{"id":18487,"date":"2025-10-14T10:02:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T10:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=18487"},"modified":"2025-10-14T10:02:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T10:02:19","slug":"choosing-the-right-octane-for-your-boats-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/?p=18487","title":{"rendered":"Choosing the Right Octane for Your Boat\u2019s Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Choosing the Right Octane for Your Boat\u2019s Engine<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    <!-- no image --><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><\/p>\n<div>\n<section class=\"hydra-container\">\n<div class=\"hydra-canvas\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings-1024x768.jpg?resize=800%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"hydra-image disable-lazyload\" alt=\"Gasoline octane ratings\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BTG1025-Gasoline-Ratings.jpg 2000w\">                <\/div><figcaption class=\"caption margin_top_xs full border_1 hydra-figcaption\">\n                <span class=\"hydra-image-caption\">The higher the fuel\u2019s octane rating, the less likely it is to prematurely ignite and cause engine knocking.<\/span><br \/>\n                <span class=\"article_image_credit italic margin_right_xs\">phive2015\/Adobe Stock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/section>\n<p><iframe id=\"wxuzj5efbz\" src=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.dragonforms.com\/wxuzj5efbz\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"width:100%;height:165px;border:none;overflow:hidden;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We see the numbers every day at the local gas station, with gas sold based on octane ratings. Most people go to the lower number\u2014usually 87\u2014because it\u2019s the cheapest, but what do the ratings mean, especially for your boat? First and foremost, the best fuel for your boat is ethanol-free gas, as ethanol scavenges water and causes phase separation, which can gum up your fuel system over time. Without access to that (check with your local marina, where you\u2019ll most likely find it), avoid any gas with over an E10 ethanol mix. Beyond that, a fuel\u2019s octane rating denotes its stability during the ignition phase. The higher the rating, the less likely it is to prematurely ignite and cause engine knocking. Here\u2019s a quick rundown of the different octane ratings.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">87<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Burn: <\/strong>The most common gasoline because it\u2019s the least expensive, 87 fuel is fine for most marine outboard and inboard engines. Check your owner\u2019s manual. If your engine requires only 87 gas, spending more on 89 or higher won\u2019t improve your engine\u2019s performance or help you run any faster than it would burning regular 87.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Knock: <\/strong>While any engine can burn 87 and likely be fine, it can cause knocking in engines that require 91 fuel or higher, which could impede overall performance.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">89<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Burn: <\/strong>If your engine experiences knocking from using 87 fuel, jumping up to 89 could solve the problem without resorting to high-performance gasoline, which can cost upwards of a dollar or more per gallon. Consider it a happy medium if 87 isn\u2019t working for you but 91 or higher is overkill for you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Knock: <\/strong>With high-performance engines that require 91 gas or higher, 89 will work but still might not be enough to prevent knocking and could impede the engine from optimal running.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read Next:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/gear\/portable-fuel-caddies-for-boaters\/\">Portable Fuel Caddies for Boaters<\/a><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">91-Plus<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The Burn: <\/strong>High-performance and racing engines, especially those with a turbos or superchargers, create more heat and pressure during operation, which could cause lower-rated gasoline to prematurely ignite and cause knocking and potential engine damage. In some cases, using lower-rated gasoline on an engine that requires a higher-octane rating can even void the warranty, so check your owner\u2019s manual.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Knock: <\/strong>It\u2019s way more expensive and, if your engine doesn\u2019t need it, offers no benefit to your boat\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/choosing-the-right-octane-for-your-boats-engine\/\">Choosing the Right Octane for Your Boat\u2019s Engine<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/\">Boating Mag<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><br \/>\n    Pete McDonald<br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/BR><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/boatingmag.com\/boats\/choosing-the-right-octane-for-your-boats-engine\/\">Go to boatingmag<\/a><br \/>\n \t<BR><br \/>\n <BR><\/BR><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choosing the Right Octane for Your Boat\u2019s Engine The higher the fuel\u2019s octane rating, the less likely it is to prematurely ignite and cause engine knocking. phive2015\/Adobe Stock We see the numbers every day at the local gas station, with gas sold based on octane ratings. Most people go to the lower number\u2014usually 87\u2014because it\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126,148,2801,167,6468],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-18487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boatingmag","category-boats","category-comparisons","category-engines","category-november-december-2025","tag-boatingmag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krogragg.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}