atoms chained together. Butane has four carbon atoms chained together. Pentane has five, hexane has six, heptane has seven and octane has eight carbons chained together.
It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.

 

I think you would see more of an improvement using non ethanol gas. Been kicking this around since most of my riding is done on the same loop through the Panhandle and there are enough real gas stations to stop at.

 

I've ridden longer and better after pouring-in a bottle of a 5-hour energy drink. Hee hee hee.

I try to avoid ethanol gas whenever possible. Getting real hard to do.

 

In Florida you CANNOT get gas at a automotive gas station that does not have ethanol. It is Florida law. I don't care what a website says, I don't care what a gas station employee, manager, owner says. It's florida law.
There are only certain places where you can get non ethanol fuel, and you cannot drive a car up to those types of pumps.

Those websites that say where you can get non ethanol gas? It's bullshirt. anyone can add the name of a station. they even list gate stations in jacksonville. It's bullshirt.

As for where you CAN get plain gas? try the marina, or the airport.
Florida law does have exemptions...

boats and similar watercraft,
aircraft,
collector vehicle,
off road vehicles,
motorcycles,
small engines (ie, lawnmower)
Any sale of non ethanol fuel is required to have a record of sale, and the station is to send a report to the dept. of revenue.

Just because you don't see an ethenol sticker on the pump, don't assume it has no ethanol....it should have a sticker that says it doesn't have ethanol and should also say what types of vehicles it is allowed to be used in.

 

I ride my bike and pick up right up to the pump at a station on that list. Fill it up, pay, and drive off. I had asked the owner about the same thing you are talking about Thundermug, and he said it is self serve and sells to boaters in the area, so no problem thus far.

 

I looked it up and there are efforts to repeal the law to allow for some non-ethanol gas to be sold. According to what I am reading from the article I cut and pasted below, it is law that EVERY gallon of gas that is sold in Florida must contain Ethanol. So I am not sure now what the stations are selling. I guess the only way to know would be to have the fuel tested for ethanol. Next step would be call your state Representatives and Senators and let them know that you support the repeal.


WJHG Channel 7 News:
December 6th,2011
Accepts Comments:
http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/E...135125228.html

Three years ago the state adopted fuel standards requiring every gallon of gas sold in Florida contain 10 percent ethanol. Now efforts are underway to repeal the requirement. The bill passed a key committee stop Tuesday in the House and is one step closer to becoming law.
State and federal standards require gas stations to sell a mixture of gas and 10 percent ethanol in an attempt to wean drivers off oil. But efforts are underway to put that plan in reverse by repealing the 2008 state law that set the standard in Florida.
State Representative Matt Gaetz of Destin is leading the charge. He says drivers should be allowed to choose what kind of fuel they want.
“Consumers ought to be empowered to make the choice about what kind of gas they want in their automobile. If ethanol works, if it’s something that can ultimately reduce dependence on foreign oil I’m all for it, but I think the choice ought to belong to the consumer.”
Gaetz’ bill passed the House Energy Committee Tuesday on a party line vote, with Democrats trying to keep ethanol in gas and Republicans voting to lift the standard.
There is a lot of conflicting information out there. Opponents say it takes more than a gallon of gas to produce one gallon of ethanol and biofuel is actually bad for your car’s engine. But supporters say the octane in fuel can actually boost your car’s performance and lower greenhouse gasses.”
While the facts are being disputed, the message is becoming the focus. Adam Putnam, Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner, says ending the ethanol requirement would send all the wrong signals. “It would be unfortunate if we told potential future investors in our state that we are turning our backs on this and we are not interested in learning new things about renewable energy.”
Supporters of removing the 10 percent requirement say trucking ethanol into Florida from the Midwest does more harm to the environment than good, and until there’s a more efficient method, the state is better off with no ethanol requirement.
There are talks of producing ethanol in Florida from saw grass and other renewable sources. But if the 10 percent standard is lifted, it could deliver a serious blow to the future of Florida ethanol.

 

And to make it even more confusing!!!


Florida Is A Mandatory Ethanol State

Florida is the latest, and perhaps the last, mandatory E10 state. In fact it is not clear why it gave corporate welfare to the ethanol industry when it did not have to. EISA 2007 had already passed before the Florida law was enacted and Florida was going to get ethanol in all of its gasoline anyway. The Florida mandatory E10 law is HB 7135, another of the all encompassing energy policy laws that throws taxpayer money at "green" companies. The mandatory E10 legislation is a small part of the bill, Sections 101 - 107, but it will be overshadowed by EISA 2007 before it becomes mandatory on December 31, 2010.

The exemptions are in Section 103 (3) and include aircraft, watercraft, collector vehicles, off road vehicles, motorcycles or small engines. The exemption does not specify a grade of gasoline nor does it specify how the unblended gasoline is to be made available.

One good rule in the Florida law is in Section 104 where terminals are exempted from having to blend ethanol if it becomes more expensive than gasoline, which is highly likely. Ethanol is now more expensive than gasoline, it will be interesting to see if Florida terminals stop blending.

 

I thought the original thread was about HD motors and octane booster...how/why did the replies turn to mustangs, traction, nitrous and et's?

 

Dood. I am drinking straight from the bottle and I understand how it changed...just sayin'.....
I guess you missed it because this thread died 6 months ago...but then you resurrected it.

Have you ever watched any horror movies? Didja ever notice that everything was fine until someone came along and.....

Here is how it happened...

Someone posted something, and someone else posted something else. Then another person posted something in reference to the OP, and someone else posted a reply. Then, someone else posted a response to that agreeing, and another person replied to it dissagreeing. Then someone else chimed in with an anecdote, where a totally difrent person said it wasn't true, and three more people said it was true. Then two people said Huh-uh.....and two people said Uh-uh...then someone said alcohol, and I started drinking....

 

Dang...I guess I better put a WHOLE lotta miles on my bike to cover that last post!

Right Sefferdog???