solid proof that 2.0L SKY-G makes more power on premium fuel :)

[piotrek91]

2.38% more power on 93 vs 87 octane.

The study correctly concludes that most drivers will never feel a 3% increase in HP.

However, the study fails to mention that under different environmental conditions the increase in HP could be greater. The study also does not look at how octane impacts torque numbers at different engine speeds.
I know that at <2000RPM my engine sounds and feels much much happier on premium.

At 10-20c extra/gallon, I will continue occasionally fueling up with 89/91 octane on hot days when I want to get the most out of my engine.

source (AAA study):
http://newsroom.aaa.com/download/9650/

 

[dragonsback79]

Same here. I use 91 only

Made the switch a year ago and will never go back. I can feel the difference in many ways no matter what people say.

 

[bmninada]

This might sound outlandish but: as I mentioned in some other thread, my car climbed Mt. Washington. And to add to this injury (haha .. me = driver) had to do it twice on 2 successive days. No one should dare and ask me the reasons, for I'll flip!!

Now - day 1 had regular and day-2 had premium (again don't ask why and yes: from the same darn gas station). Day-2 climb felt, sounded better. In fact, I felt had more HP! Now in all of the travel, I was NOT aware of this. After coming down and going back to this gas station (for coffee) SOMEONE who's in the car told me which pump she used..... PREMIUM. Now - can it be pschyc? Nope.. but definitely felt more smoothness and power.

 

[ALafya]

2.38% more power on 93 vs 87 octane.

The study correctly concludes that most drivers will never feel a 3% increase in HP.

However, the study fails to mention that under different environmental conditions the increase in HP could be greater. The study also does not look at how octane impacts torque numbers at different engine speeds.
I know that at <2000RPM my engine sounds and feels much much happier on premium.

At 10-20c extra/gallon, I will continue occasionally fueling up with 89/91 octane on hot days when I want to get the most out of my engine.

source (AAA study):
http://newsroom.aaa.com/download/9650/

The study did in fact do a full dyno run with both 87 and 93, however they only provide the graphs for the regular runs in the document. They did note that they found very small differences in the runs, which implies that the graphs are very close.

The document also suggests that no better fuel economy is achieved on the standard EPA cycle with 93 (and same amount of energy was created).

They also conducted a US06 'aggressive cycle' test, which did show differences in timing advance for all vehicles. However, they don't discuss how different will power be, only note that "However, a difference in how the vehicle responds to higher octane fuel does not necessarily translate
into an increase in horsepower".

 

[Silv3rCX5]

I always wondered about this ever since the new MX-5 came out. For some reason on the spec sheet Mazda recommends 91 for the SkyActiv-G 2.0 in the MX-5, but in the other models like the Mazda 3 and CX-5, it recommends 87??? What gives?

 

[fdew]

87 - 91 Run 100 or forget it.
http://rockettbrand.com/ps_100.html

 

[CX-5um]

Its been published that the Miata's 2.0 engine and the 2.5l turbo engines see increased HP in higher octane fuel. Now we see some evidence that the 2.0 engine found in other Mazda's see an increase as well. Pretty sure the same could be said with the 2.5l gas engine now.

 

[Unobtanium]

That is within the variance of the test, IMO, and car-to-car variance and so forth. Not something worth more than a penny a gallon.

 

[LH451]

The ND Miata's 2.0-liter is actually slightly underrated, manual-equipped Miatas dyno around 138-146 hp and 139-142 lb-ft to the wheels based on what tuners and miata owners have been reporting