Octane, stumbling and stalling

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AntiHero

AntiHero

Joined
Nov 18, 2011
Messages
2,084
Location
Round the World on an 1199
Yeah...so I can confirm that at least 90% of the bad low-rpm behavior of the Panigale is caused by the ethanol-laced, low octane, .... gas we get in the US. Even when I put in the lowest grade European gas in my bike (95 octane), I rarely have seen any low idle or on/off throttle issues that are characteristic of "US Bikes."

Will have to buy a 50 gallon drum of toluene when I get home. If I ever do. :)
 
I have a self mixed "witches brew" that I add to the .... South African fuel. :cool:
 
That's a very interesting data point! Are there any workarounds for this that anyone knows of? Ethanol free fuel is very rare in the Peoples Republic of California...
 
Some gas station have e10 for a tad cheaper...

Only idiots tank it there
 
Stick to 95 where poss in Europe.

When I chop and change between 95 and 97, the bike seems to splutter/stall a bit.
 
alb said:
Stick to 95 where poss in Europe.

When I chop and change between 95 and 97, the bike seems to splutter/stall a bit.
Click to expand...

97 should perform better because of the Pani's high compression rate. :cool:
 
Wonder how ethanol causes that issue. Is it due to how the motor is tuned or is it due to the fuel components (injectors, pump, fuel lines) ?

My question is because before I sold my Evo a month ago, it was running on E-85 100% of the time. Never put 91 pisstane in it again since the 1000 mile point. Sure I obviously changed out everything to make it E-85 safe but man, there was only MAJOR improvements and no downsides besides using more corn juice. Ran cooler, safer on the motor/block, no knock at higher boost pressures, idled great (which are more specific to injector brand/size) and resulted in much higher power output to the wheels at a lower psi. Basically similar results to race gas at a fraction of the cost.
 
Very much no doubt in my mind its the E10 here in SoCal. I tried boutique fuel ethanol free and immediate improvement, but $90 per fillup :(
 
Claymore said:
97 should perform better because of the Pani's high compression rate. :cool:
Click to expand...

Not quite correct.
The Suoerquadro engine is designed around and tuned for 95 RON fuel(or the equivalent).
There's no advantage in going to a higher octane fuel, what so ever.

Having said that, if one feels the need for a "higher quality fuel" which carries with it a higher concentration of additives to keep the combustion chambers and fuel system cleaner.
Then by all means, one can go ahead and run the expensive fuel.
It's all good;)

At least that's the state of play here in OZ in terms of the fuel price/quality.
The higher octane fuel has as it's biggest advantage, more additives to keep the fuel system and combustion chamber cleaner, all packaged in with the higher octane 98 RON.

I'm not sure of if it's the case in other markets though?
It seems to be a bit of a dogs breakfast in the US as to what's available.

What's the situation in South Africa?
 
Brad said:
Not quite correct.
The Suoerquadro engine is designed around and tuned for 95 RON fuel(or the equivalent).
There's no advantage in going to a higher octane fuel, whatsoever.
Click to expand...

I was always under the impression that the higher the octane rating the more knock resistant a fuel would be and that engines with a compression ratio of 12.5 to 1 should run on octanes higher than 100 or its timing should be ........ to prevent knock? ........ timing = less power and that in such a case where fuels have an equal energy content the higher octane would make more power due to less or no retardation of timing? :confused:
 
In California 91 octane is it, and my Panigale prefers Shell, to the point that's all I'll run in it. The whole ethanol deal ends up leaning the mixture out, plus it is hydroscopic. We run Methanol in our race cars, alkie is great makes GREAT power at 3.25 a gallon you can't beat it, and 17 to 1 compression is no problem. It's just a lot of work to run, you have to pickle out your fuel system after every race, either with wd40 our a mixtue of gasoline and marvel mystry oil.
 
All our stations have 93, but one across from our race track has 103. I've used it before in my Porsche when I was racing it, but didn't see much difference. You really need to tune for it to take advantage for when you use the 103. I thought of having 2 programs (race/street) in my Electromotive. But I suppose you could do the same with Tuneboy or others.
 
Trauma said:
All our stations have 93, but one across from our race track has 103. I've used it before in my Porsche when I was racing it, but didn't see much difference. You really need to tune for it to take advantage for when you use the 103. I thought of having 2 programs (race/street) in my Electromotive. But I suppose you could do the same with Tuneboy or others.
Click to expand...

My car have two programs, one just with boost and one with methanol injection (cools down combustion and increases octane). 201 fwhp v 282 fwhp. :cool:
 
All the Italian and German exotica i have owned, be they 2 or 4 wheeled, have specified 95-98RON.

They perform best with 98 and the manufacturers specify they run on a minimum of 95.

Some even add a little * to their performance specifications, saying "only with 98RON", so I interpret this to mean that they are in fact designed and happiest with 98.

Before I left the UK, Shell 99RON VPower and Tesco 100RON were pretty popular with the petrol heads, although the performance gain over 98 was minimal..... it did seem to offer better economy though!
 

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