|
|
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
1989 560SL - What Octane MUST I Use
I have a new to me, 1989 560SL with 52k miles. Filling the tank with 93 octane takes a bite out of my wallet.
Has any one used 89 octane with this car? Is this safe or foolish to do? |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
The concensus is pretty much "foolish".
If you want to use regular fuel, trade for a 380SL... |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
93 Octane, Wow. The best we get in Los Angeles is 91.
So maybe a mixing down would work. My 86 560 runs fine on 91. For 91 we pay about $3.30 per gallon. What the rate in Texas? |
#4
|
||||
|
||||
At about $4 difference per gallon and lets say 4 tanks a month. $12 to $16 (since gas prices vary) does not seem to be much per month to prevent an engine from detonating. Then again, I do not know the compression ratio of that engine or what it requires. Just say that its not like there is a 50 cents or more gap between grades. Usually its about 15 cents in my area.
__________________
1991 560 SEL / 185k miles 1992 750il / 17k miles - project car |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Today: 87 octane: $2.49, 89 octane: $2.59, 93 octane: $2.79 (supermarket brand), add $0.02/gallon for Exxon or other majors.
|
#6
|
||||
|
||||
23 gallons = $53.27 / $59.57 /$64.17
At 23 gallons, no clue on capacity, then your hitting a spread of about $10 per full tank. Weird that premium is a 20 cent jump. Here is usually 10 cent between grades with many stations actually selling premium at mid-grade pricing.
__________________
1991 560 SEL / 185k miles 1992 750il / 17k miles - project car |
#7
|
||||
|
||||
There's a resistor that retards the timing by 6 degrees in the ignition system. It is located on the driver's side, under the hood. It was put there to allow it to run the lower grade without pinging.
I don't recommend doing it often, but occasionally wouldn't hurt. I pulled the resistor and mix my own fuel with toluene (methyl benzine), which increases the octane of the fuel. Here in Utah, 91 is the highest I can get without going to the local airpark and using it as a mixer. I mix toluene at a 10% mix with gasoline. A 10% mix increases octane to roughly 95. I had to start mixing my own out here, as our state only checks the ratings once every 5 years, and you can't be guaranteed what you're getting out of the pumps. On one of my other cars, which is boosted, I run a 20% mix, giving me 99.1 octane.
__________________
1987 560SL 85,000 miles Meet on the level, leave on the square. Great words to live by Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread. - Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.
|
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Ahhhhh!!!
Now I know why the Euro versions run with so much power! In the UK we can only get: "ordinary/regular" 95 octane and "Premium" 98 octane Seriously though - as jplinville says - the US versions are fitted with the resistor to retard the ignition 6% so you CAN run on poor grade fuel/gas/petrol as that was/is all that was available in some states when the 107's were sold new. In the UK I use 95 RON most of the time but give mine a treat with some 98 RON occasionally - especially if I'm going on a longish trip - it does more MPG on the better fuel though not quite enough to compensate for the extra cost. Just to make you all feel better "over there" 95 octane is around £1.13 ($1.75) depending where you buy it at the moment and 98 octane is around £1.21 ($1.88) - THAT'S PER LITRE!! 4.45litres to the UK gallon!!!!! Happy motoring
__________________
Keep your Motor runnin' Jim's '88 300SL |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
6 degrees? Wow. That with all the cats, I can see why these are dogs when compared. I think I will pull mine and see what happens. We have 93 octane at many stations up here.
__________________
1991 560 SEL / 185k miles 1992 750il / 17k miles - project car |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
From the wikipedia.....You can look it up for more info. But essentially US octane rating is lower than European for exactly the same gas.
In most countries, including all of those of Australia and Europe the "headline" octane rating shown on the pump is the RON, but in Canada, the United States and some other countries, like Brazil[4], the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI, and often written on pumps as (R+M)/2). It may also sometimes be called the Road Octane Number (RdON), Pump Octane Number (PON), or (R+M)/2. Difference between RON and AKI Because of the 8 to 10 point difference noted above, the octane rating shown in the United States is 4 to 5 points lower than the rating shown elsewhere in the world for the same fuel.
__________________
Resistance is Futile. |
#11
|
||||
|
||||
use as high as you can find, tune to those specs and you will be happy and not worry about the $$
__________________
Ron 2015 Porsche Cayman - Elizabeth 2011 Porsche Cayman - Bond,James Bond Sadly MERCEDESLESS - ALways LOOKING ! 99 E320 THE Queen Mary - SOLD 62 220b - Dolly - Finally my Finny! Sadly SOLD 72 450SL, Pearl-SOLD 16 F350 6.7 Diesel -THOR 19 BMW X5 - Heaven on Wheels 14 38HP John Deere 3038E Tractor -Mean Green 84 300SD, Benjamin -SOLD 71 220 - W115-Libby ( my first love) -SOLD 73 280 - W114 "Organspende" Rest in Peace 81 380 SL - Rest in Peace |
#12
|
||||
|
||||
I believe octane recommendations have to do mostly with the compression ratio of the engine. The higher the ratio, the higher the required octane. That's the same engine my SEC has in it, I believe. I think it's the M117, which is a higher compression engine.
__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century OBK #55 1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles 2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles 2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles |
#13
|
||||
|
||||
yes but there are no cat's in the Euro models
__________________
Keep your Motor runnin' Jim's '88 300SL |
#14
|
||||
|
||||
Quote:
EDIT: Read post 4 in this thread for location and what it looks like... juice up the ignition?
__________________
1987 560SL 85,000 miles Meet on the level, leave on the square. Great words to live by Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread. - Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.
|
#15
|
||||
|
||||
Ya. I found it this morning. Took two seconds to pull. Just posted a blurb in tech. It really feels like another car. The throttle response alone is amazing. But I am going to go for 2 degrees to play it safe.
__________________
1991 560 SEL / 185k miles 1992 750il / 17k miles - project car |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|