Originally Posted by
burnineyes
My experience may be a little different than most of you, but it should be relevant nonetheless. I dont have a large scale RC, but I used to own a mostly stock Martin Monster 23cc scooter and I have run high octane fuel in it with amazing results. Results based on a cheap Bushnell radar gun, tuning the mixture on the fly for each run, with several passes for a fair average.
Pump 87 octane+Tech 2000 2-cycle oil+Me= 23mph top speed
VP 118 octane+Royal Purple 2-cycle oil+Me= 27mph top speed
Out of all passes the smallest difference was 3mph, average of 4mph difference from several passes. This might not seem like much, but dont forget it was carrying me, at 190lbs. I imagine in a RC, this could translate into much larger gains. As a certified auto tech, I have always understood the same theory that Ridley has posted above. But experience tells me the engine manufacturer may not always have it right, and it might be worth a shot. I have seen some full size cars experience large gains in fuel efficiency and power from higher octane fuel when the manufacturer recommended 87. Yet other cars have shown zero benefit from the same treatment. As I said, not necessarily a direct comparison here, but it should be relevant to the discussion.
VP 118 octane is an oxygenated fuel, hence the big difference. Plus, Royal Purple is a much better oil, which will also yield gains. There's some really good 2 stroke oils that are good down to 100:1. Going from say 32:1 to 100:1 on your mix will create real nice gains.....prolly get that scooter up to 30
Oh, and not to mention pump gas is all 10% ethanol now, which makes it have less energy per volume, and generally run poorly in 2 strokes. Most race gas is pure gasoline, so that gives a modest gain right off the top.
For the little amount of fuel that one goes through in rc cars, you might as well bite the bullet and buy a 50$ 5 gallon can of good VP fuel. If nothing else, it smells SOOO good