From Octane 91 to Octane 94 on XRS

[silver04rollas]

I today for the first time experimented with three grades of increase in octane to measure the performance differences (from the seat of my pants, ofcourse) by using Husky Oil Company Octane 94 High Performance Plus. WOW! What a difference. It is not a massive difference between the performance using the two grades, but it is a phenomenal one for sure. I fill my tank up with Octane 94 and then drove on open roads and twisties to check the difference. Ofcourse, the response difference was apparent almost instantaneously. Yes, I have used Octane 91 for the last four months so these differences are no exaggerations. Just the facts. Here is my break down:

1 - Car feels almost 90 - 100 lbs lighter right across the power band with the tank full and more importantly more low end torque.

2 - The car picks up more quickly and the clutch grab is very smooth with no jerks. Something I struggled with off the line using Octane 91 since I could not attain the smoothness once the clutch grabs in 1st. This means when you press the gas off the line and let off the clutch, the car gets into motion very smoothly and picks up fast. Samething goes for shifting at 8500 rpm.

3 - Car sounds and feels eager to rev high a lot more than before. Just let loose of your foot on the gas pedal and the needle zooms up to higher reaches.

4 - Lift kick is harder and sounds more aggressive and louder. Revs to the redline quicker.

5 - More low end torque makes it easier to accelerate in higher gears at low speeds.

6 - No affect to the lift engagement point. It still engages at 6500 rpm or so.

In the end, I am sold on Octane 94 even though it is substantially more expensive and I will be using this from now on. I am more happy about the gains at the low end and smoothness in shifts since they are more applicable on everyday city driving and I find it worth the extra money. I would recommend people with XRS Corollas and S/Céd Corollas to try higher Octane especially 94 and see if you feel the same positive difference as I did. It is a big surprise for sure. I will hit the drag strip this spring with Octane 94 for sure.

[virtualkuz]

While going from 91 to 94 may make some difference your claimed improvements are probably going a bit far. I have noticed that my XRS runs a little better on the 93 octane Sam's club sells here than the 92 and 91 that most of the other gas stations have. However, I think you may be suffering from the placebo effect for a lot of your claims. Sorry

[BenG]

The performance loss from using a lower grade fuel than specified is much more noticable than using a higher grade fuel in a vehicle designed for lower octane.

I don't doubt that he feels all those changes...but I think he's just overly excited when describing it. Not the placebo effect... more like 'wow I love my car' effect

[virtualkuz]

91 octane is what the XRS is rated to use. That is the bare minimum "premium grade."

[albertmdh]

I agree, kuz, I ussually just go for cheapo 87, and i tried out 91 last week, quicker shifts was the only difference i saw, and a bit more pickup in 5th gear from 70-80 mph. 30mpg, down from 38 with regular. suspicious. maybe just sheetz selling sheet.

[BenG]

Originally Posted by virtualkuz

91 octane is what the XRS is rated to use. That is the bare minimum "premium grade."

Ohhh..hehehe... I didn't know that...then it probably is a bad case of "WHOO HOO! I LOVE MY CAR"

[silver04rollas]

No it is the minimum required not the recommended. Read the back of your manual. The exact words around: 2ZZ-GE : Octane 91 (Research Octane 96) or higher. It is a well known fact that high compression engines (not cars with normal compression) are bound to be affected by the Octane level you use. Although, the gas station advertised that they have a high level Ethane content on the Octane 94. Not sure how that would affect the performance. If you use it in a car that is designed to run on regular gas, there will not be not affect. I would guess that I am sounding biased, but I am 100% sure it is not. Usually with a full tank of gas, I am not able to pick up this fast. The shifts is generally agreed by everyone. As for revs climbing up, I remember clearly that at half throttle the revs do not climb this fast with 91 Octane. I have used Octane 91 for the last 4 months and by now the behavior and response in various gears have been imprinted in my mind and when there is a radical difference, I am bound to notice that. No it is has nothing to do with me liking my car so making fun of me would be unnecessary. In the end, just thought I share my thoughts and I believe there is no bias here, but I am sure it is not a placebo effect and no one is obligated to believe me. Period.

Originally Posted by virtualkuz

91 octane is what the XRS is rated to use. That is the bare minimum "premium grade."

[REN69]

Pop a bottle of 104 Octane boost and see how that car flies.

[BenG]

silver04rolla....I wasn't doubting what you felt... It's your car and any change you make to it will seem super significant... but the butt dyno usually over exaggerages things...

[TekPhobia]

Those little bottles of octane booster are gimmicks. What they don't tell you is that they raise the octane by POINTS; i.e., 91.2, 91.3, etc.

Real men make their own octane.

-Tim

[djwolford]

Real men pick up 100+ octane gas at thier local speeeeeeeed shoooop. I'm not a real man I guess.











Yet.

[coogarxrs]

i dint think it made that much of a deal. i never tried the 94 tho. the thing that i think made the most difference was the synthetic oil. with reg toyo oil my car is feelin sluggish. BTW, djwolford which injen CAI did u put on?

[djwolford]

The 04+ Matrix Xrs intake. I've been worried about it because I've heard all of the horror stories about the oiled filter and maf failure, but so far I haven't had any problems out of it. I should be hitting the dyno in a few weeks(If I can find time.), maybe I can get some pictures up and dyno results soon.

[silver04rollas]

It would be great if you can get some dyno tests. It would be interesting to see how much wheel horsepower you are putting down. I would guess based on seeing Matrix 04-05 XRS dynos (with the same engine tuning) that it must be around 155 - 157 whp stock and 3 whp for the intake.

Originally Posted by djwolford

The 04+ Matrix Xrs intake. I've been worried about it because I've heard all of the horror stories about the oiled filter and maf failure, but so far I haven't had any problems out of it. I should be hitting the dyno in a few weeks(If I can find time.), maybe I can get some pictures up and dyno results soon.

[coogarxrs]

whoa, whoa. i def say that hes putting out like 155whp from all the mods. lets not forget that stock we are putting out just shy of 150. (as from a dyno result of stock rolla and from toyotaparts4u.com).