[mazta]

I was wondering if the new mazda 3 HB and Sedan recommends a certain octane for optimal performance.. I've heard since its a 4cyl engine, it would be ok for the engine to use regular octane..

so, regular octane is ok for all 4cyl engines? or higher than regular??

 

[rpc180]

recommended in the manual is regular octane (in the US that's 87) other countries use a different method to define grades, but its still regular grade that's recommended.

 

[dinu01]

Yep - good ol' 87 for NA.

 

[wahyinghung]

yes regular plus fuel injector would help.

 

[Bombadil]

Not only is 87 recommended, that's what the ECU is tuned for. No reason to use 89, 91, or 93. You won't get better performance or gas mileage by using higher octane gas.

The 2.3L engine is capable of producing more power with higher octane gas, if you had the right chip in the engine. The Japanese Mz3 does and thus it develops 170hp instead of 160hp. But without that chip, you are wasting your money using high octane.

 

[icecube]

how much is that chip in Canadian?

 

[zaimon]

There's no chip yet to boost hp... Look to about 6mo to 1yr for one to come, if one comes at all.

 

[Bombadil]

Mazda developed their own higher performance chip for 2.3L engines in Japan. But they detuned it a bit for NA, because of our lamp gasoline and a market goal of it not requiring high octane.

The higher performance chip is not available as a part.

It is a shame knowing that a chip is out there, specifically for this car, and would give you a 10hp boost with high octane gas, yet you can't lay your hands on it.

 

[dinu01]

Moved to Powerplant

 

[budgy]

Octane has nothing to do with engine size, it is directly related to dynamic compression and timing. But I have been using 87 octane with no problems.

The higher the octane the more resistance to burning the gasoline is and if your compression is not high enough to burn the higher octane you can also hurt your engine by using to high of an octane.

Oh, and never use octane boosters they are a big no-no!

 

[Gary]

I agree with budgy. For more info check this out.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm

 

[mz6zoomzoom]

Yeah no benefit has ever been shown to running >87 octane in a non JDM spec 2.3L engine (MZ6 or MZ3).

And yes, engine size has nothing to do with octane.