I was just playing. I knew what you meant because I used to be that way with Newports. Two packs of 100s a day! I'm glad I quit!

 

Do you worry about any damage being done to the car due to the use of the lower octane?

 

I wouldn't.

 

that is scary! You would not worry about the damage it may be causing??????? We really don't know the long term effect yet.

 

I highly doubt it is causing damage. Only place you'll see any sort of detonation in that car is in locations that have high ambient temps. and crappy gas, like AZ. I'm still going to run the cheap stuff and if I hear it pinging I'll step up to the next grade. The HHR is not a high combustion boosted motor, it's an economical 4 cylinder.

 

I think the effects of what detonation and pre-combustion will do have been known sice the time the first internal combustion motor was developed.

 

Boy Oh Boy! All I was saying is that we have no clue what it will do with our new "ECOTECH" engine, by the way are you a engineer or a mechanic? Just wondering.

 

"The HHR is not a high combustion boosted motor, it's an economical 4 cylinder."

Actually, the 2.4L Ecotoec in the HHR has a compression ratio of 10.5:1 - which is a rather high combustion engine by today's standards. This is the reason for the higher octane rating.

As far as damage, GM has put a pretty good engine management system in place, and with variable valve timing, anti-knock sensors, etc. You shouldn't sustain any damage unless you experience audible knocking.

I've run both grades in my 2.4L, and have seen noticeable improvements in both power and mileage using premium. Now that gas prices have subsided a bit, I will continue to run the good stuff. (*As a side note; a bottle of octane booster will set you back $5 or so - that's MORE than filling up with premium in most cases.)

Hope it helps,

 

Ok, I give. What are they? Maybe some excessive heat?

 

My 94 Camaro was 10.5:1, I think the GEN III motors are close to 11. This is the second board where I've seen people worried about damage to the motor, it won't happen. The car has at least 2 knock sensors, as soon as it picks up something like detonation it pulls timing to keep from damaging anything. Only way your going to break something is if you have a major problem, not the wrong octane, and the PCM can't pull anymore timing out. Run the lower octane stuff, only time you'll really notice and pinging or detonation is if it is really hot outside. If it pings or anything, then step up to the next grade. As far as octane booster goes, it doesn't do anything. It may raise the octane a few tenths but thats it. Dumping 110 octane booster into a tank of 87 may net you 87.5 octane. If you want to run an octane booster go to an art store and buy some toulene.