i have a friend that gave me a 5 gal of c16 cause someone owe him money and he owes me money blah blah blah i kno. im not boosed and have no internal work but i am tuned with pipe pc and some tweaks question is i run u4 from time to time but can i run c16 with pump gas and run as good as u4?
C16 is 116 octain. I wouldn't run it in a stock Busa. Here is some helpful information on racing gas: (It's from the VP folks, so it is a little jaded)
"WHY SHOULD I USE RACING FUEL?"
ANSWER: There are common misconceptions that you have to have some super-modified engine to benefit from racing fuel. Here are some common questions/comments from people who think racing fuel is only for "special" motors.
1. How much for the race gas?
Some people think that race gas is only one thing. "Which one?" I ask them. Race Gas is not just "one thing". VP makes over 70 different types (yes, I said SEVENTY) of racing fuel. Remember, that is why VP is more expensive. They make specific fuels for a number of different types of engines. VP spends thousands of hours testing and re-testing fuels to get maximum performance. VP does not make "pump gas". They only make high performance fuel.
2. Race Gas is only about higher octane that pump gas?
Not necessarily. VP makes racing fuel that is as low as 85 octane and as high as over 120 octane. That's not necessarily what "race gas" means though. Race Gas means it is more specific to a type of use. It also means it is cleaner fuel, burns cleaner, leaves little to no deposits, and of course CAN give you more power than pump gas. You have to match up the CORRECT fuel for your needs and your motor's needs.
3. You don't need race gas if you run a stock engine.
Well, you might not NEED it. But you can still benefit from running the RIGHT race fuel in your engine. Not just any old race gas. If you select the correct fuel for your type of engine, YOU will gain horsepower over pump gas. Pump gas is a very poor source of fuel for a combustion engine. Remember what pump gas is designed for: Regular ol' cars where performance is an afterthought. All it needs to do is RUN. Performance is not the primary focus with pump gas. (Pump gas can also be a dirty fuel, watery, trashy deposits floating around in there. Why do you think cars come with fuel filters?) However, performance is the NUMBER ONE focus of Race Gas. If you want more performance and a cleaner running engine, racing fuel is absolutely THE WAY to achieve that. You don't need fancy aftermarket parts, no hop-ups, no nothing to run racing fuel. That doesn't mean you cram in 112 octane to any old engine though. There's more to it than that. The secret to getting more power is not just about octane.
4. All I have to do is put higher octane fuel in my motor to get more power.
Not necessarily. You need to match-up the right octane fuel vs. your compression ratio. If you throw in too high of octane fuel in a lower compression engine, you can actually usually lose power. AND, if you put too low of octane, you can get detonation and knocking inside your engine. You can also get poor performance by running TOO high of octane. Also bad for motor-life and performance. A general rule of thumb: the higher your compression and turbo/nitrous boost, the higher octain fuel you usually need. If you run nitrous (NOS), supercharged, turbo, and many 2-stroke applications, you can usually benefit from over 100 octane fuel.
5. I can't run racing fuel in my street car/bike.
OH, not true. VP makes quite a few "street legal" fuels that are safe for street vehicles that have Oxygen (O2) sensors and catalytic converters. VP Streetblaze and VP Motorsport fuels are all unleaded fuels offering a variety of octane levels and designed for use in higher performance cars and bikes. If you have a car that you REALLY want performance out of, like a turbo car, nitrous car, Corvette, Eclipse, Integra, CRX, Mustang, Porsche, Ferrari, Mazda, Nissan, Chevy, Ford, Pontiac, Buick GNX, Toyota, and many others, VP makes a completely safe fuel for your street car. And if you run a GSXR1000, CBR1000, R1, R6, CBR600, VFR800, CBX, ZX14 and other streetbikes and sportbikes, VP offers a fuel that can give you more than 15% horsepower in a car over pump gas and over 7% power in a streetbike. Try that with your wasted thousands of dollars in hop-up parts!
6. If I start using race fuel, I can't go back to pump gas.
Well, you probably won't WANT to go back to pump gas because you get spoiled with the improved performance. With motocross bikes, carbureted vehicles, and karts, the issue is sometimes the changes in carburetor jetting. Once you adjust your carb to the racing fuel, if you switch back to pump gas, the bike might not run to its maximum performance. That's the main issue. It doesn't mean you are going to harm your engine by switching back and forth. It's just sometimes inconvenient (to some riders) and they are clueless about carb jetting. In fact, they are intimidated by it. It's not all that difficult though. If you keep a chart of carb settings vs. the time of year, and temperature/humidity conditions, you can easily switch your jetting to maintain max performance on either pump gas or race gas. You should do this anyway if you want to maintain the most performance when the temperature outdoors and humidity changes. See your local mechanic about better carb jetting.
7. Do I have to rejet my carb to run race gas?
As with any fuel change, altitude change, temperature change, you MIGHT have to adjust the jetting in your carb to gain maximum performance. That is true with any carb engine though. If you want the most performance, you should adjust your jetting. Stock jetting is usually so generic that your motor is just begging for a tuned carb to get better performance and a cleaner burn. The secret to performance in any motor is not always about cramming a bunch of "go-fast" parts into your engine, or super-high octane fuel. Sometimes it's as simple as tuning your carb to the air temp, humidity, altitude, etc. If you have never had your carb adjusted/tuned, you are MISSING out on the true performance your bike/kart can offer.
8. Race Gas is EXPENSIVE!
Well, as with any research and development part, there is cost involved. VP spends thousands of hours researching, testing, tuning, working with race teams and race factories to get the maximum performance from their engines. VP works DIRECTLY with many race teams to fine tune fuel to gain max power and in some instances to meet fuel rule requirements for some organizations. That's why there are so many different VP fuels.
When you think about how much money people spend (waste) on go-fast parts, i.e., pipes, silencers, intake systems, fuel injection mapping, motor mods, etc. etc. and yet they still don't tune their carb or run a higher quality fuel to gain TRUE performance. Most people just think that if they put a fancy exhaust on their car/bike, they will magically get more performance. Sure, they might get SOME gains but you get REAL power out of the correct race fuel. For instance, on some motocross bikes, there are aftermarket exhaust systems that cost anywhere from $500-$1,000. For that much money, the horsepower gains are barely 2%. And yet people do it because they THINK the bike looks cool and sounds cool With the correct race fuel in some motorcycles, the performance gains can easily be 5%-6% over that of pump gas. In some performance cars, 10%-15% horsepower gains are very possible. And when you think about it, those go-fast parts do NOT increase the monetary value of the bike. You NEVER make that money back when you sell the bike. SO, if you are going to "waste" money on something, why not waste it on something that actually helps the bike run better, cleaner, cooler engine temperature, etc. That's what racing fuel does for you. Sure, it's more expensive. But compared to the thousands of dollars people waste on go-fast parts, it's probably about the same over the course of the ownership of the car/bike
8. What about oxygenated fuels? I can't leave the fuel in my carb/fuel system for long periods of time?
Well, with many oxy fuels like VP U2, U4, and some others, they have a high amount of oxygen (Ethanol) in the fuel. If that fuel sits in your fuel system for many days/weeks without being circulated through the system, it CAN tend to "gel" up or gum up against some parts of the fuel system. So, if you are not going to be running the engine very often (every few days), you should simply drain the carburetor or fuel system. Sounds like a big ordeal but it's just something you get used to doing. You can get excellent performance gains running oxy fuels. They are usually more expensive than non-oxy fuels but the gains are remarkable! U2 and U4 can easily give you 6% more power than pump gas.
I tip my hat to them for very good marketing! If you are running an oxygenated fuel, like U4, then the C-16 will just run like normal gasoline. If you have no need for more octane, then it is a waste of money. Good Luck!
