I have read through this thread and although I might have missed it I did not see a reference to Ethanol free 89 octane gas which is available locally. Currently I am using premium unleaded in my Ryker 600 ACE but should I use the Ethanol free 89 mentioned? My monthly mileage is not high so cost is not a large concern to me.
I appreciate any guidance on this.
Try plain ole 87. If no engine pinging at all, then you are ALREADY at optimal performance.
I thought this thread was dead....finding it still alive, I decided to throw a little 'fuel' on the fire! I ordered the 'shop manual' and was reading through it tonight and came across this tidbit:
"Gasoline Type: Regular Unleaded"
"Minimum octane rating, 87 (No ethanol), 91 (10% ethanol)." This is for US/Canada models.
And that being said, I'm still going to run 87 (10% ethanol) in my Rally.
The Rotax 1330 ACE engine is running 12:1 compression (see pic below). Todays engine management systems incorporate knock sensors. When knock is detected (primarily due to lower octane fuel than specified) timing is automatically retarded to reduce knock. When no knock is detected, well you guessed it, timing is not retarded. The owners manual for us 1330 owners specifically states "premium" fuel for a very good reason. A compression ration of 12:1 is definitely in "premium" territory. Will is run on 87 octane, sure. Will is run more efficiently on premium, you bet. May not be something you can feel but your engine knows the difference.
Haven't investigated what the compression ratio is on the two Ryder engines but if their calling for "regular" fuel you can bet it's not 12:1 like the 1330.
I'd give my 2¢ if I thought it would make a difference.
It's like oil filters. Do you know why people pay $2 for an oil filter for a $10,000 engine? Because they cant find it for a dollar.
Lamont said something like this to me one time. I asked him why we were doing 130 mph up a freeway on-ramp. He said 'Because the on-ramp was too short to go any faster'.
Lamont has a lot of unexpected answers, and I've heard many over the years. But I am sure I have not heard them all.
First and foremost, it should be imparative to read all of the manual. On page 138 it states that 87 ocane is the min required and 91 is the recomended octane. I will always use high octane. I am getting 37-38 MPG on my 600. I am very pleased with the performance.
I started out with premium in my Rally. At about 1200 miles I switched over to regular because my brother-in-law was using regular in his with no problems. At 1500 miles I switched back to premium. I wasn't seeing any difference in performance really but my mileage dropped 4 to 5 mpg! I calculated the mpg at regular prices and mpg at premium prices and it come out almost identical on the cost per mile. But, I figured if the engine was getting 4 to 5 more mpg it must be running more efficiently so it's premium from now on.
Spyder F3-S Special Series my traveling ride
Ryker Rally modified for dual sport duty
Honda Grom heavily modified for dual sport duty
Ducati Scrambler Icon Dark my other traveling ride
I stopped using 91 a long time ago but my mileage varies by more more than 10 mpg depending on temp humidity hills etc. I rarely hits 60 here but when I go into the valley it's hot and gas mileage improves.
Originally Posted by Jaxfann
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