Stupid Question

[Drychtnath]

Lol I feel soo dumb but... does 02 camaro SS and/or WS6 use unleaded fuel or premium as the recomended fuel to use. Am curious for my new car. I dunno bought paying 2.40 for premium when unleaded is 2.00+

[ryan34]

i believe its 91 or 92 or higher

[Jay 02 TA ws6]

I never run anything lower than 93.

[Injuneer]

Just to clarify an apparent misunderstanding on your part..... virtually ALL the fuel available at the pump is "unleaded" fuel. It just comes in three different grades..... "regular" (typically 87 octane), "mid" (89 octane), and
premium (91 - 94 octane).

Your 02 SS can be operated without damage on "regular" fuel (I'm assuming the Owner's Manual for the LS1 reads the same as the one for the LT1).... the PCM will detect the low octane fuel through the knock sensor, and retard the ignition timing. However, you lose performance when running "regular" fuel.

To minimize the total cost of fuel, while maximizing performance, you could run a continuous scanner, like a ScanMaster, and use the lowest octane fuel that keeps your PCM from using "knock retard" to pull timing and reduce HP.

Actual octane requirement is also dependant on the altitude you live at.... people in Denver don't need 93 octane, because of the reduced air pressure. You may be able to get away with lower octane when air temperatures are low, or if you can reduce coolant temp.

But, if you want max performance, and you don't have a scanner.... use "premium" unleaded fuel.

[DeWynter]

Another good reason for Canada, Lower air temps. It hardly gets over 32-35 deg C <------ here in the summer. Like today its cool at 15 deg C, but I guess its fall.