Posted by jeff on November 07, 1999 at 06:08:34:
In Reply to: Re: Performance Boost posted by Witch Doctor on October 26, 1999 at 01:07:11:
I don't mean to be a prick, but I am surprised at the lack of knowledge here. Gas companies have mislead the majority of consumers into thinking high octane = high performance. The only purpose of higher octane is to make the gas less susceptable to pre ignition. Higher octane will actually decrease the performance on most vehicles unless the compression ratio is high enough (10:1 or higher) to cause pinging. I have seen dyno tests on stock 5.0 mustangs on both low and high octane fuel and the low octane fuel actually produced more power (stock 5.0's have 9:1 compression). High octane is never bad for a motor, it will only decrease the ignitability of the fuel and will delay the explosion (further past TDC). As the savage has very low compression 8.5:1, Higher octane will most certainly not increase performance. Some ways of increasing performance are: better exhaust as most people here know, larger carb as some people here have suggested, higher lift cam, higher compression obtained by shaving the head or installing a high compression piston (although higher compression will necesitate higher octane and will increase operating temperatures which could wreck the motor quickly), porting and polishing of intake and head (will increase top end performance without doing any damage to motor). If you are really serious about getting more power, either go to a machine shop or motorcycle shop that has built up motorcycle motors before, tell them what you want and ask them what to do, or buy an intruder which is what I did. I like savages and I'd still consider buying one, but the intruder has way more power. Anyways good luck to those of you looking for more power, I hope you find it. Jeff