How Things Work

If you’ve been around powersports for any length of time, you’ve probably heard a lot of misinformation when it comes to choosing fuel. You might hear things like "high octane fuels burn slower," or "motors that aren’t built for high octane can’t benefit from high octane fuels."

There is a lot of debate over alcohol blended fuel octane ratings, but due to the limits of standardized testing equipment, you cannot measure the octane of alcohol. The ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) only allows the use of carburetors on Cooperative Fuel Research Engines (CFR). Of course, these...

Octane is the most discussed property when it comes to gas. It’s no shock because choosing octane of gasoline is the single option the...

Specific Gravity is the density difference between one substance and the density of a different substance used as a benchmark. Water is the benchmark for liquids and solids, while hydrogen or "air" being the measurement for gases.

The most reliable way of testing the octane value of a fuel is to use a CFR (Cooperative Fuel Research) engine (AKA knock engine). The CFR testing method was developed in the 1920s as a reliable way to measure octane levels, and the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) still uses is to this day. Not the exact came engine though.

I'm going to bet that you are continually looking for ways to save on fuel costs, especially with the fluctuating price of fuel. However, it's a myth that you will get better fuel consumption by installing a fuel saving device in your car; they don't work. SUPRISE!

AvGas, also known as Aviation Gasoline, is appealing to riders because of the high octane rating, low price (when compared to race gas), and its relative availability. These benefits make it out to be an obvious choice when looking for performance, but some aspects would suggest otherwise.

Without going into depth about chemistry, octane refers to the measure of a fuel's resistance to detonation. The higher the octane level, the less susceptible fuel is to pre-ignition and detonation, also known as "knock."

Do Those Flashy Bottles At the AutoZone Counter Do What They Claim? Bottled octane boosters can, without doubt, technically raise the octane of the gasoline in your tank. However, the extent by which they increase the octane depends on two significant variables; product and fuel dilution. On the one hand, high-quality octane boosters can deliver the octane increases they claim.

The term “high performance” gets thrown around a lot when talking about engines and the vehicles they power, but real high performance requires high performance fuels. Real high performance engines are designed to create as much power as possible at the cost of longevity, and they can not achieve their full potential on pump gas… Unless you build engines like Koenigsegg, which you don’t.