Great!!
Has hondata made a rom for our CRV's yet? They did a great job with the 2017 Civic's power.

 

My understanding is that Hondata is testing a CRV tune. Should be interesting!

 

Look forward to your 93 octane testing.

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Well I finally finished off the initial gas tank which was running between 69% and up to 84% knock control on what I believe was 87 octane which the dealer filled with.
When I put in Mobil 93 octane the knock control dropped dramatically within just a few minutes and settled at 54% which is as low as the knock control goes from my understanding.

Seems the ECU is quite sensitive to changes in octane and makes timing adjustments very quickly. We know that with the civic x platform which this engine is based on does benefit from higher octane on a dyno, though I have no idea if the CRV benefits if at all. But it's interesting to see how the ecu adjusts.

Also, the engine is pretty new, so I have not gone much above 4k rpms yet, but highest boost I have seen thus far is about 16psi at 4400 rpms.

I will post an update with 89 octane once I have it.

 

Yes please keep us informed. I only use shell 93 octane from now on no matter what the cost. I take very good care of my cars.

 

Knock control is changed...that is great, but what does that actually gain for the driver? There are other threads on this that one can read. I wrote one about some testing I did comparing operational costs between 87 and 93 octane gasoline over a 30 day period running under the same conditions. The 93 gave a very slight boost in mileage but at a great expense in the cost of the fuel. In the end I had something like a 15% increase in operating cost for a 3% improvement in "performance" due to the higher knock resistance. It doesn't take a NASA rocket scientist to figure out that this is a losing game as far as cost vrs. performance.

 

Dengine, thanks for posting your info.

Hans471+, I think this info is useful. Under certain conditions that increases the risk of knock, I would run 93 octane. For example, a fully loaded CR-V with summer heat driving up mountain roads.

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Subscribed! If for no other reason than that I find it interesting to quantify the ol' Butt Dyno.

 

Which vehicle did you do this test on? The CRV?

 

@Hans471 (forgot to quote)

 

Well the wife ran off about 1/2 tank of 93 so I ran a quick log and here is the screenshot. Stays mainly around 54% knock control with a slight jump to 60 % at the end . Will run 89 next to see how it adjusts knock control.
I never went about 4500 rpms or so as we are still in the break-in phase but the max I saw for boost on this trip was around 14psi (pink line) for anyone curious.

If anyone wants the raw file, send me a PM as I am noticing this is as blurry as can be.

 

The definition of Octane is: Fuels ability to resist spontaneous combustion from too much heat or pressure. Therefore running a higher octane would naturally reduce the knock control. The factors that determine what octane to use is engine design, load , and heat generated under driving conditions. Honda has determined that good ole 87 is sufficient. Having said that, other conditions may exist to warranty the use of higher octane fuel on a more personal level. Mountain driving, towing, hauling a lot of cargo, high ambient heat, etc. It is nice to have the data to back up the facts of higher octane in use, but do not think that higher octane is always better. Too high of an octane can cause performance problems of their own.

 

I went and filled up with 89 today and ran a log for about 10 minutes. Results look good from a knock control perspective. Control jumped quickly from 54%to 60% but pretty much stayed below that threshold in the 10 minutes of logging after filling up.

Again, this is not to sway you one way or the other as to what fuel to run, but here is the data I have noted. Take it for what it's worth. And stick with top tier gas no matter what as these DI engines like to clog up valves and intakes. (hopefully not this one)