Originally Posted by NJspeed69
Most of you guys are making it sound like 87 octane is totally acceptable in this engine, when in fact it is not!
I'd have her put some octane booster in it asap.
Read the thread again, NJ.... I don't think anyone said or even suggested that 87 octane was okay. In fact most all know that it's bad news.
You were very right about adding an octane booster, like "104 Octane Plus". It's available at any autoparts store.
The key is that we have 10.0:1 compression. That's what dictates the higher octane fuel. Even retarding the spark won't change the octane requirement with a compression ratio that high. Lower octane fuel will predetonate (ping) and can and will do severe damage to your valves and pistons (burn and pit them). Lower compression engines can use lower octane fuels.