Do you have to use high octane gas with power chips ?

[noahchilders]

I was thinking of buying a chip I really want more low end tq. and I was thinking of going with a 160 Degree thera stat. But I don't want to buy high octane gas all the time. Will they work fine(Get good benfits) with normal gas ?

 

[aldive]

Superchip recommends the use of 93 octain fuel. Taje a look at their website.

Good luck......

 

[AQexplorer]

i think...you should still get the benefits, i dont see how using a lower octain fuel would cause problems with a upgraded chip...the difference shouldnt be any different than using low grade or premium grade fuel with the stock chip.

that is just what i think though, there may be some proven reason that higher octain fuel must be used.

 

[aldive]

To quote from
Dead Link Removed

>>To begin with we change the stock fuel curves and ignition timing to run on 91 to 93 high-octane fuel. These changes are made from just off idle to redline, in 400-RPM increments, so you get increased power across the whole power band. <<


Thats why the high octane fuel is needed.

 

[X24]

aldive is right. the timing is changed to accept higher octane so if you dont use it you could get pinging. In late model vehicles that have knock sensors if you dont use premium you wont get pinging because if it senses any pinging it will decrease the timing to get rid of it whick will defeat the whole purpose of the chip. I wasnt gonna buy a chip because I didnt want to buy premium but if you think about it its only about $2 more per tank and I like the benefits.

 

[espnfreak]

I heard somewhere that 91 octane won't really hurt it really. I either put in 91 or 93

 

[ToneDog]

Yeah, But I have heard on the later model SOHC's (My '98) that it is extremely bad to run premium!

So what if you want to run a chip and don't want to run premium.

ToneDog

 

[X24]

its probably bad to run premium on a SOHC without a chip. The chip advances the timing to accept premium. If you used premium on a stock SOHC, it would not detonate at the right time causing some sort of buildup somewhere. Did you hear that it was bad to run premium with a chip?

 

[ToneDog]

No, just that you shouldn't run it on a SOHC!

ToneDog

 

[Alec]

Use premium with a chip, regular or plus (if you have a little detonation) with the stock computer. 'nuff said.

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by ToneDog
Yeah, But I have heard on the later model SOHC's (My '98) that it is extremely bad to run premium!

Why is it bad to run premium other than wasting money?

 

[RedBeard]

Yeah, and does this affect us OHV people, too??

-RB

 

[aldive]

Originally posted by RedBeard
Yeah, and does this affect us OHV people, too??

-RB

With a chip, you still need to run premium fuel.

 

[Alec]

Running premium on a stock motor or one with a stock chip will result in incomplete burning of the fuel which will damage your fuel injectors and cats; and eventually the pistons and piston rings. This is because the ignition system is not providing the correct spark timing to make use of the added octane.

 

[Robert]

Originally posted by ToneDog
No, just that you shouldn't run it on a SOHC!

ToneDog

I have put about 50K miles over the last 2 years on my '97 SOHC running nothing but premium with my SuperChip. My throttle body looks brand new and I have never had any sort of carbon related problems. My engine has 90K on it now and runs like new.

 

[ToneDog]

Nice! Well that was the only thing stopping me from getting a chip, i didn't want to damage or shorten the life and reliability of the truck.

Maybe I should pick one of those chips up!

How good are they as far as givin' the truck alittle more pep? on a scale of 1-10?

ToneDog

 

[X24]

compared to what? 1 being stock and 10 being jet propelled? It makes the shifts firmer and to me it seems like my truck has a little more pep.

 

[DesertSpive]

I spoke with SuperChip because here in Southern California, all the Premium is 91. They told me that 91 was okay, as long as I used a Premium brand like Chevron. I have about 1000 miles on the FX4 with the 4.0L SOHC and the chip. I have been running 91 Octance Chevron exclusively and have had no pinging or any other problems. And I love the chip.

--Sean

 

[ToneDog]

on the scale:

1=no difference in performance
10=wow, it's like I dropped a new 5.7L v8 motor in

ToneDog

 

[X24]

ToneDog: I'd give it a 2 or 3 on that scale.

Desertspive: You wont get pinging on a SOHC. Instead of pinging the engine will automatically reduce the timing to keep it from pinging which will result in less power. I'm sure using 91 octane is good enough and if your engine is making adjustments I'm sure your not losing too much. (This was only something I read on this board so dont hold me to it. Maybe Robert or someone else with the SOHC can clairify that.)