[jjgi5150]

Hi all,

For what it's worth, I am completely stock, and I live in the very high heat SoCal desert. I have no plans of modding the car, as I will not be street racing or tracking it. I did try to upgrade the octane, however, and I can say, at least with my car, there is a slight, but definitely noticeable improvement in performance.

I used an octane calculator and mixed the quantity to get 93, using top tier 91 and Sunoco unleaded 100 octane. Yes, it is expensive out here in SoCal, but I have to say it seems to be worth it. The motor feels smoother and the off idle stumble/burp that Chevy was "nice enough" to give us seems a lot less intrusive. Since I do not daily drive the car, I can easily afford the extra $29.00 per tankful it will cost me.

It seems like there may be longer term benefits involved as well...

JJ

[Markoz28]

I saw a video on YouTube where this guy was using a 1/2 can of Torco with every fill up in a zl1 to get the octane up. It’s about $20 a can so $10 a full up more than just adding 91. Not sure if that’ll work but may be worth looking into

[Boost or bust]

Originally Posted by jjgi5150

Hi all,

For what it's worth, I am completely stock, and I live in the very high heat SoCal desert. I have no plans of modding the car, as I will not be street racing or tracking it. I did try to upgrade the octane, however, and I can say, at least with my car, there is a slight, but definitely noticeable improvement in performance.

I used an octane calculator and mixed the quantity to get 93, using top tier 91 and Sunoco unleaded 100 octane. Yes, it is expensive out here in SoCal, but I have to say it seems to be worth it. The motor feels smoother and the off idle stumble/burp that Chevy was "nice enough" to give us seems a lot less intrusive. Since I do not daily drive the car, I can easily afford the extra $29.00 per tankful it will cost me.

It seems like there may be longer term benefits involved as well...

JJ

JJ: you may want to consider a custom tune to take advantage of higher octane fuel. If you read the owners manual closely, you will find out that our cars only make 650/650 on 93 octane. I’m also in Ca and use 91. Less power with 91 due to less aggressive timing. You are probably making close to dvsrtied power with your 93. But! If you up the octane more and will consistently keep it there, a custom tune will unleash more power. If you have e85 avail near you, you can install a flex fuel sensor, mix about 50/50 e85/93 and unleash approx. another 50-75 hp with no other mods except a custom tune. Food for thought, digest and enjoy!

[ZL1 1LE]

Originally Posted by Boost or bust

JJ: you may want to consider a custom tune to take advantage of higher octane fuel. If you read the owners manual closely, you will find out that our cars only make 650/650 on 93 octane. I’m also in Ca and use 91. Less power with 91 due to less aggressive timing. You are probably making close to dvsrtied power with your 93. But! If you up the octane more and will consistently keep it there, a custom tune will unleash more power. If you have e85 avail near you, you can install a flex fuel sensor, mix about 50/50 e85/93 and unleash approx. another 50-75 hp with no other mods except a custom tune. Food for thought, digest and enjoy!

Agree with all of this. I'm running what should be 95 however, I'll probably wait until the warranty expires before I get a tune to take full advantage of it.

[kttxz06]

Originally Posted by Markoz28

I saw a video on YouTube where this guy was using a 1/2 can of Torco with every fill up in a zl1 to get the octane up. It’s about $20 a can so $10 a full up more than just adding 91. Not sure if that’ll work but may be worth looking into

Wrong wrong wrong. haha. I use Torco religiously and I'm not really sure their claims are right, but a half a can will maybe............maybe bring 93 up to 94, 95. I usually throw a can (32 oz) in a full tank and mix another 2 gallons of 116 race gas. That should be putting me somewhere around 101, 102 levels.


Not sure why he's doing a half a can, just put the whole can in. That supposedly brings it up 8 octane points. Still, not sure those claims are what they are, but even if a full can brings 93 to 98, that's fine. Have about 10 gallons of 116 handy. Throw in 2 gallons and a can of Torco when you are gonna go bang the streets.

[ZL1 1LE]

Originally Posted by kttxz06

Wrong wrong wrong. haha. I use Torco religiously and I'm not really sure their claims are right, but a half a can will maybe............maybe bring 93 up to 94, 95. I usually throw a can (32 oz) in a full tank and mix another 2 gallons of 116 race gas. That should be putting me somewhere around 101, 102 levels.


Not sure why he's doing a half a can, just put the whole can in. That supposedly brings it up 8 octane points. Still, not sure those claims are what they are, but even if a full can brings 93 to 98, that's fine. Have about 10 gallons of 116 handy. Throw in 2 gallons and a can of Torco when you are gonna go bang the streets.

I'm not familiar with Torco however, the Race Gas race fuel concentrate that I use requires a 32 oz. can per 16 gallons of 91 to bring it to 95. They also have a 16 oz. can to bring 8 gallons of 91 to 95. I carry both sizes with me.

[kttxz06]

Originally Posted by ZL1 1LE

I'm not familiar with Torco however, the Race Gas race fuel concentrate that I use requires a 32 oz. can per 16 gallons of 91 to bring it to 95. They also have a 16 oz. can to bring 8 gallons of 91 to 95. I carry both sizes with me.

That's not bad at all. About 4 points. Imagine throwing in some 116 at the same time. You could bring that 91 up to prob 97, 98. Torco is basically race fuel concentrate such as Race Gas that you use. Torco claims a 8 point increase in Oct levels with a full 32 oz can in 20 gallons. Eh, don't really buy it, but even if you get 4, that's still pretty good. That brings our 93 up to 97 so.

[590_The_Judge]

OP, your location is listed as Canada. the owners manual has the octane rating based on the r+m/2 method of calculation (maybe yours is different?). I have heard other countries rate their octane differently (saw a video explaining the Australians rate theirs using only RON, and 97 was equal to about 92ish if i remember correctly). i would confirm what method is being used to determine what octane rating you put in the car (making sure it conforms to the manual).

Im in the los angeles area and get different results depending on brand (while only using 91). My last car was a dodge charger with the 5.7 hemi, and while the owners manual said 87 was ok, it would knock if i didnt use chevron 91 or mobil 91. As long as it meets the minimum standard in the owners manual, i would say play around with brands and see what works best in your application.

Just my $0.02

Peter

[bigmike32172]

On somewhat a similar note I've noticed over the past 20 years on my ZL1 along with other cars such as my SL65, three ZO6's, & three Vipers that Chevron's premium gas although more costly than other's premium always made my cars slightly but noticeably more responsive with approx 1mpg better.
Possibly Chevron's premium's like a Ruth Chris filet mignon where other brand's premium is like TGI Friday's or Applebee's claiming there's is the best filet mignon.

[jjgi5150]

Originally Posted by Boost or bust

JJ: you may want to consider a custom tune to take advantage of higher octane fuel. If you read the owners manual closely, you will find out that our cars only make 650/650 on 93 octane. I’m also in Ca and use 91. Less power with 91 due to less aggressive timing. You are probably making close to dvsrtied power with your 93. But! If you up the octane more and will consistently keep it there, a custom tune will unleash more power. If you have e85 avail near you, you can install a flex fuel sensor, mix about 50/50 e85/93 and unleash approx. another 50-75 hp with no other mods except a custom tune. Food for thought, digest and enjoy!

Hi B or B,

Thanks for that info. I've thought about it and since I have a very long extended warranty, and do not plan on doing any racing, I doubt I'll ever want to do a custom tune. I'm sure on our cars there is a ton of extra power available by just a tune, with no other mechanical mods, but I just can't justify the loss of warranty, particularly with the potential of an oil pump issue or ????. I really believe the car GM used in the Nurburgring video most certainly had a different computer program than our stock production cars have.

I really like the car as is, and don't expect to need anymore horsepower than it has stock. The handling is over and above my old '15 Z/28, and the creature comforts are perfect for me. I enjoy the car even in simple cross-town traffic to get a Starbucks coffee. I really get a kick of how many Porsches, Mustangs and other psuedo-hot rods want to street race.

I am pretty sure that I'm going to just keep using the 91/100 unleaded mix ratio I have determined for a 93 octane rating, as I don't want to run the risk of additives like Boostane, Torco of ????? potentially causing deposit issues.

The noticeable difference I feel in off-idle transition and smoothness in normal driving is worth it to me as I'm not daily driving the car. I can only imagine that it would be an awesome improvement to get an alternative tune, but for my situation, I just don't think it's worth it to me as a cost/benefit factor.

Thanks very much for your input. This forum has been very helpful in many ways with the provision of quality, pertinent data by very decent members.

Take care,



JJ

[Squatch]

In Oregon we only have 92, no such animal as E85 at any pumps either. sucks :(

[VAZL1]

Originally Posted by BlaqWhole

Why do I even comment on these threads? Use 91 octane if you want. Sure, you'll be fine. In fact, use 89, 87, 85, diesel, water, whatever. It's not my car, not my engine, not my money, and not my problem.

I believe you let him get under your skin. But I do agree 93 or nothing for me...

[Koldunic]

I have my car now and I use only 94 (R+M / 2) since I am lucky enough to have it in my town.

[kttxz06]

Originally Posted by VAZL1

I believe you let him get under your skin. But I do agree 93 or nothing for me...

Agreed. I'm almost to the point if I'm not around 96, I don't feel comfy. haha.