Recently we received a question from Nathan who is having trouble with choosing the right fuel for his custom TRX450R. Nathan has a few engine modifications and wonders what kind of gains he can achieve by running different fuels.
I have a 05′ TRX450R it has an FMF full exhaust, a Hot Cam, and a full set of Elka shocks with +2 Laeger arms. My question is, what is the best type of fuel to run? Do I use pump gas (super)? What are the pros and cons? Also, I have access to 100 octane fuel. What are the pros and cons for this? VP Racing Fuel? Do I have to re-jet for any of these? Does it depend on my engine modifications, riding style? It would be great if you could do an article on this issue. I would love to learn more and I’m sure some more of your readers would as well. Keep up the good work!
Thanks!
Nathan
Well, Nathan we just happen to have a friend over at VP Racing Fuels who is an expert in this area. Jay Farnsworth is the Technical Director over at VP and gives individual fuel advice every day. We’ll let Jay take it from here…
The easy answer as to which fuel to run would be all of the above. When you add the word “best” then it is necessary to examine the pros and cons of each. Pump gas will work fine but it will not provide any power gains and actually can be quite inconsistent from brand to brand and load to load. Pump gas blends are not held to the same standards that racing fuels are when they are blended so there can be a large difference in performance each time you fill up. The up side to pump gas would be the availability and the price. But if you just paid for all of those mods to your machine my guess is that you will not be satisfied with average fuel performance.
The 100 octane would work a little better because it actually slows the burns speed down and allows for a more complete burn which adds power, but one of the most misunderstood terms that we see with riders and performance enthusiasts is the word “octane”. Many believe octane is a measure of power when it is actually the ability of the fuel to resist detonation. Higher octane fuels are blended with different chemicals than pump gas which provide more energy, cleaner burn, and better vaporization all resulting in increased power. But the octane is not the major cause of the increased performance. Today we have many machines that are designed to make power with pump gas as a fuel and therefore they perform poorly when using a high-octane gas. Too much octane can slow the burn rate and resist combustion, which drops the performance levels. That will take us into the racing fuel side of things and why you benefit from their use.
By designing a gas that has superior energy, properly matched burn rates, and better vaporization we are able to produce a fuel that outperforms all other types of fuel and provides better power gains than the modifications that are on the machine (such as the exhaust or cam). On top of that we introduce oxygenates which enables more fuel to be burned per combustion cycle and the result is even more power. Without a doubt the biggest power gains can be seen with a properly matched racing fuel. Some oxygenated fuels require jet changes (richening) but VP now has a new fuel called U4.2 that jets or maps the same as pump gas. This allows a racer to switch back and forth between the two fuels without re-jetting so all they have to do is pour in the U4.2 and get 6-percent plus power gains. I don’t think you will find any other “bolt on” or “pour in” product that will give you better power gains than race fuel. Race gas is just as important as cam or piston selection. Fuel is a very important part of the total performance package and should be treated with careful choice and selection.
Sometimes the many different blends can seem a little over whelming but as you look at all of the different engine combinations it is easy to see that the “”one fuel fits all” trechnology just doesn’t work anymore. That is why VP offers a full time technical department that can help you with fuel selection and tuning suggestions based off of each individual application. Contact them at 812-878-2025 seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time or by e-mail at tech@vpracingfuels.com if you need any help with a technical question.
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