LR> I've none for some time that this was bogus advertising, the only
 LR> thing that higher octane gas does is it keeps high compression (or
 LR> highly timed) engine from pinging. Had a car a couple years ago that
 DD> I was chatting with a gasoline wholesaler today (I sell to the oil
 DD> trade), and he mentioned that using gas with too high an octane for the
 DD> engine can actually result in unburned fuel coming out the exhaust (the
 DD> higher the octane, the slower and more even the "burn" and you may not
 DD> have time to  burn all the fuel before the exhaust valve opens).
That sounds about right. Something I've noticed while watching drag racing
on TV is this huge vapor cloud coming out of the exhaust when they shoot
down the strip. 
Another form of bogus advertising I've come across is that installing what-
ever-brand "monster coil" will help your engine make more horsepower.
It does not take 45,000 volts to make the jump across a standard spark plug
that is found in just about every engine in every street car in America.
Although I've been told that such coils will help in engines that work in
the upper RPM bands, very few cars on the street ever see RPMs that high.
I put my '68 Impala 327 on a 'scope and found that plain old spark plugs 
gapped at 0.035" (thirty five thousandths of an inch) only needed 6,000 volts 
to
to jump the gap on the spark plugs with a stock Delco-Remy ignition coil.
... Catch the Blue Wave!
--- Blue Wave v2.12 [NR]
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