if you use bottled octane, make sure and get something that boosts your RAN by whole points, and not just tenths.. and make sure it says something about RAN on the bottle.. there is a ton of crap out there..

Octane is inert.. it doesn't go BOOM- it just tries to keep your AF mix from going BOOM before spark is applied.. If it goes BOOM before that piston reaches TDC (and the upmost reach of your crank and rods) you get ping, which is the piston trying to move down (because of the premature BOOM) against the will of the rod/crank.. Something has to give ultimately, and that is either holey pistons, broken rods, broken cranks.. none of those are fun, but a rod flying through the oil pan DOES have some entertainment value..

In a perfect world, that spark ignites the mix a fraction of a hair before the piston reaches TDC, which gives the mix a fraction of a second to reach it's full potential, which gives the expanding BOOM maximum downward force on the face of the piston.. Octane helps control the mix from igniting before the spark is applied, pretty much plain and simple.. Some tunes retard, where the spark isn't applied until the piston is topped out and headed down, some advance to get as powerful an explosion as possible whilst the effective volume of the cylinder is at it's absolute smallest.. those there engines NEED octane to keep that 'igniting of the BOOM' as precise as possible- or stuff breaks, and you get to see the entertaining episode of rods and caps through oil pans.. or hoods.. or hear a impromptu rock concert, or some other such not so good something..

oh- and, that racing fuel your using? it won't hurt your ride one bit.. it is pure and likely has zero ethanol added.. like recreational gas.. see if you can find a boat dock near your location that sells true 'not for highway use recreational gas', and get a tank of that.. hell, run the 87.. you'll be amazed at the difference.. get the 91/93 for the cleanest and quietest (as far as ping is concerned) gas you've ever ran- and watch how you pick up as much as 5MPG.. if you can keep your foot out of it.. which I bet you can't..

 

there are two parts for your answer
1. if the fuel is poor the engine would knock, but, modern engines have knock sensors. the computer retards the timing so it will not knock or damage the engine. this could explain the lack of power or response . higher octane fuel would stop that.

2. the oil companies latest scam, under cover of so called anti pollution measures (think paid off politicians here) is to remove the heavier hydrocarbons like toluene, which are sold for more money elsewhere..and replace it with ethanol. ethanol has less power potential in the average modern engine. it can damage some vehicles over time, despite the lies that are fronted. if fuel has too much alcohol...counter it with some toluene until the next tank. actually gasoline has been obsolete for 50 years. hydrogen can be produced very cheap, but, the fat cats in the govt are siting on the technology...they want to stay rich and powerful.

try a tank of high test to flush out the bug poison in your tank now.

 

I've love to see a picture of a Chrysler small block Magnum knock sensor.

 

Don't hold your breath on that.

I know, Look in the family album, for pics of YOU. There's your knock sensor.

 

Hahaha

 

I do like gas mileage but it is my weekend vehicle so I put up with whatever mileage it gives.

For me it's more about fine tuning it to run like I want it to rather than eek out mileage. With this gas I'm running now it's about the sound of the way it runs...crisper and more precise sounding, more relaxed sounding as if it is fighting itself less and of course the feel of it...more power at all RPM's, great grunty low end plus more overrev like it just got a couple hundred more useable RPM's before sign off.

This is the perfect kind of power increases for the type of duty I bought this truck to do...pull my camper and bikes around. Too bad I'll never be putting $10 gas in my tank to go camping. I need a low cost compromise. I'm sure I'll be all into it for a few months as I try out all the local brews, concoctions and local shaman trying to find my secret formula.

I probably almost shoulda gone with the diesel. In the end though it looks like I'm going to be able to make this Ram work just fine and it turns out I am ending up liking this big red pig quite alot. Still need some gears.

Who knows maybe at some point I'll apprach the experiment again from a mileage first priority angle.

 

When you drive your truck in the winter, it takes about 45 mins of straight driving for your truck to get to FULL operating temperature.

Example from Sunday:
1. Drove the truck 45 miles to give her some exercise
2. Took about 20 miles for her to get to 180*
3. Tranny temp gauge: took 20 miles to get to 95 degrees
4. Trans temp peaked at 110 when I was within a mile of my house on the way back.

The ATF COOLS your coolant as it goes through the radiator, thus bringing temps down in your engine until your trans fluid warms up. That is a reason that ATF is cycled through your radiator, the coolant warms the fluid.

SO you run in closed loop LONGER in the winter.

 

About gas, always go with name brands at stations that get a LOT of business. Gas is prone to being "more fresh." Got my best gas at a Sunoco on the NJ Garden State Parkway. There were 24 pumps and all them had LINES. I had to wait 20 mins to get a pump for 93 octane!!! The lines at the pumps looked like toll booth lines....even worse actually.

I get sunoco when I can. Won't get chevron because it is venezuela oil from their state owned oil company. Have never had a problem with Valero or conoco/phillips. But sunoco is my fav.

You just want gas that has additives in it to help clean your engine and stabilize the gas. Exxon, sunoco, chevron, Valero, all the name brands. My Father in law owns a gas station and he says, "Only buy name brands."

 

Mine is blowing warm air after about 3 miles and is blowing hot air at about 7 miles from the time I take off. I don't let it sit and warm up either. At about 6-7 miles after take off, the temp gauge is as hot as it's going to get.
I have a stand alone transmission cooler, the radiator is bypassed.