Does anybody on here know how they determine octane fuel rating?? Do they use specific gravity, if so where would one get the proper hydrometer??

The reason I'm asking is because the other day I filled the L up with $3.65/gallon 93 octane. A couple of day's later I went WOT throttle and when I got to third I heard detonation. I quickly got out of the throttle and haven't been back into on this tank!!
This was on my street side too, with a very fat AF!! I instantly looked down to see if my God son had accidently switched the toggle to the race side but it was on the street side.

Thanks in advance!
Search Police, yes I did use the special button!!
Bryan

 

Good question! It would be nice to find out if we could easily "sample" the fuel we were about to pump to determine the "quality." I've always wondered if I'm getting what I paid for. I know that in my state, Michigan, there are currently only 18 fuel inspectors whose job it is to test "purity" at the pump for the entire state. I'd guess most other states aren't in a much better position to test fuel quality either.

 

There is a local Exxon station here that got busted about a year ago for selling 87 octane in all 3 pumps. Needless to say the station owner had to file bankruptcy from all the fines and now it's owned by someone else. I'm curious if anyone who regularly used that station was compensated for the difference in price. I'm glad I didn't buy gas there.

 

I've worked in refinery operation for 28 years. Octane rating is measured by costly / special "Knock Engines" in Refinery Labs or in on line Mogas blender analyzer's used in gasoline blending facilities. It is way to costly for the consumer to measure octane rating. If you have concerns about product quality you should contact your State / County Bureau of weights and measures. The penalities for marketers / refiners to falsely advertise a product (lower Octane than advertised) are severe. The only thing that gasoline marketers can do legally is to downgrade the higher grade gasoline to the next lower grade (ie; Premium to Mid-grade, or Mid-grade to Regular) and sell the product at the lower grade pricing. This done occasionally (behind the scenes & without fan fare) to cover temporary volume shortages of the lower grade product. Even this is not determined as acceptable buy regulators / consumers as a long term solution as the consumer that is paying premium pricing for a higher grade of gasoline could have bought the same product grade for less when marketers down grade product.

 

Last year my truck threw a rod (or three) just minutes after filling up with "93" octane at a station that I used occasionally. I had a safe dyno tune from JDM and was on my street program. I was cruising at 60mph on highway and went to pass a car at about half/3/4 throttle and Wham, bye bye engine. I still wonder if I had been sold bad gas, my receipt said 93. It was a mobil station. I figured there was no way for me to prove it so I never persued the matter.

 

b/c i race a lot and to be on the safe side in case of the occasional bad tank, i run between a 10:1 and 12:1 toluene mix. it's 114 octane unleaded and a 10% mix is totally safe for the engine and cats. that's an approx 95.1 octane rating mix with 93 octane fuel. the price hasn't seemed to go up any like gas, however, beware that there is a massive markup on this item. the first gallon i bought this summer was $7.30 and the second one was 10.xx which I didn't realize until i checked my receipt at home. a couple weeks later they tried to charge me 12.50 for a gallon and i said "what the hell is up with 3 different prices, 3 times in a row?". The guy hit a few buttons on the register and said, "sorry about that, how does $7.30 sound?". Just watch out for that kind of price gouging on this stuff.