Death comes to us all. Life's but a walking shadow | Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. Modern engines with knock sensors and computer control can use lower than 87 octane by delaying fuel injection and ignition in order to limit maximum head pressures. Unfortunately this means that thermal efficiency will also suffer so that instead of the 25% thermal efficiency for modern engines they will drop back to the 20-21% of the older engines. I wonder if the fuel manufacturers and dealers will price it accordingly or keep the same price for less performance? For that matter have those people buying 85 octane gasoline in the mountain states been paying less or have the suppliers just been collecting the extra money all this time?
What is even more interesting is that one of the major complaints of the anti-ethanol crowd is that 15% ethanol can't be used because it isn't approved. Now I haven't heard of any labels on mountain state gas pumps saying "Contains 85 octane fuel not approved for engines operating below 3000 ft" for example. What about those people who purchased 85 octane in western South Dakota and drove to Minn. and had engine failure? |
Oil & Ethanol and the price of corn
