Believe me, I am KICKING myself for not following my instincts and using a higher octane gas in the Camaro, despite what the dealer told me. I won't ever buy the lower octane gas again.

 

well I would not do that ,we all kick ourself about something in life ,? what kinda miles you got on your 02 have you posted pictures ,I made my 95 look like an 02 ss clone after a wreck ,put a 406 carbed engine in it an it runs good ,but I have kicked myself as well the last few years too,now it loves octane booster hehehhe ,I have read up for me an mine only is to try 10% jet fuel or race gas ,then another thing gas has in it is toluene wich is 114 octane ,an has no an is pretty much what they make octane booter from .just no acetone in it 100% toluene ,my car seems to like about 94 95 rateing ,could turn down timeing more we did .but anymore would lose hp ,that's not for you though ,I hope runing some 93 works out though,mine is somewhat above stock now ,with some high performance parts ,but looking back I could have done an ls3 engine for about the same ,so I know about making mistakes ,it is what it is an runs great 2 years now

 

Fuel Octane is the fuels ability to resist detonation. Detonation is exposition in the cylinder that did not come from the spark plug. Detonation is caused by excessive heat which is normally caused by to much timing advance or too lean of a fuel condition. I have hear many times that detonation sounds like valve noise but to a trained ear it is easy to detect. Detonation normally only happens under load and the noise is very erratic or non-rhythmic. Detonation can damage a engine although is normally just small pits in the piston that over time will add up to damage. The pits themselves can make the detonation worse. If you run a engine with minor detonation it will be come worse over time.

Comparing your car to her car is apples and orange or apples and a lead pipes. Your cars fuel mixture and timing is based on how someone adjusted the carb and timing when it was put together. Its the same setup we had in the 70s. Her car has a computer monitoring fuel mixture and a knock sensor that can sense detonation and adjust the timing. So detonation can not happen in a modern car with a stock knock sensor. Car in the 70's can drive for years sounding like a rattle trap. Aftermarket sensor can be bought that are less sensitive then a stock sensor but those are mostly to avoid faults "knock" signals cause by larger timing chains or bigger cams. As a general rule very light detonation will not hurt your engine but the stock sensors are so sensitive that it will retard the timing long before the human hear can hear it.

With old school performance engines you really want to be 100% sure you do not have detonation because once the piston is pitted you will never hit the engine true potential. On the plus side a forged performance piston is less likely to pit then a stock cast or power metal piston would. I have a friend that runs his old dodge he had in high school. When he started playing with it he added an O2 sensor and a knock sensor and gages to monitor both fuel and knocking. It a nice setup if you have to run a carb. He can tune right at the track.

 

not compareing my car to hers thanks gorn ,it was clear if you read it says for me mine only not yours,i just recommend trying 93 octane an see what happens cant hurt was all ,why do you seem to only read what you think is convient for you ,I was only telling her about kicking myself for different things about my car,i no there way different no need to tell me all about like I have learned nothing I was the only one to mention octane rateing early on ,an I said we turned down my timeing as low as I can go without loseing to much hp iswhy mine is over 93 octane we have pulled my plugs at different times there just fine same set from new ,no detination ,iwas aslo told bye the engine builder it would like high octane ,but thanks for the schooling ,I allways learn something I just wonder do you think I know nothing about cars knock sencor or not I read at the ls1 tech that some guys get knock from using 87 octane an so all used atleast 91 ,an yes I have forged parts to

 

I just turned over to 120,000. Up until feb 2015, it was my only car. I never had many problems, to be honest. Very minor stuff like AC repairs and belts and things that tend to go bad in the hot sun in FL.
In 2010 I found a local shop with very good mechanic who also owned and restored Camaros, Vets, etc. he was great. but, he had a falling out w/the shop owner and disappeared. It was a 2 guy shop but the owner assured me he'd been working on the car too, so I stayed. That was the beginning of my problems. It seemed like something went wrong every month and I got the uneasy feeling that the owner hated working on the car. The breaking point for me was 2 days before Thanksgiving 2014 he was working on fixing an oil leak and he broke the transmission dip stick. he could not fix it and had to send me to another guy. But, here's the thing, he told me it would not leak overnight. The following morning, it looked like I had murdered someone in my driveway. I made it to the transmission place and after it was fixed, I started to drive it home and the SES light came on. I drove straight to my shop. He ran the codes and said it was nothing, have a good Thanksgiving and reset the codes. The next morning I drove to my mom's and it would not start. I am only giving you the short version, but that was it for me.
But I started to have even more problems and one bright light even told me my engine was "blown" and it wasn't worth fixing. I decided to just buy a new, cheap car-one I could pay cash for, and save up to fix the Camaro. And that's what I did in Feb 2015. But I kept searching around for a mechanic and finally, since I had dealt with the GM engine plant in upstate NY through my work, I called my contacts up there and they called the dealer closest to my house and I think that kept them honest for a while!
I had a 94 Z28 but was transferred to Albany, NY a year after I got it and I could NOT drive it in the snow, so I sold it and bought a Blazer, which I hated. A year later, the guys I worked with took pity on me and told me to go buy another Camaro and they'd pick me up for work on snow days. I bought a 98 Camaro SS-black. It was great but when I found out about the 2002 anniversary edition, I decided to buy one. But I was living in CT and there were none to be found. So, I had a dealer order me one of the last ones, to my specifications and I took possession of it Aug 2002.
It's in perfect shape...except for my recent mechanical problems. Not a scratch on it.
There is a pix in my album. I think you can see it in my profile, maybe?
Red, T-Top, black leather interior.

 

The only thing it will hurt with her going to 93 octane is her wallet. The book for my '97 (the black one) states minimum octane of 87 but for best performance 91 or better is recommended. Guess what I run in it? 87. Friend that owned it before said he ran 93 in it and didn't notice a difference. The red one, however, being modified and tuned specifically for 93 or better, my hands are tied on. Which is why I don't drive it much. $2.85/gal for 93 oct? The oil companies can shove it up their...

We are also comparing an iron block/iron head (406s engine) and my LT1 to an all aluminum LS. Not an all fair comparison. And as Gorn stated, one with electronics that prevent detonation.

 

I'm going to try the higher octane gas because, let's face it, it's STILL cheaper than a $4200 lifter job that I probably don't need.

 

that's weird MKCoconuts 93-97 my 95 hand book says min 91, at or below 87 you may get heavy knocking an most 87 is not 87 it says 89 at least the 97 has an lt1 so for those reasons alone I never ran 87 in mine ,it also says that a small ping was nothing with 91 now this is for the lt1 ,the ls1 as said 91 should be used for better octane an less knock I don't know how you get away with 87or use it but your choice oh your knock sencor protects you MK I would think as much as you love your car you would run atleast 89 ,I wonder if your 2002 book says a small ping an nothing to worry about MSpennyhughes . you guys may be comparing ,I am talking about regrets only just like the po ,an talking about guys that said that had problems running 87 octane at the ls1 forum ,so it can happen is my point an that trying 93 wont hurt ,when iwas paying near $5.00 for 93 octane $2.90 to me is cheap last year at this time I was paying 4.00 per gallon .so I am happy to be paying less ,though gas was suppose to go down to 1.00 for 87 an like 1.35 for 93 it did not get there ,yes nice car an pics just keep a close eye on things ,for me 93 has allways been better an I notice it burns slower in my 99 3800 as well so its different for different people but runing 91 or higher cant hurt until it gets back to $5.00 ,I don't mind paying a bit more ,I am thrifty just not cheap,i run 87 in my sable an my 99 base ,but I notice they both run better on higher octane ,stickin to it ,an again comparing my 406 to the ls1 you all started that one I clearly said those were things concerning my car engine only not the po an her 2002 ls1 an that I could have had ls3 an could regret it but for today cant couse my frankin car runs just fine 2 years now ,an all I talked about was that mine mine needs above 93 an loves it pretty much.an I would do the same thing if I got small ping go up in octane ,another thing we forget is in the fall they put more ethanol in the winter blend so that could be more then the 10 % recommended,

 

True and false. The octane on the pump is not always the number specified. BUT it is never lower than said number. It is illegal and a very hefty fine to both the fuel station and the supplier for it to be below the rated octane rating. That's why either beneath or above the number it says (Minimum Octane Rating R+M/2 Method). It however can be higher than said number.

Now, technically, you could get a lower octane if you put 93 in but the person before you used 87 because there's usually still a little left in the lines but the difference is so negligible it's not even funny. It might turn 93 into 92.6 at most.

I use 87 only in the black Camaro. It's all stock other than a cat back so there is no gain in running anything better. I also add Berrymans to each tank to each of my vehicles just as a routine item. I wouldn't dare put any less than 93 in the red one unless I wanted to destroy the engine. I don't love the black one. I may love the red one, but in the end, it's still just a car.

 

yes I agree same with mine anything under 93 would be bad for my engine too,we may play with timeing a bit more ,but it just loves a bit more then 93 an If I remember the timeing is down to like 13 to 15 Deg,wich at that time my friend said going lower would not be good for hp ,I guess what works for one another just varys ,keep us updated Ms pennyhughes on how using higher octane works out like said my hand book said an occasional knock was nothing under load with the lt1 ,so its my guess the ls1 would be similar as far as octane,yes I know these gas stations can get in trouble but they ussally get a warning from weights an measures before huge fines come into play ,an so many stations to keep up with ?,then also you see that station that is replaceing the tanks meens water is getting in the tanks most times or leaking ,an they have to empty them out too an replace so what kinda gas are we getting until they find that out