86 Octane in a B4? What are you running? tips please?

[Awfiretto]

Hey all have done some searching with scattered results so here it goes!
(Legacy B4 RSK aka EJ20tt)

We are in Okinawa and bc of the earthquake in Japan we only have 86 octane available on base.

Off base you can get higher octane but I dont know where is the best and what kind to get? (all Japanese)

So how much power am I losing? Will octane boost help at all?

I seem to be having an issue with the 2nd turbo kicking in late or not at all and im wondering is the gas or is something else (vacum lines or fuel filter or who knows) Even my wife is saying it seems weak just driving it calmly to and from work. siggh

Any tips, suggestions, experiences? Greatly appreciated!

[httrdd]

Not sure on your cars but if you can only run a lower octane you can use a booster. If you can find a better ocane you can run that but for now you have to use what is available.

I am sure some of the Japan guys will chime in

[Yamazaki]

Hey all have done some searching with scattered results so here it goes!
(Legacy B4 RSK aka EJ20tt)

We are in Okinawa and bc of the earthquake in Japan we only have 86 octane available on base.

Off base you can get higher octane but I dont know where is the best and what kind to get? (all Japanese)

So how much power am I losing? Will octane boost help at all?

I seem to be having an issue with the 2nd turbo kicking in late or not at all and im wondering is the gas or is something else (vacum lines or fuel filter or who knows) Even my wife is saying it seems weak just driving it calmly to and from work. siggh

Any tips, suggestions, experiences? Greatly appreciated!
How do you have 86 available? The lowest grade in mainland Japan (and usually the only grade on US military bases) is 93 equivalent....
Having said that, the cars are supposed to run the high grade (95.5-ish equivalent), but the Americans all use the low grade (93) with no problems.

[Disclaimer: I am going off of the US Octane ratings, not the Aus/NZ ratings]

Oh, and you have an EJ206. EJ20tt covers ALL of the twin turbo engines. (It's a made up code anyway).

[rougeben83]

Just to go off with what Yamazaki was saying, the US cars do have a different tune compared to their JDM counterparts to account for the slightly lower octane gas.

However, in your case, I would try to get some octane booster to at least get the what I'm assuming to be regular grade gasoline (being on a US base, I'm guessing your octane is listed in the US grade) up to mid-grade/premium. The primary concern is that with lower-grade gasoline, your engine is more prone to detonation, the "widow-maker" of any engine and especially true to FI engines when theyre under boost. On top of the booster, I would also recommend staying off full or even any kind of boost completely until you can source the right octane gasoline.

Good luck out there.

[Awfiretto]

THanks for the response all. And Yamazaki thank you for the right model engine. I knew tt was a made up code was using it for identification of the twin turbo. And from my understanding it is a JDM engine/car being that we bought it here? I dont know for sure if anything was done to the ecu but I HIGHLY doubt it

We had 93 on base but the supplier said bc of the quake in mainland said we would be getting now 86 (US rating) for at least a few months. Not sure if that is BS or the truth we will see. SO for now all we have is 86 on base and all the octane boost are sold out on base. So I go to autobacs out in town to get elf octane boost.

IF I wanted High octane out in town its like 170 yen to the liter. Which when doing the math.. Thats one expensive tank. About 80yen to 1 usd. 4 liters to a gal = 680 yen a gal = around 8 bucks a gal x 14 = $112 .. No way the wife will go for that.. let alone me.

Im willing to put 3 even 4 if I have to of octane boost.. I just dont know the science behind it and if it will have a diminishing effect? Still googling that now.

And also hunting down a mechanic that knows the engines in and out. THERE HAS TO BE ONE with all the B4s on island

Thanks again. . anything I find out I will post. I am sure I am not the only one with this dilemma being that every 4 cars out here one is a B4. SO if anyone else is having the same issue performance wise? Or whatever your experience is with running 86 in a JDM B4 (the only kind lol) Please post.

[Dmang]

Autobachs FTW! I loved that place, where I discovered Initial D. Look for a car with D's garage or Team Hinga on it, ask for directions to Rob's shop. They do mostly rwd drifter cars but should be able to point you in the right direction. Last I remember it was out Gate 3, been 6 or 7 years since I was in Okinawa though.

[rougeben83]

Most of these boosters is just toloune (aka "rocket fuel") or similar petroleum product, with some small amount of proprietary stabilizer/cleaner that allows each company to brand their booster as their own. I know in the old days of crap-gasoline (70's), guys would just get toulene from the hardware store and mix that with their gas to raise the octane. It's usually cheaper than buying the labeled stuff. The octane of toulene is around 114. Moreover, your ECU will pull timing to compensate all or at the very least part of the reduced gasoline octane, thus protecting the engine from detonation. The engine will lose some power, and it may feel a little more sluggish, but it will be drivable as a daily commuter.

Just like I said before, just don't hammer on it until you get the right octane in there (reset the ECU too so the timing returns back to factory setting).

[Yamazaki]

Keep in mind that "B4" just means "Legacy sedan". So the RS B4s are able to run low grade gas much more easily than RSK B4s....

And that guy saying that because of the quake, you'll be getting 86 is crap. Hell, we lost some of our infrastructure, and WE still get the normal gas (93 and 95.5 on the US scale). I don't believe for a minute that they'd send such a low grade of fuel there. It'd be like if all of a sudden the US got 76 Octane fuel. It just wouldn't be allowed because of mechanical safety.

[Awfiretto]

Ya I have no clue why it's 86 now that you say that. But the pumps say 86 octane they changed all the stickers so?

I went searching for some Toloune today between the monkey hardware store and a random paint shop and wasn't able to find any. I feel confident that if I do it will sort things out till we get good gas if thats even gaining to happen.

I was half tempted to just use paint thinner but being that everything is in Japanese and I can't speak it yet I was too scared because I didn't know the ingredients of the stuff. All my research has shown that octane boost really don't do too much. Ya it helps a lil bit not anything worth getting excited about.

Toluene on the other hand seems to be awesome too bad you can't really find it anywhere ESP over here on Okinawa. Xylene is another along with meth/bez or something. All of which are in pair thinner depending on the type. We will see going to keep looking.

[Cervantes]

I was wondering the samething. I've been adding the fuel additive to try and help. My car was acting sluggish with the crap fuel.

[Nate_B4_Blitzen]

Hello folks!!! It has been awhile since my last post but I have been busy… I just recently moved to Okinawa and I have seen the 86 octane crap… My 03' Blitzen arrives on the island tomorrow and will be available to me later this week. I was so worried about running 86 octane through my engine that I have purchased a Snow Performance methanol injection Max MPG kit… It was a bit pricey but I will be able to run that gas with this lower Octane and Meth and push out somewhere between 105 - 112 octane… Preserving and improving performance while protecting the car. This is my 3rd time using Snow Performance and his Methanol Kits… Wish me luck with the install.

:smt023

[Cervantes]

I started fueling off base. There was no way I was going to continue using that fuel.

[Nate_B4_Blitzen]

I started fueling off base. There was no way I was going to continue using that fuel.

Good call on using the off base gas, I agree to NOT settling on using that gas as it will kill your engine. These cars weren't made for that low of a grade of fuel. I will make a DIY on the Methanol Injection kit and share the results… If it works well others can try it too...

[Cervantes]

Sounds good. It's costing me about ¥10,000 per fill up

[krot84]

In Israel we only have Ron 95 as it's the regular, it's price is a ~7NIS per liter its about $1.85 per liter.
The premium one is called Ron 98 - costs ~8.5 NIS per liter its about $2.24 per liter.
To say the truth i don't know anyone who uses the premium, not even guys with Mercedes or BMW.

[d1giPhux]

Haha the search engines are going to have fun with your words (meth kit)! I'd definitely like to see the methanol injection kit install when you make the DIY! :smt023

[Nate_B4_Blitzen]

Haha the search engines are going to have fun with your words (meth kit)! I'd definitely like to see the methanol injection kit install when you make the DIY! :smt023


Good catch! I changed it just for good measure… Methanol Injection Kit, lol... :smt028

[Nate_B4_Blitzen]

It's installed! I'm now running on 86 octane and 100% windshield washer fluid for an additive into my combustion chamber with outstanding results... My car is adding timing/ has 0% knock detected and eats it up like Japanese high octane gas.

[Cervantes]

i heard about it the other day. that's pretty awesome!