What are the differences in efficiency for different Octane fuels in a common car?

Question

What are the differences in efficiency for different Octane fuels in a common car?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Octane is a measure of a fuel’s resistance to combustion. Inside the engine you want the fuel to burn at a specific time controlled by the engine’s computer. If it ignites before that it can cause engine damage but the engine’s computer can detect premature ignition and retard timing which causes it to run in a less efficient manner only if the engine requires higher octane gas.