TwinTurbo.NET: Nissan 300ZX forum - I'm not arguing with you I just want to understand why that
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Subject I'm not arguing with you I just want to understand why that
     
Posted by zxtuner161 on January 08, 2007 at 5:55 PM
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In Reply To IF, you don't believe me call VP racing fuels, I used to posted by octavian-z on January 08, 2007 at 05:45 PM
     
Message 's possibel... ..heres what it says on howstuffworks....

"It turns out that heptane handles compression very poorly. Compress it just a little and it ignites spontaneously. Octane handles compression very well -- you can compress it a lot and nothing happens. Eighty-seven-octane gasoline is gasoline that contains 87-percent octane and 13-percent heptane (or some other combination of fuels that has the same performance of the 87/13 combination of octane/heptane). It spontaneously ignites at a given compression level, and can only be used in engines that do not exceed that compression ratio.

During WWI, it was discovered that you can add a chemical called tetraethyl lead (TEL) to gasoline and significantly improve its octane rating above the octane/heptane combination. Cheaper grades of gasoline could be made usable by adding TEL. This led to the widespread use of "ethyl" or "leaded" gasoline. Unfortunately, the side effects of adding lead to gasoline are:

Lead clogs a catalytic converter and renders it inoperable within minutes.
The Earth became covered in a thin layer of lead, and lead is toxic to many living things (including humans).
When lead was banned, gasoline got more expensive because refineries could not boost the octane ratings of cheaper grades any more. Airplanes are still allowed to use leaded gasoline (known as AvGas), and octane ratings of 100 or more are commonly used in super-high-performance piston airplane engines. In the case of AvGas, 100 is the gasoline's performance rating, not the percentage of actual octane in the gas. The addition of TEL boosts the compression level of the gasoline -- it doesn't add more octane."

a random noob once said: "I think its great that I can make a civilized post among you greater life forms and get my breasts ripped off by savage milk craving z people."

     
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