Stop THROWING MONEY AWAY at The Gas Pump! πΈβ½οΈ Octane Explained
Gasoline isn't just one single chemical. It is made up of various hydrocarbons, including octane, and it will behave differently when there are different percentages of various hydrocarbons and other chemicals. This video's goal is to keep you from throwing money away at the pump by having "octane" explained simply yet thoroughly. This isn't quite an "explain like I'm five" situation, since there are lots of people making claims about octane's ability to improve fuel mileage and performance that are either not true, or are misleading without context.
Where I grew up, normally I would encounter 87, 89, and 93 octane rating fuel options, with the occasional 91 next to premium. My father did a good job of explaining why I didn't need to use expensive gas, but I didn't look into the science until years later.
0:00 β’ Introduction to Octane
0:30 β’ Preignition: When Combustion Happens Too Soon
1:10 β’ Knock: Who's There? Colliding Flame Fronts
1:32 β’ How to Pick the Right Fuel
2:01 β’ What is Octane? (Chemical Octane Versus Octane Rating)
2:26 β’ Hydrocarbons: It's What's For Dinner, if You're an Internal Combustion Engine
3:18 β’ Octane Rating Systems
4:56 β’ Is 100+ Octane Possible?
5:16 β’ Does a Higher Octane Fuel Improve MPG/Performance?
5:42 β’ What Happens if you use a Lower Octane Rating Than Recommended?
6:08 β’ The High Octane Placebo Effect
6:35 β’ High Octane Fuel's Secret Helper
7:34 β’ Ethanol: High Octane Corn Juice
At around 6 minutes, I wasn't specific about what "most cars" I was referring to. I meant "most forced induction cars", and technically even the most modern ones are still losing the slightest bit of power at high altitudes. Boost pressure controlling has major benefits at high altitude, though.
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