I know, you’ve been there, done that. Deciding which gas to fill up with can be
difficult; you can sometimes find yourself at the pump thinking about which
fuel to fill your car up with. Whether
you’re driving an SUV, compact car, or super car, each type of gas performs
differently. When you arrive at the gas
station you fill up on unleaded gas, with three options: octane, special
additives, and ethanol content. In today’s blog, we’re discussing the several
options of gas purchase for when you’re at the pump.
Octane
Octane has three options: 87, 89, and
92. Large engines perform well on 87
octane, smaller cars do well with 89, and high performance cars run perfect on
92 octane. The higher the octane rating
the more compression the fuel can handle before it ignites. If your engine begins to knock, then fuel is
igniting from the compression, not from the spark. Thus, damaging your engine. If this continues to occur, it’s time to buy
higher-octane gas.
Special
Additives
Special Additives are beneficial because
their utilized by fuel companies to keep the inside of the engine clean. For example, Exxon uses high amounts of
additives in their gas to keep your system clean. All the major gas companies use detergent
additives to help keep the engine clean, so this should not really be a
consideration.
Ethanol
content
The final option is ethanol content. The lower the ethanol content, the better the
fuel will burn in your engine, providing a longer life for your engine. Ethanol is also good because it improves fuel
economy, sometimes giving up to a 20% boost.
