93 or 87, What does your Fiz drink?

[chunkygoat]

This thread is similir to the other threat i posted in this forum, but I felt this issue did not get resolved fully.

A handful of people tell me the FZ6 is designed to run on 87 octane fuel - and that to uitilize the full potential of higher octane fuels such as 93+, that you would need a fuel injector specifically designed with more compression.

Now the rest of the world tells me to put 93 octane in my fiz. I am told by multiple guys at the dealer, all of my buddies who race cars religiously, as well as by others on this site.

Supposedly higher octane fuels such as 93 and higher have a better storage quality, and reduce gunk build up (due to less additives in the fuel) ultimately resulting in a healthier, long lasting engine life.

I want to resolve this and assure myself I'm using the highest quality fuel to feed my baby. Does anybody have a link to a PFD of the 08 fz6 service manual and OWNERS manual? This could help as I cannot find mine - DOUGH.

 

[Sosu2211]

Here in France we only have 95 or 98, with Yamaha recommending only 95... I use good brands, and never seem to have any problems with bad fuel.

 

[Doorag]

98 here as well.

 

[Wildcard]

2007-Owners-LIT-11626-20-60.pdf

Page 29

Your Yamaha engine has been designed
to use regular unleaded gasoline
with a pump octane number
[(R+M)/2] of 86 or higher, or a research
octane number of 91 or higher.

 

[Howattzer]

Octane ratings world wide are not consistent. 87 here in Canada is about the same quality as 93 in the US (this is a generalization, please don't flame me because your fuel station doesn't fit the average). Not sure about Europe but I imagine quality of fuel in Europe is even higher. I use everything from 87 up to and inclding 94 and have never had a problem, nor have I noticed a difference. It really just depends what mood I am in.

As you can see in the above post, pump octane numbers and research octane numbers are different, so double check what is posted on the sticker on the pump. Different areas may have different laws regarding which have to be posted.

 

[RyanK]

For me, it depends on where I get my gas from...

If I get cheap gas (Ingles, WalMart, Spinx, ElCheapo, etc.) I get premium, as 87 runs like crap (rough idle, all around rougher running).

If I get good gas (Shell is my fav., Amoco, etc.) I can run 87 just fine. If I get 93 from Shell, I notice a 1-2 mpg improvement too :thumbup:.

 

[billm]

Just use the 87 Octane at the pump here in the US! It's what the manual says to use anyway!
When I got mine I asked the prev. owner what he put in & he said he always used "High Test" -that means he put 93 Octane in it exclusively. Well I used up what he had left in the tank & filled up again w/93 figuring this was a hi-tech engine since I came off a Sportster & that certainly wasn't a hi-tech engine. Didn't have a manual until I accidentally found this Forum & joined. With it I downloaded a manual & then there was a thread about proper fuel to use on here. So I next filled up w/87 octane & have never looked back since & it never ran any different w/the 87 over the 93 anyway. Of course my first 1.5 tanks on 93 was when the bike was very new to me, so I'm not gonna say equivocally that 87 will give the same perf. as 93, but I think 87 is the fuel to use period!

 

[CanadianFZ6]

This thread is similir to the other threat i posted in this forum, but I felt this issue did not get resolved fully.

A handful of people tell me the FZ6 is designed to run on 87 octane fuel -

Not just a handful of people, you manual says this as well... page 3 -12 quote "Your Yamaha engine is designed to use regular unleaded gasoline with a pump octane number of [(R+M)/2] of 86 or higher"... I have used regular unleaded for all my bikes (octane 87) with no problems. Unless knocking or pinging occurs, using a higher octane is just wasting your money... Unless of course you have one of those "special" 5-speed FZ6's, then you'll need 93 octane or higher...:spank:

 

[boo68]

I only use 93, as my husband and I always fill up at the same time.. and he pumps 93 into his carburated engine, always has. I get great gas mileage, over his, although he has a 1200 so that is to be expected. he is jealous that he fills up and he just tops mine off

Deb

 

[MarinaFazer]

89 Pump in Los Angeles CA. Ran like a champ at the track too with 89.

Maybe next time I'd put 93 for the track, but yea...works fine. You're gonna get a LOT of different answers on this controversial thread which has been brought up multiple times.

Make a poll with the three United States options of 87, 89 and 93.

 

[616ah]

Generally, Octane requirements of any engine are a direct result of the compression ratio and engine design (disregarding things like forced induction). So if the engine is designed to run on regular - there should be no problem. Useing a higher octane fuel won't hurt anything, but really isn't necessary in our case IMO.

The octane rating is actually a measurment of the speed that the fuel burns, controling the rate that the cyl builds pressure, and keeping damaging detonation or pinging from occuring. Preventing detonation or pinging is the main focus of useing a higher in number octane, slower burning fuel.

In answer to your question - I use regular, as the manual states, and have yet to hear any pinging, even if I lugging the engine at low RPMS. Seems weird to me with such a short stroke, high perf engine.

Now the flip side is that there has been rumored a difference in ethanol content between regular and premium.... That right there might be somthing to consider.

 

[2004Ralli//art]

yeah...ya'll are going to love this...in Lubbock our gas octanes follow: 86...89....91...we get screwed over here in west texas

 

[04fizzer]

87. Period. Anything more is a waste of money.

 

[Denver_FZ6]

Thought someone had posted dyno results using reg and prem gas, with regular producing best power. Anyone recall this?

 

[jamesfz6]

I run the cheapest closest fuel.

 

[wolfc70]

Thought someone had posted dyno results using reg and prem gas, with regular producing best power. Anyone recall this?

The above is true on engines designed to run on 87 octane. Why? The higher the octane number, the higher the fuel has resistance to preignition. In other words; it is harder to ignite. Unless you are experiencing detonation, anything higher is wasting money.

Some engines may respond better to a higher octane fuel and achieve better MPG, but those engines use much more advanced engine management systems than the FZ6 has. A 1-2 MPG improvement is so slight that atmoshperic conditions are more likely a culprit than a higher octane.

Running a higher octane will not hurt anything, it is just that unless you have modded your bike, there is little benefit to premium. A good quality 87 gas will have more than enough detergents/cleaners to keep your fuel system healthy. So in the end, run what ever lets you sleep at night.

 

[D-Mac]

87 (US) is all you need and what it's designed to run on. This topic has been beaten to DEATH on many websites. Looks around and you'll find nearly as many threads on this topic as on brands/types of oil.

My dealer thought the FZ6 had CARBS. Tells you what most of them know....

 

[fz6nick]

It will cost you less than one dollar more to fill up on premium. with people saying 1-2mpg more at 4 gallons thats 4-8 miles more on one tank. at 40 mpg is 1/5th of a gallon. 1/5 of 3 dollars is what 60 cents? so you are losing maybe, 20-30 cents per tank.

 

[FZ1inNH]

Only ever 87. I found no reason to run anything priced higher other than to drain the wallet a little bit faster. There's no knocking or pinging and I have more power than I can use on the street without being a hooligan.

Perhaps at higher elevations? Don't know...

 

[segue00]

Sunoco's here have 87, 89, 91, 93 and 95, (R+M)/2.

I tried all of them. Stuck with 87 from anywhere that's cheap getting 47-52 mpg.