Tag: octane

Any time you compress air it’s going to increase in temperature, with a turbo charger it’s no different. The more boost you run the more heat is imparted to the air going into the engine. This heat along with latent heat from the previous combustion cycle can increase enough that the fuel can actually ignite before the spark plug lights it off, which is called pre-ignition or ping. Pre-ignition can be very damaging to an engine if it is severe enough or occurs over a long enough period of time. So higher octane fuels help avoid this.