S2E8: We dyno test several fuel grades to see if good gas is better than cheap gas for small engines 

Yay, this is great! Always get in debates with people sticking 100 octane in a stock 212.

You need to do a test with "non ethanol" fuel too. I'm curious if that fuel actually makes a difference

The fact that this is obviously a ludicrous hobby project for fun, and so many people are picking apart your methods for testing absolutely boggles my mind! It's obvious you have put a lot of effort into testing and design, keep doing what you do. I enjoy watching this project grow!

Thanks for the METRIC conversion!. Love this project

The 93 octane made less power because ethanol has less energy than gasoline, causing it to run lean. If you retuned the carburetor for e22, you'd get a more normal idle speed and approximately the same power as the other 2.

Love it. PLEASE test water meth injection, both port injection for cylinder cooling/octane boosting, and on the end of as long an intake tube as the engine can handle for evaporative cooling to lower IAT

I Tried to mow her lawn, and she called me a perv and now i am on the registry! Thanks Robot Cantina. Writing to you from the pen house, your fan.

Yes, do more tests with EFI + 93 octane and E85, also it might be fun to try to get it running on propane which has octane number over 100.

The methanol/H2O injection should be fun to test. Fuel injector placement can also help lower intake temps.

1:11 I find it weird that people have the nerve to tell You’re wasting your time with that engine I have a feeling They’re wasting their time in the comment section. This is very interesting and I love watching anyway so People will be who they are that’s what’s makes the world go round.

I'm not necessarily a car guy but this series has taught me more about cars than I've learned in my life.

Good to see people use old laptops! Love that you are using a old Acer and not making more e-waste.

The reason for the horsepower less is the lack of compression ratio in order to take advantage of the higher-octane rating, just like if want more torque from the engine you need make the intake runner longer just like with long tube header vs short tube header but with more than one cylinder which makes use of exhaust scavenge effect, now as for the cast flywheel it helps maintaining rotating mast which go for torque and lighter billet it aids in faster RPM for horsepower.

Here in Germany we got "ARAL Ultimate 102". It's pricey, but has 102 octane🙂 Edit: your explanation at the beginning is true! It's a hobby. The purpose of a hobby is to put as much time and money you can get, put into something that serves almost no purpose 🤣

I always say when stuff doesn't work get a bigger hammer!! I think this is the best content on RU-vid. Hard to wait a week to see the next episode. Whistling the theme right now.

I don't have scientific data, but I think plenty of perfectly nice weekends are being given over to the binge craze. We are binge - watching videos from ROBOT CANTINA😛😛😋😋

I have never thought about how different gas can be. Even when it's labeled as one thing it really is a crap shoot. Kuddos to Jimbo for such an informative vid!

Yes! Please do a 93 octane map for the boosted engine

Another good video. This video perfectly illustrates what many competent engine builders know, in that higher octane gas does nothing for more power on a standard engine. I always cringe when I hear people say they put premium fuel in their vehicle so it has more power and better gas mileage . While premium fuels can have some benefits, unless your car requires it or is a built higher compression engine, a vast majority of those benefits are lost in standard engines. Keep up the good work Jimbo!

Interesting set of experiments! This channel is never boring 🙂

I just want to salute you for doing this experiment to answer questions nobody asked. I love your spirit of curiosity!

Thank you for this fun journey. Yes water is wet. And the lower the octane the bigger the boom

I’m learning a lot binge watching your channel. Love it!

I just loved the opening speech! Keep up the good work!

Ive always liked this channel (been on board since episode 5ish), It feels a bit like a collab between Chris Fix and Project Farm (both excellent channels)

I slap that LIKE button before the video starts. Every time!

My engine requires high octane with no ethanol real pain in the butt. Nice work on your experiments great information for the automotive enthusiast. That are always looking to learn more

I hear so many people say they’ve been told to use premium in their one cylinders. I always respond with its a waste of money. I’ll now reference this video from now on. Thanks for testing this!

I run 2 snow stage 2.5 wmi kits for a over a year. Been flawless.

Yes I've neglected to mow my lawn all this spring, and just mowed it for the first time in the season couple days ago. Thank you for reminding me.

I for one appreciate the frivolousness of using these engines in the car, but that certainly adds to the entertainment value of the project. This is really pretty interesting in all honesty.

This video more or less confirmed a thought of mine that I've had for the past year or so. There was a thread bouncing around on Facebook for awhile where a lot of people were reporting for a few months that they were getting terrible fuel economy. I was one of them...I noticed that from approximately November of 2020 to June of 2021 I averaged only 14.4 MPG in my Ford F-150. With absolutely no change, I randomly began averaging from July of 2021 until October of 2021 17.5 MPG. Then in November of 2021 to March 2022 I went back down to between 14.5-15 with no changes to driving characteristics or modifications to the vehicle. In April of 2022 I went up to 18.2 and even occasionally hitting 19 even MPG. I suspected it had something to do with the E content of the fuel possibly fluctuating and after watching your video, I decided to do exactly that. I took gasoline both 87 and 93 I had in my shed that I purchased in the tail end of February/Early March for my four wheelers and compared it to the fuel I'm getting now and...you're right, even here in Kentucky it seems that prior to April of 2022 the E content of the fuel was for me...between 8-12% but fuel purchased post April of 2022 fluctuated between 4 and 6%. So...I appreciate your video simply because I didn't think about the E content having such a wide gap between consistency.

I love the journey this channel is taking. So many twists and turns. Like a good detective novel or Marvel Movie!

Where did you go jimbo. My Sunday ritual was all out of whack.

Even if it's the hard way to do it, this has been a fantastic lesson in engine fundamentals. Been following since the start.

SOoo Cool to see a fresh Robot cantina Video! I have to admit that your experiments fascinate me. Besides that i really have nothing more to say.

Great, really nice to see that much of cool information! Also I missed the outro pan and music.

It takes higher compression to take advantage of the higher octane. Higher octane resist detonation. There are formulas to find the right octane for an engine.

Great q&a thanks!!

Beautiful science and testing! Much respect!

I estimate there was almost 6.5 ml to maybe 7 ml of ethanol in that gas (7 ml = 5.5 grams of ethanol, added to 20 grams of water, est. 0.95789 g/ml density for that mixture at room temp, so the volume would be 26.6ml, which is about what we see, a little bit over). Not really the biggest deal, but it's easy to underestimate ethanol if you add it to water and measure the volume, because the volumes don't add, the mixture "contracts".

The utter absurdity of this whole exercise is what hooked me from the beginning!

Love a good Robot Catinia video in the morning.

Given the videos are so interesting and of high quality… Im surprised there aren’t at least 1M subs

Something I want to try is putting a drive pully from a torque converter on the motor and a normal v belt pulley on the transmission side

Saw the partial title "We dyno several fuel grades to see if good gas is better..." and was like "Oh yeah, I can watch this for my car. (a 320hp 6-cyl)... then saw this was Robot Cantina :\ lol

Learned something again! Thank you :D

These results make perfect sense. Higher octane fuel is inherently less energy dense. If you don't have an engine that is specifically designed / tuned to run higher octane fuel you're going to get less power from it. The advantage of higher octane fuel is that it can be compressed/heated more before it spontaneously combusts/pregnites. If the engine isn't designed to take advantage of this it's going to make less power then if you use lower octane fuel

This series is awesome! I’m looking forward to more supercharger videos and would love to see a dyno test! It would be great to see the power gained by adding an intercooler too.

Awesome testing! I'd love to see you do some with BSFC numbers.

Love your work, Jimbo 👍

Thank God, my beer was missing this channel.. O sorry I was to. Glad your back doing what you do. Stay safe my friend!

While I find this all very interesting, what has happened to the gnomes? No havoc from them means....? Keep on doing your thing. It is fun to watch! 😁

It’d be really cool to have a dyno harness for the EFI - since those street rolls take a country mile and a half to test - and you could easily stethoscope it to listen for rattles. I have a twin 212cc drift trike on twin torque converters that could also benefit from a better 3k-6k powerband. The timing keys are a best-guess and I also skipped the billet flywheels because I thought the advance was too much, myself. I have toyed with the idea of demi-turboing it. That’s twin motors, one turba.

Hey, I DID mow the lawn. Probably the most exciting thing to happen this year. OK, these videos are pretty darn exciting... Yeah, you win.

Here is something that many people do not know about the fuel industry - MID grade gasoline is unusually a blend pulled from both the Premium tank and the Regular tank. The octane rating is a computation of the blend mixed using proportional valves within the dispenser. Very, very, very few fueling stations have an actual Mid-Grade blend in a tank.

I'm here for the ridiculousness.

And to even further muddy up the waters, each of those variants of ethanol content fuels have different stoich AFR's. If E10 was exactly at 10% the Stoich AFR would be 14.1:1 and that tested 22% ethanol content 93 oct, stoich would be 13:1 AFR.... It's almost like one would need to install and set up in the EFI an alcohol fuel sensor just to run pump gasoline anymore

This endeavor is awesome!

Great work Sir thank you

You should use 93 in 420cc. It will let you make more boost without knock

Identical fuels save for octane rating, you lose energy density with higher octanes; higher octanes prevent detonation during compression, so that higher compression ratios, more timing advance, and forced induction may be used. But they're otherwise detrimental, again all other things being considered equal (I did not have any part in producing the fuels you tested) Also....though ethanol has a lower energy density than gasoline, when burned at stoich, it will make just a little more power than gasoline, and you can advance the timing more to make even more power

You’re actually helping me. I’m thinking of using a 420 for a diy knock off Morgan 3 wheeler

Have had a gardening company for 23 years. Been running 87 octane in everything and chamion semisynthetic 2 stroke oil just fill a 12oz gatorade botttle to the brim dump it in 5 gal gas. Let mix on the drive to the job. Faouled a plug or 2 in 23 years but never burnt up a 2 stroker. I run em WFO

Yes, this project IS pointless, and there are an almost infinite number of more suitable engines....... BUT, this doesn't detract from how entertaining and interesting this series is. And when you think about it, most hobbies can be seen as a totally pointless waste of time and money to people who don't indulge in them.

That was really interesting, using the Gumby engines is far more entertaining than going the easy route with a bike engine.

Nice video. If it's the same regulations as where I'm from, E10 stands for "up to 10% Ethanol". And it will vary depending on season and supplier. It's especially true for E85, they may go as low as 50% during winter to help with starting up the engine.

Aw man, the suspense was killing me! I am so anxious to see how the Robomobile performs after a good tuning :D

An adventure is never a waste. You're going extremely tiny on engines, but most people don't notice most cars could actually use a 500cc engine and be able to go up and down the highway perfectly fine. Honestly it would be cool to see some manufacturers making really small displacement four cylinder motors. I say 4 cylinder because the parallel twins kind of vibrate a lot. But a 500cc motorcycle motor has about 60 horsepower. A car going down the highway really only needs between 20 to 40 horsepower. The only issue is it would be pretty slow off the line, but the fuel economy would probably be amazing. Especially if it's running through a 6-speed transmission made for a car. We just like acceleration which is why we need all the displacement.

yup! It absolutely ridiculous and I love it!

Hey Jimbo, ignore the nasty comments from these Mr & Mrs KnowItAll. I am learning the basics from you, its just refreshing.

I just like seeing the results of all the crazy different things you try.

“Roots-Stuffed Engine!”

Why don’t u try a oil cooler with a electric fan or a electric fan on the engine to cool it down with a temp sensor I think a oil cooler would help it out to cool the engine oil down when wide open great video keep it up 👍🏻

So many questions; so many trials; so many answers. Still can't walk a mile! lol

Great episode! I enjoy the experimental sessions and dyno data. I would like to see more modifying of the engines along with the dyno results, please.

The ethanol by itself is over 110 octane . Raise the compression ratio to take advantage of that to get the hp back! The gas / ethanol mix has lower KJ / k g chemical energy so cut down the head or change the piston to get the comp ratio up.

I use 89 "rec fuel" (ethanol free) in all my small engines. Mostly because its still good fuel 2 seasons later. Havent had to clean a carb since i started doing that.

Sending some swag out your way from Massachusetts. I'm hoping it will be of good use to you!

People are saying that you are wasting your time and should get a better engine? That the engine isn't ideal is literally the whole point (and fun) of this project.

Higher octane doesn’t equal more power. Gasoline of different octane rating will have the same energy per liter/gallon/etc. More ethanol will give you less power bc it has only approximately 60% the energy of gas. Octane rating just means it is less prone to knocking. Meaning you can use it in higher compression or booster engines.

My best kept secret is the best I've ever had my predator run was when I ran it on white gas(camp stove gas, Naptha)

I realy enjoy this build

Your tinkering on this project keeps my tinkering going. Your the reason I keep fabing and building things. Keep it going. I love these videos. Do you do patron? Seems a lot of other people use that to keep unbiased channels rolling that way. Can't wait to see your temps after intercooler install.

Ah OK.. so you concluded that a stock flywheel is better or works best for cooling in a confined space. However, have you considered making an aluminium one and bolting on the stock plastic fan. I must say found you fuel experiment very interesting..First class..

Using a manifold made up of an array of fined tubes cooled by a peltier may be a compact and cheap solution.

ECU controlled spark advance will give much more power than fixed especially in car application. Fixed advance fine for fixed RPM usage such as cement mixer, car works in wide range of rpm and loads.

What a Great content!! As always ☺️☺️☺️

hi from turkey whatching from beginning

The higher octane should not make a difference on a naturally aspirated engine. But on a boosted engine it will.

you talk to my neighbors? I don't even talk to them! Tell them my grass is my business!

This is some great data!

Remember that ethanol and water takes up less volume when mixed compared to when separated. That might sqew the result somewhat.

Cant wait for the car to have the bugs worked out! Lot of engineering into it!

As always great video.

This is so cool!

Yes please octane test on next test run.

Sweet!!

Good stuff 👍.

I read somewhere that the lowest octane fuel your engine can run on without knocking is going to give you the highest horsepower, since lower octane fuels have a faster flame propagation or something like that.