Gas

[cartfan]

I have a 20 Johnson and always use regular unleaded. Should I or could I use higher octane and will it help performance at all?

[Walleye_GFA]

It could not hurt, you may try and see... bout doubt you would notice it... My boat specifies premium... not sure if its for a real reason or not... try to find your owners manual online...

[Gissert]

Octane is a rating that measures the resistance to detonation and/or pre-ignition.

Unless your motor has been altered with higher compression pistons, I'd go with what the manual suggests.

Most pump gas will work just fine in the 87 to 93 octane range.

I have been on sled trips where 100 low lead was available. The guys who thought that the 100 octane was going to be the secret to extra performance were sadly dissapointed. This fuel is meant for high compression motors. They had stock motors, and they were fouling plugs frequently because their sleds just could not generate the compression to burn the fuel efficiently.

High octane does not equal performance unless you engine is set up to benifit from it.

[Surface Tension]

Use the un-oxygenated gas out of the premium unleaded pump. This is recommended for all small engines. It dosent break down as fast as the regular unleaded which is important for motors that are used little or seasonal.
This is the main culprit in dirty, varnished carbs now.

ps use a fuel stabilizer also if your gas is going to sit for more then a coupl weeks.